NYS Food Summit 2026

Annette Nielsen, is the Executive Director of the Hunter College New York City Food Policy Center. Until recently, she led the New York City office for the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. Her role representing the Department provided a touchpoint for the agricultural and food industries in the greater metropolitan area, while supporting efforts across the state to build food systems and resiliency. Beyond working to extend access to healthful, farm-sourced food for all New Yorkers, her portfolio included facilitating the Commissioner’s statewide Community Gardens Task Force and the Procurement Advisory Group. After a career with leadership posts in Washington, DC serving on the staffs of US Senators Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Edward M. Kennedy, Ms. Nielsen put her skillset to work in the food world. Whether policy or programming, she has engaged in the full spectrum of the food system from production to consumption: launching an incubator kitchen, collaborating on an 8,000 square-foot community garden, facilitating farm to institution initiatives, serving on the inaugural health and wellness committee as an elected member of a NYS board of education, as well as significant work in agritourism, precepting nutrition students and teaching culinary nutrition and food systems to medical residents. Annette earned her MA (Writing) from Johns Hopkins, a BA, Fine Arts from Colgate University, and completed her certification in Nutrition from Cornell University. She grew up in the Adirondacks and calls Harlem home.

Christina worked for several years as a registered dental hygienist and while raising her children, went back to school to obtain her Master’s in Education; Program and Curriculum Design in 2016 and Masters of Public Health in 2019 (George Washington University). She has been an avid volunteer in many capacities and has worked with several organizations within her town of Port Washington and served on the Board of Education for the Port Washington School District. Christina started as an unpaid intern for Cornell Cooperative Extension, learning about grant writing and the several program areas throughout the organization. She was brought on as staff within months of starting and has worked with all the departments within CCE. She has helped to write programing and grants for CCE in all departments and has taken in the knowledge from all that work there. She has proudly been working on the GusNIP Produce Prescription Program, Fruit, and Veggie Rx, which she helped to design and implement. This program provides diabetes nutrition education and vouchers to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables in high needs populations. Although she does not speak Spanish, she ensures bilingual education in all programming and works to provide all participants with respect and accessibility. In addition to working with CCE, she also does billing for a dental office and volunteers her time for the USO and for dental presentations in high needs communities. She is an avid rower and takes pride in her accomplishments, mostly off the water.

Diego joined Part of the Solution (POTS) as Director of Communications in October 2021. For more than four decades, POTS has worked with the community of The Bronx so that its clients have access to the essentials of life and the support necessary to achieve stability and ultimately self-sufficiency. Under his leadership in the Communications Department, the organization has implemented a series of campaigns to increase the awareness about the life changing services that POTS provides for more than 35,000 low-income New Yorkers on a yearly basis. Diego has fostered partnerships to allow for new opportunities for POTS to take part in advocacy initiatives in Albany and Washington D.C. to fight food insecurity and poverty. His involvement has also allowed POTS to share contributions about the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals at the local level. He also led the creation and sustainability of a Community Advisory Committee (CAC), which provides an opportunity to consider the voices of clients in the design of programs, operations and communications; and, allows further opportunities to elevate the voices of the community POTS serves. Prior to joining POTS, he worked as an advisor in intergovernmental affairs for the United Nations Environment Program, working with diplomatic representatives to support successful negotiations on sustainable development matters. He also worked as a diplomatic representative for his home country, Costa Rica, in international negotiations in the United Nations General Assembly. Throughout his diplomatic career, he has advocated for initiatives that escalates efforts to eradicate poverty, and promote human rights, food security and food safety at the national and international levels. He has a Master of Law Degree in Public Law from the University of Costa Rica. Diego has always been interested in being part of initiatives to have a positive impact in social, economic and environmental matters. He has published a Handbook on Procedural Law, and articles on public planning for development and democratic governance in Central America, among other subjects.

Retired state worker in 2015 and had a small association with the Food Pantries at that time and asked if they needed help upon my retirement, and I’ve been with them ever since. It’s just been so fulfilling and an honor to work with all these people who have the same goal of helping to feed the hungry.

