Board of Trustees

Jacob Addelson

(Watertown, MA)

Jacob is a supervising attorney at Northeast Legal Aid, in Lowell, MA, where he works defending tenants facing eviction. Jacob is a Food Project alum (he was in Summer Youth Program and Dirt Crew, and was an assistant crew leader), which helped shape his current social justice work. Jacob attended Williams College and Stanford Law School.

Danielle Benedict

(Sharon, MA)

Danielle has been the Chief Human Resources Officer at United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) since 2016 and has held previous roles since 2014, including SVP Human Resources and Total Rewards. Prior to UNFI she was employed by Clean Harbors and Dunkin Brands. United National Foods (NYSE: UNFI) is the largest publicly traded wholesale distributor delivering healthier food options to people throughout the United States and Canada.

UNFI is headquartered in Providence RI, has 56 distribution centers, 60 retail stores, 28,000 associates and annual revenue of 30 billion.

In spare time she likes to play golf, travel and spend time in Maine.

Emmanuel Encarnacion – Chair

(Lynn, MA)

Emmanuel is a Human Resources professional at CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, focusing on employee experience and workplace culture. He began his journey at The Food Project in 2005 as a participant in the Summer Youth Program and progressed to the Dirt and Root Crew. After earning a double Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Dance from Salem State University, he worked as a Community Health Worker at Mass General Hospital, assisting families with food insecurity.

He returned to The Food Project as a Youth Development Specialist from 2016 to 2019 and earned a Certificate in Community Leadership and Social Change. Emmanuel has been a significant figure at The Food Project, serving on the Board of Trustees since 2021 and currently as the Board Chairperson. His experiences there have greatly influenced his career.

Amanda Gorner

(Wakefield, MA)

Amanda has spent the majority of her 30+ year career working with young children and their families – as a classroom teacher, mentor, director and consultant. She is currently the Executive Director of Crispus Attucks Children’s Center, a large non-profit child development program in Dorchester.

Amanda has trained both teachers and administrators on the local, state and national level and is an outspoken advocate of quality, accessible care for all children and families. Amanda holds a B.A. in developmental psychology from Smith College and conducted her graduate research in infant-caregiver attachment at the University of California, Riverside.

Ezra Hausman

(Newton, MA)

Ezra Is a climate scientist and an independent consultant on energy markets, with a focus on energy regulations, economics, and resource planning. His clients have included prominent national environmental organizations, state agencies, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Ezra has a passion for helping youth from all backgrounds learn and grow through collaboration and leadership development, and also for improving our food system to support healthy people and healthy environment, so serving as a board member for The Food Project was a natural fit!

Ezra earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Wesleyan University, a master’s in environmental / water resource engineering from Tufts University, and a doctorate in climate science from Harvard University.

Moshammed Jahan

(Lynn, MA)

Moshammed or Moshe, born in Salem, MA and raised in Lynn, MA, has been able to grow up around a diverse and multicultural community. She’s a current Junior attending Lynn English High School, while also being involved in working directly with her local community, both in school and with her city. Moshe has been familiar with the organization for more than almost a decade as she was raised in Lynn and has worked for The Food Project’s North Shore Region as a part of the Youth Development Program. Her journey at The Food Project started off in the year 2022 and has ever since then continued to contribute towards strengthening her leadership skills, while inspiring her alongside empowering her to utilize those skills within her community.

Being able to learn, experience, and grow alongside The Food Project has ignited a passion within her in desiring to become more knowledgeable about the behind the scenes of the organization. She found out about this position from her Root Crew supervisor, Will Capriola, and former peer leader, Andy Ly. However, as of her current position on the board, she’s been able to achieve most of her goals in understanding non-profit development and continues to hope for supporting the board and other trustees in understanding their impact on the youth and how The Food Project can improve further onto strengthening their three main pillars. Youth, Food, and Community.

Kimberly Lee – Development Committee

(Lynn, MA)

Raised on a small family farm in rural Illinois, Kim graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Chemistry and earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Washington. A career in biotech culminated in her role as Director of Proteomics at Cell Signaling Technology, Inc. Kim now focuses full-time on community service and nonprofit support in the vibrant City of Lynn.

Irene Shiang Li – Vice Chair

(Brighton, MA)

Irene Shiang Li (she/her) co-founded Mei Mei in Boston in 2013 and built the brand around sustainable sourcing and fair and transparent employment practices, including open book management. Mei Mei is now a dumpling company and Irene’s focus is on building Prepshift, a tech-enabled coaching and workforce training firm that works directly with restaurants, and partners with government and private entities to ensure a bright future for independent food businesses. Irene is a 2022 James Beard Foundation Leadership Award winner.

Gissell Lopez

(Somerville, MA)

Gissell is a finance professional working in Asset Management at Fidelity Investments. She previously served as an ambassador for the Fidelity Young Professionals Network, and is currently involved with Fidelity’s Associate Sustainability Network (ASN) and Regional Leadership Team. Gissell holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Economics & Management from Cornell University, where she was very involved with the Entrepreneurship community.

