2021 School Wellness Summer Institute Speakers

Erica Dahl is a SNAP-Ed Community Nutrition Educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension in Orange County. She has a BS in Nutrition Science from Russell Sage College and an MPH from Southern New Hampshire University. She has worked with schools across the Hudson Valley for six years, leading workshops on movement in the classroom. As an avid runner, she is passionate about teaching families how to transform their physical and mental health by finding joy in living active lives.

Megan Dhanabala has been a SNAP-Ed Nutrition Educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension in Dutchess County for 14 years! She has a background in nutrition and education. During her time with the organization, she has worked with a variety of diverse groups, from children to senior citizens of all different ability levels. She works especially well with and enjoys our program participants who are differently abled. Over the last year, she has enjoyed working with a variety of different school districts, teaching their students virtually. However, she looks forward to in person workshops with students in the Fall. (fingers crossed)

Chef Dave Dunn has a B.S. in Food industry Management from Cornell University, 1985. He was Food service Director for Aramark Corp from 1985-2005, Food Service Director for P.C.S.D from 2005-2021, and is currently the Food Service Director for K.C.S.D. 

Lindsay Edgar is the Community Consultant for the CATCH Global Foundation. Lindsay works to maintain partnerships with the programs and communities that use CATCH. Born and raised in Northern Maine, Lindsay decided to escape the frigid winters for more frigid winters, first to Ithaca College then to New York City, which became a beloved home for the next ten years. She began her career in the non-profit world at AIDS Walk New York, the largest single day fundraising walk in the world. She then moved onto fundraising for the American Cancer Society and shortly thereafter was given the opportunity to develop and implement all guest programs for the ACS Hope Lodge NYC, a free lodging facility for cancer patients and their caregivers. At the end of 2014, Lindsay decided to finally move somewhere warm and headed to Austin. She is thrilled to be part of the CATCH team and help schools deliver the mission of fighting childhood obesity.

Tilsa Gonzalez, the district’s KI-12 Supervisor of Health and Physical Education, practices what she teaches. Mrs. Gonzalez supports the curriculum and instructional aspect of the K-12 program for 10 schools throughout the City school district of New Rochelle with regard to health and physical education. She is also the District Chair for the Wellness Committee.

Shana Green is the CATCH Implementation manager for the CATCH Global Foundation. She assists school districts and after school programs with the implementation of the CATCH curriculum and philosophies. Shana lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and two very active boys! Before joining the CATCH team, Shana was a cheer coach and physical education coordinator at Del Valle ISD. She was instrumental in the 4 year CATCH middle school grant project which studied the effects of the CATCH Coordination Kit and Physical Education lessons at the middle school level. As the CATCH Champion, Shana, helped to transform the entire DVMS campus into a model of healthy behaviors, events and practices. Shana is recognized as an excellent CATCH PE Implementation Trainer because of her knowledge and experience gained from working in after school programs, all grade levels of public school, and providing training around the nation. Shana greatly enjoys sharing her passion for the CATCH program with students, teachers, administrators, and parents!

Bintou Hinds holds a M.S. in Human Nutrition from University of Bridgeport. She has worked in the field of public health nutrition in Dutchess county for the past 11 years. She was the Women Infants and Children (WIC) nutritionist and breastfeeding coordinator with Sun River Healthcare for 6 of those years. She now serves as a regional team leader and occasional Spanish language nutrition educator for SNAP Ed HV-Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orange County. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and 9-year-old son.

Mallory Jackson is a Human Services and Chemical Dependency Counseling Professor at SUNY Jefferson Community College (JCC) in Watertown, NY. She began her career with Eat Smart New York at CCE Dutchess County as a Community Resource Educator, working with individuals and groups in the Hudson Valley. She holds a Master degrees in Public Administration and Counseling, where she specialized in trauma-informed care and education. Mallory’s professional work has led her to a deeper understanding of the realities of a lack of personal and professional balance and the impending burnout as social constructs that can be identified early and addressed holistically when one identifies their personal burnout archetype. She lives in the North Country (yes it’s cold…Odds are it is snowing as you read this) with her husband, two sons and geriatric chocolate lab.

Allison Lauchaire has worked in education for over 20 years. Her first teaching job was with Migrant Education in New Paltz. Currently, she fulfills three roles in the Arlington Central School District: K-12 Coordinator of English as a New Language (ENL), Elementary Teacher Assistant to the Principal, and ENL teacher (3rd-5th grade). Allison coordinates the food backpack program at Titusville Intermediate School.