Julian became TOUCH’s Executive Director in 2018 with over 25 years of experience in leadership positions in the non-profit community. Supporting the growth of the Rockland Communiy Against Hunger’s Food Recovery Program has been a major priority for him as it has grown from 40,000 pounds in 2018 to 1.38 million pounds last year with TOUCH as the lead agency. Julian is a member of the Executive Committee of the HIV Planning Council of NY and Co-Chair of the Planning Council’s Tri-County Steering Committee for Rockland, Westchester and Putnam counties. He previously served as Executive Director of New York State Common Cause and Communications Director for the National Center for Children in Poverty, based at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Julian is the lead author of “The Changing Face of Child Poverty in California” and co-author of “Living at The Edge: America’s Low-Income Children and Families.” He managed the Rockland Community Capacity Building Initiative and was a member of the Leadership Rockland class of 2016. Julian was also a CYO youth basketball coach for eight seasons. He received his MPA from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and his BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

Lydia Calabro is a dedicated professional with a diverse background in community engagement, program supervision, and education. With a Master of Education in Educational Psychology from The College of Saint Rose and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Elmira College, Lydia brings a strong academic foundation to her work. Currently Lydia serves as an Engagement and Resource Supervisor at The Food Pantries for the Capital District. In this capacity, she demonstrates leadership by training referral specialists, facilitating team meetings, and effectively communicating with guests and partners to ensure the smooth operation of the Food Access Referral Team. Her commitment to service was further exemplified during her tenure as an AmeriCorps VISTA Assessment and Outreach Coordinator, where she organized outreach events, recruited volunteers, and distributed essential resources to underserved communities. Her efforts were recognized with the prestigious VISTA of the Year Award for her outstanding contributions. After normal work hours, she works at a piano teacher with B. Mello Studios, enjoys time with her family, and reads books.

Kevin Cleary is the Principal of Kevin Cleary Government Relations, LLC (KCGR LLC), an Albany-based government relations firm which for the last 25 years has provided State lobbying, consulting and other regulatory advocacy for a broad range of clients, especially in the health care and environmental sectors. Prior to starting this business, Kevin was a senior legislative staff person, a State regulator and a lobbyist at one of Albany’s largest firms.

Karen Pearl served as President & CEO of God’s Love We Deliver from 2006–2022, and now serves as the Special Advisor to the President & CEO. God’s Love addresses nutrition insecurity and illness by providing medically tailored meals and medical nutrition therapy to people living with severe illness, largely in the NYC metro area as well as in communities in New York State and New Jersey. Today, God’s Love cooks and home delivers more than 4.2 million medically tailored meals to more than 14,000 clients and their families. Karen also serves as the Chair of the Food Is Medicine Coalition, a national association of nonprofit, medically tailored food and nutrition services providers advocating for the integration of medically tailored meal services into healthcare for the critically and/or chronically ill. Under Karen’s leadership, God’s Love was the winner of a New York Times Nonprofit Excellence award in 2010, and a winner of the New York State Department of Health Social Determinants of Health Innovation Award in 2018. During COVID-19, God’s Love was recognized as an Essential Services Provider, never missing a delivery. In 2018, Karen received a City/State Women’s Leadership Award, and in 2019, was named one of Crain’s Notable Women in Health Care. She has published articles and guides, and is a regular presenter at national conferences and symposia. Karen holds a B.A. in Psychology from Cornell University and an M.A. in Counseling from New York University.

Erica Dahl is the Special Projects Coordinator for the SNAP-Ed New York Program at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orange County. Her primary role is to facilitate collaborative projects that bring meaningful policy, system, and environmental changes to individuals experiencing food insecurity focused on increasing access to physical activity and nutrition. As a Nutrition Educator, she recognizes that knowledge of how to lead a healthy lifestyle only goes as far as the environment’s ability to support the application of that information. Erica is driven to remove barriers, identify community strengths, and foster connections to make eating well and moving more accessible for all residents of New York State. Erica holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nutrition from Russell Sage College and a Master of Public Health from Southern New Hampshire University.

Kimberly is a dedicated Public Health Professional, holding a Master’s degree in Public Health along with a certificate in Maternal and Child Health from the University of Albany, School of Public Health. Kimberly’s passions include early childhood and adolescent health, community health, and the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Her background and previous experiences include working in adolescent sexual health education, child day care centers, and connecting families to local agencies to address social determinants of health-related needs. Kimberly is currently a Family and Community Educator at Brightside Up, working with families throughout the Capital Region to find accessible childcare that’s right for them. Having extensive knowledge and experiences within the field of public health achieved through her academic studies and internships, Kimberly aims to promote health equity in all the work that she does.

