Speakers

Ryan Bailey, Flagship Culinary

Ryan Bailey is a Food Management Coordinator for Flagship Culinary. He spearheads the national Food Rescue Program at Meta. Ryan is passionate about conservation and assisting the community. He has been part of the Flagship team since 2014. The Food Rescue Program was launched in 2019 with two pilot cafes. With assistance from Loaves & Fishes’ A La Carte program, Flagship Culinary and Meta are providing prepared meals and raw products to the community. Ryan has grown the Food Rescue Program to all Meta café locations in the Bay Area which now includes 17 cafes located in Menlo Park, Sunnyvale, Fremont, and San Francisco. Using this program model with Loaves & Fishes the donations have expanded to include our culinary operations in Seattle, Chicago, New York, and Boston.

Mauricio Cordova, Loaves & Fishes

Mauricio Cordova has over 20 years of experience in operational leadership in the private sector prior to joining Loaves and Fishes in 2017. He is responsible for Loaves & Fishes meal programs, which includes the A La Carte Food recovery program that recovers and distributes over, 750K pounds of food to insecure populations in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties every year. He has a BS in Business Administration from CSU East Bay and a Certificate in Non-Profit Organizational Management from UOP. In 2020, he received his Certification from the SWANA/CRRA as a Certified Practitioner in Zero Waste Principles and Practices. He is vice-chair of the Edible Food Recovery Technical council at CRRA.

Sonia Escobedo, Nuestra Casa

Sonia Escobedo is focused on reducing food insecurity and waste in East Palo Alto and North Fair Oaks. As our Food Recovery Program Coordinator, she oversees the boots on the ground to run our biweekly Food Distribution program that helps 1,000s of community members by rescuing 20,000 pounds of food from local landfills. She also cares deeply about the participants we serve. “Having a connection and relationship with community members motivates me to continue my work. Helping as much as I can and knowing my work helps others is the reason I love what I do.”

Jack Steinmann, San Mateo County Office of Sustainability

Jack Steinmann (He, Him, His) has been involved with food recovery since 2015 when he started San Francisco State University’s food rescue initiative recovering and redistributing surplus meals from the campus dining hall, markets, and vendors. Since then, he’s continued in the zero waste field as an intern with the EPA, Climate Corps Fellow with the City of Hayward, Co-Chair of the Northern California Recycling Association Zero Food Waste Committee, Food Recovery Network Alumni Advisory Board, and now in his current position as a Resource Conservation Specialist with the County of San Mateo’s Office of Sustainability. In this role, Jack focuses his efforts on the County’s implementation of SB 1383’s edible food recovery and procurement requirements. He is committed to sustainability and is thrilled to contribute to food recovery and waste prevention efforts across San Mateo County.

Constance La Trice Taylor, Samaritan House

C. La Trice Taylor is the Associate Director of Programs & Services with Samaritan House. She has been with the agency for over eight years and oversees multiple programs including Client Services, Food Services, Coordinated Entry System and
Financial Empowerment. Mrs. Taylor has her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Texas and Master of Science degree in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked mostly in the non-profit and educational realms, possessing over twenty-five years of staff and
program management, development, and implementation, with some experience in marketing. Previous positions have included work with foster youth and families, community resource centers, fundraising institutions, and charter schools and early childhood development centers. Most recently, her focus has been on
homelessness and affordable housing issues. She has been responsible for managing varying levels of full- and part-time staff at multiple locations across various cities and counties. 

Tracy Weatherby, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley

Tracy Weatherby joined Second Harvest of Silicon Valley in 2018 as vice president of strategy and advocacy. In this role, Tracy and her team work with schools and other community organizations to leverage government programs to ensure that students in need have access to healthy meals. The strategy and advocacy team is active in supporting school lunch, after-school meals, Breakfast After the Bell, summer meals and other related initiatives. Additionally, she leads efforts around legislation and advocacy by collaborating with government agencies and government officials to advocate for policies in support of reducing hunger. Focused on relationships and models that create maximum impact for communities in need, Tracy is a collaborative leader and manager, who is passionate about engaging all stakeholders to solve problems.