Gissell joined The Food Project in 2014 as a member of Seed Crew and stayed for 3 years, also completing Dirt & Root Crew. She is passionate about food equity, social impact, and sustainability. Gissell is a life-long Somerville resident and enjoys walks along the Somerville Community Path and trying new restaurants in the area.

Gardenia Leon Munoz

(Lynn, MA)

Hello! My name is Gardenia and I’ve been a member of TFP’s youth program since the summer of 22’ and a youth board trustee since November of 23’. As of this school year I am a junior in high school and I absolutely love my work as a Dirt Crew peer leader. Recently, I’ve been more interested in food policy. Ultimately, I aspire to broaden my understanding of organizational sustainability and youth work!

Kathleen Lomatoski

(Lincoln, MA)

Kathleen Lomatoski is a quiet game-changer and outdoor enthusiast. Her multidisciplinary work leading projects, initiating and directing programs, writing, and mentoring generates meaningful contributions affecting local Massachusetts communities and beyond.

Kristina Racek Pechulis

(Melrose, MA)

Kristina Racek Pechulis works as the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Food System Collaborative. At the Collaborative, Kristina is responsible for the oversight, development, and execution of the Collaborative’s overall mission to work towards an equitable, sustainable, resilient, and connected local food system in Massachusetts. Kristina is a graduate of Northeastern Law School, the Simmons University Master’s of NonProfit Management program, and Kenyon College. Prior to working at the Collaborative, Kristina taught Massachusetts Politics, food policy, and Constitutional law to undergraduates, as well as managed a competitive fellowship program that placed Simmons students with legislators at the Massachusetts State House and also worked as an elder law attorney.

Prior to working at the Collaborative, Kristina taught Massachusetts Politics, food policy, and Constitutional law to undergraduates, as well as managed a competitive fellowship program that placed Simmons students with legislators at the Massachusetts State House and also worked as an elder law attorney. Prior to her work at Simmons, Kristina worked in a variety of positions including as the director of the Lynn Food and Fitness Coalition, the Legislative Director and General Counsel to a state senator in the Massachusetts state legislature, an Assistant Corporation Counsel at the City of Boston, and as a legal services attorney. In her free time, Kristina spends as much time as she can outside with her husband and kids.

Jose Sanchez

(Lynn, MA)

Jose Sanchez is a driven professional from Lynn, Massachusetts, with a strong foundation in economics and finance. He gained valuable experience early on as part of The Food Project, participating in their summer youth program and continuing with them during the academic year of 2012.

Jose further honed his skills at Bentley University, where he earned a degree in Economics and Finance. He join the Board in 2024.

Moshammed Jahan

(Lynn, MA)

My name is Moshammed (Moshe) and I am a 16 year old sophomore at Lynn English High School in Lynn, MA and I am also currently working as a youth member for the North Shore’s Root Crew Academic Year. Some of the things that I enjoy doing include spending my free time with my friends and family, as well as cooking! Whenever I spend time with my mother and grandmother, I get to learn so many new recipes and even on my own time I enjoy researching delicious and nutritious foods that I can cook even alone. Now, growing up in Lynn I have gotten to know about The Food Project over the course of the past 7-8 years and while also working in the North Shore Region as a youth member of the Youth Development Program for the past 2 years. Joining the organization as a youth member would’ve been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!

I say this because of how much the organization has helped me build on my leadership skills along with both inspiring and empowering me to utilize these skills within my local community. The skill sets that I have managed to expand on with the help of The Food Project have supported me in making changes within my school community and also helping other schools in my district! Being able to learn, experience, along with growing at The Food Project made me want to gain a deeper understanding about why the organization does what it does and how other non-profit organizations run as well. During the end of my second summer of the Youth Development Program, I applied for the TFP Board Position wanting to become more knowledgeable on the behind the scenes of this organization. Soon enough, I found out that I made it! Even so, my hopes with being on the board include providing the board with insights on how their decisions impact the youth and how The Food Project can improve further onto strengthening the three of our main pillars. Youth, Food, and Community.

Sarai Zelada

(Lynn, MA)

Lynn resident Sarai Zelada is a Public Health Planner for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. She brings more than a decade of experience working in climate justice, affordable housing, economic opportunity, and public health to The Food Project. While earning a degree in Natural Resource Studies at UMass Amherst, she got her first taste of urban farming by helping to build the school’s first campus community garden.

This experience inspired her to earn a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Michigan with a focus on creating more healthy communities. One of her first jobs out of school was working as a Crew Leader for The Food Project’s Seed Crew. She has also helped to run the Lynn farmers market.

Our Board of Trustees meets six times per year. To reach out with questions or interest in joining our board, please send an email to: boardinfo@thefoodproject.org.