Alison M. Cohen is the co-Founder and Director of the National Right to Food Community of Practice, a growing network of folks from across the country focused on shared learning and capacity building among those advocating for the Right to Food at a local, state or regional level. Previously Alison served as the Senior Director of Programs for WhyHunger for 13 years and before that as the Director of the Northeast and Midwest Programs for Heifer International. Alison has thirty years’ experience supporting grassroots-led organizations addressing the root causes of hunger and poverty at the intersection of food insecurity, agriculture, racism, health, human rights, and climate change. Alison believes in the transformative potential of collective power through strengthening formations of people and communities working for food and farm justice. Alison has been living, biking and gardening with her family in Brooklyn, NY for more than two decades.

Maggie Cheney grew up growing & loving food. They have been involved with food and farming throughout their whole life, both urban and rural. In 2015 they co-founded Rock Steady Farm, a queer owned and operated cooperative vegetable farm rooted in social justice, food access and QTBIPOC farmer training in Millerton, NY. Rock Steady has a 180 person CSA, half of which are lower income members made possible through their sliding scale, and $70,000 in wholesale for low-income community partners. Rock Steady also trains Black and brown LGBTQ+ beginning and aspiring farmers through virtual and weekend workshops, and an exciting program called POLLINATE! which is a two week paid educational farm immersion specifically for LGBTQ+ farmers, which includes participation in an extended training via the HIVE for alumni. Prior to Rock Steady they moved to NYC in 2011, where they met many of the Rock Steady Community partners while working within a diversity of food justice and youth leadership programs, including The Bushwick Campus Farm, the NYC Youth Food Policy Council and Youth Food Justice Network. In addition they also started the North East Queer Farmer Network, which now has over 400 members. Maggie was also instrumental in the formation of the Food Sovereignty Fund, which funds food access projects across New York State by sourcing from specifically BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ farmers. In the off season they teach at Farm School NYC, an urban agriculture training program, as well as continue to support the efforts and inspiring work of Rise & Root Farm, which they co-founded in 2014.

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Engineering at the University at Albany, State University of New York. My research focuses on removing PFAS from water and conducting life cycle assessments (LCA) of sustainable food systems. As part of the Capital Region FRESH project, led by UAlbany researchers Beth Feingold and Xiaobo Xue Romeiko, my LCA work assessed the changes in dietary environmental impacts during COVID-19 in the New York State Capital Region. Currently, I am working on establishing food decay curves using data mining and machine learning based on previous studies, after which I will develop an LCA model based on these findings.

I am a CACFP Food Educator at Brightside Up for Home Based Early Education Providers. I have been with the agency for a total of 9 years, prior to joining the CACFP I was a Licensor and Registrar for child care programs. I love being able to visit child care programs and getting to know the providers. When I’m not working, my family and I enjoy going outside and exploring the local nature trails. In the Summertime, you will usually find us in Maine, though we enjoy visiting many different places

Tamika Dunkley is the co-founder of Seasoned Delicious Foods, a food product manufacturer in the Hudson Valley. That has now opened a brick an mortar multi-use facility in Lake Katrine. But while “the food is their bread and butter”, the non-profit work is her heart. A portion of all sales go directly to Seasoned Gives, the non-profit branch that was established to provide financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and job/life skills training with a special focus on BIPOC and women community members. Providing education on economics and how it effects communities of color through “Circulation of Our Dollar” events and seminars. Tamika has also been instrumental in the development of food equity and justice programs. In Ulster County she hosts a “Support Your Neighbor Program”, that has now distributed tens of thousands of pounds of food and meals to those in need. She is also co-founder of the Annual Caribbean Carnival in Saugerties, which brings art, music and food in addition to cultural education to Ulster County and beyond. Currently she is the vice chair of Ulster County Workforce Development and Hudson Valley Women in Business. On the board of directors for Black Farmers United, Ulster Community College Foundations, HVEDC, and DEI of the YMCA. Advisory for Hudson Valley Agribusiness Development Corporation, and the WDI for NYS Cannabis Board. She has been instrumental in social justice initiatives and advocacy work such as the Board of Saugerties Police Reform Commission.