Nourish California takes pleasure in working with advocates, administrators, funders, and others in the movement to ensure that everyone in California has enough to eat. We want to acknowledge the transitions of three key partners in this work.
Roberta Tinajero
Our dear friend and colleague, Roberta Tinajero, is retiring after 28 years with Kaiser Permanente. We first got to know Roberta in the 2000s as a Community Benefit Manager supporting a wide range of actions on food and nutrition issues. Over the years, she has supported organizations and leaders throughout Southern California in the movement for food justice. We are truly grateful that she not only took a great interest in advocacy but also in the people who make up the movement. Best of luck in retirement — we hope you Thrive in whatever comes next.
Mike Danzik, a statewide leader on school health and wellness, is retiring after 22 years with the California Department of Education. Our team worked with Mike from the start, first on school breakfast and lunch in the 2000s and culminating with groundbreaking work on access to water in schools in the 2010s. The school food environment in California has changed dramatically since 2001, thanks in large part to leaders like Mike.
Mike Danzik
Jolene Fassbinder
After 10 years, Jolene Fassbinder has left the Archstone Foundation. Jolene was a widely recognized leader working to make California a better place to grow older. Jolene led the foundation's actions and investments to dramatically increase the participation of older Californians in CalFresh. We had the pleasure of working with Jolene in the "before times" (before the pandemic) on removing barriers to food assistance for older adults and after, as we worked together to utilize health information sharing to increase access to food. We wish Jolene well in whatever comes next.