Troy Martin is the Children’s Programs Coordinator at the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley. Troy has coordinated the Food Bank’s BackPack and School Pantry programs since 2017, growing and maintaining the Food Bank’s partnerships with school districts across our six county service area. Working with individual schools, district administrators, sponsoring organizations, as well as BackPack program donors, Troy works to ensure that students referred to the BackPack program receive a weekly set of nutritious, child appropriate foods throughout the school year. Over the summer months, Troy coordinates the Food Bank’s Summer BackPack Program, which distributes food through both existing school year partner schools and other organizations that host youth over the summer, such as Libraries and Town Camps / Recreation Departments.

Lisa Perry, Senior National Advisor, has developed and implemented strategies and training to support teachers, schools, and districts to utilize best practices for physical activity, physical education, employee wellness, nutrition education, and tobacco prevention. She has over 20 years of experience working in school and community settings providing training, curriculum development, technical assistance and brokering resources.

Her previous experience includes 15 years as a physical educator. Prior to joining the Alliance, Lisa served as the Senior Consultant for physical activity, nutrition, tobacco, and sun safety for the Colorado Department of Education. She also worked as an exercise physiologist at a health and weight management center, where she provided instruction on the principles of exercise, strength training, physical activity, and behavior modification.

In her leisure time, she enjoys archery, backpacking, biking, fly-fishing, horseback riding and training and other outdoor pursuits in western Colorado. Lisa earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and her Master of Education degree in Health and Human Performance from the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Shayna Russo is currently SNAP-Ed’s Project Manager for the Hudson Valley Region and Coordinator for Technical Assistance (TA). She is driven to create ‘change’ that supports healthy lifestyles, while simultaneously utilizing knowledge, skills and abilities relative to health, education, nutrition, fitness, collaboration and teamwork. With degrees in Health Promotion Management and Exercise Science, she has worked as a Personal Trainer, Strength and Conditioning Coach, Swim Instructor, Public Health Educator and Regional Coordinator. For over 20 years Shayna has used her facilitation and communication skills to promote an all-inclusive, high-performing culture where groups embrace and leverage each other’s talents to achieve full potential. Over the past 12 years, through grant funded roles with Cornell Cooperative Extension, much of her efforts has been focused on the health and wellness of low-income communities in the Hudson Valley. Shayna and her husband live in Dutchess County with their two kids and two dogs (Brownie and Cupcake). You will often find her around town on some early morning runs, drinking some hot tea and bringing her kids to soccer and gymnastics practice. 

Jane Sorensen is the family engagement and program manager for EPIC-Every Person Influences Children- at Monticello Central School District. She has worked with EPIC for 17years, First joining as a parent ambassador in 2006, and had been involved in Monticello for 15 years. Jane brings a wealth or knowledge in family engagement and community outreach. She collaborates with administrators and community members to implements numerous initiatives. Among them Parent University, Sullivan Renaissance Garden project, H20 EZ Water Fountains.

Jennifer Tuthill studied Elementary Education, Biology and Theatre at SUNY New Paltz and has a Master of Arts in Education from Stony Brook University. She currently teaches in the Newburgh Enlarged School District. She is a certified children's yoga and mindfulness teacher and loves bringing her creativity into the elementary classroom. Jennifer is dedicated in helping children grow socially, emotionally as well as academically.

Maria S. Vele is a SNAP-Ed Bilingual Community Nutrition Educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension in Orange County. She has worked with schools across the Hudson Valley for over 10 years, leading workshops on movement in the classroom. She has a passion for working with families to reinforce specific nutrition-related practices or behaviors to change habits that contribute to poor health.

Julika von Stackelberg, MA is a credentialed parenting educator and certified parenting coach who focuses on building resilience for families and the community at Cornell Cooperative Extension Orange. Julika teaches on a variety of parenting and family life topics, including workshops for individuals who are working with families and children. She co-chairs the Orange County Parenting Coalition and currently spearheads the Orange County Resilience Project. Julika also serves on a number of committees that address structural racism and implicit biases and that strive to create anti-racist services in the community.

Julika has an international background, which includes working toward ending gender-based violence and community building. She loves to spend time outdoors, as well as socializing with friends and family. If you’d follow Julika around the house, you’d probably find her with a speaker in her back pocket as she loves to listen to podcasts and audiobooks to satisfy her ongoing thirst for learning.

Sember Weinman is very excited to lead Common Ground in 2021 as Executive Director and is honored by the opportunity and responsibility. She began her time at Common Ground as Education Director, where she oversaw and grew all aspects of educational programming, notably growing Farm Camp to a seven-week program that supports 48 children per week. She built Common Ground's Farm to School programming from its inception, reaching 4,000 children in the Beacon School District each year. Prior to her work at the farm, she was the education coordinator at Lehman College Art Gallery, and oversaw educational programming that totaled 17,000 visits a year. She has also taught middle school in the Bronx and managed the continuing education program at Lehman College. She holds an MFA in painting from Pratt Institute and a B.A. double major in environmental studies and studio art from Oberlin College, and is K-12 art teacher certified for New York State.