Lisa Suriano – Founder and CEO
Lisa Suriano, the inspired creator of the Veggiecation® program, had little choice but to love and respect her vegetables. As a child, she picked armfuls of fresh string beans, escarole, and squash from her grandfather’s abundant garden and placed them in the capable hands of her grandmother and father, both of whom raised (and fed) her right in their busy kitchens. Meanwhile Lisa’s mother taught her the art of light-style cooking and helped develop her love for whole grains. After she grew strong on delicious home-cooked meals, she went off to The College of New Jersey, where she earned a degree in Business Administration. In the spring of 2010, Lisa completed a Masters of Science in Nutrition and Food Science at Montclair State University. She has studied food processing and its effect of nutrient denaturation, sports-specific nutrition, FDA/USDA regulations, and food allergy safety and labeling. Currently, Lisa keeps abreast of the most current research in the areas of nutrition and nutrition education. She has been a guest writer on these topics for several popular school food advocacy blogs such as Better DC School Food and The Lunch Tray. Lisa has also attained a variety of complementary credentials.
She is:
- A Certified Personal Trainer
- Educated at Columbia Teachers College Center for Ecoliteracy’s Seminar on “Rethinking School Lunch”
- ServSafe Certified in proper food handling & protection against foodborne illness and allergy management.
- Named a “Female Entrepreneur of the Year” at the 2014 Steve Awards.
Lisa Suriano, the inspired creator of the Veggiecation® program, had little choice but to love and respect her vegetables. As a child, she picked armfuls of fresh string beans, escarole, and squash from her grandfather’s abundant garden and placed them in the capable hands of her grandmother and father, both of whom raised (and fed) her right in their busy kitchens. Meanwhile Lisa’s mother taught her the art of light-style cooking and helped develop her love for whole grains. After she grew strong on delicious home-cooked meals, she went off to The College of New Jersey, where she earned a degree in Business Administration. In the spring of 2010, Lisa completed a Masters of Science in Nutrition and Food Science at Montclair State University. She has studied food processing and its effect of nutrient denaturation, sports-specific nutrition, FDA/USDA regulations, and food allergy safety and labeling. Currently, Lisa keeps abreast of the most current research in the areas of nutrition and nutrition education. She has been a guest writer on these topics for several popular school food advocacy blogs such as Better DC School Food and The Lunch Tray. Lisa has also attained a variety of complementary credentials. She is:
- A Certified Personal Trainer
- Educated at Columbia Teachers College Center for Ecoliteracy’s Seminar on “Rethinking School Lunch”
- ServSafe Certified in proper food handling & protection against foodborne illness and allergy management.
- Named a “Female Entrepreneur of the Year” at the 2014 Steve Awards.
Upon completion of her undergraduate degree, Lisa joined the family business, J.C. Food, a premier school food service company for independent schools in New York, Connecticut and Boston metro areas, as the Director of Operations. Since joining the J.C. Foods Management team, Lisa has assisted with the opening of new accounts; she also supervises the day-to-day operations in many of the schools. Behind the scenes, she coordinates the company’s local food procurement and provides menu review and nutrition guidance.
Lisa also serves as the Co-Chair officer of the board of the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food; a non-profit that works in partnership with New York City’s Department of SchoolFood to introduce plant-based foods and nutrition education to improve the health of New York state students.
Additionally, she serves as the Nutritionist for Lessing’s Food Service Management consulting for college level foods service programs, providing menu advisement and sports nutrition guidance for university athletics teams and providing nutritional services for their corporate dining customers.
Lisa has been featured in a selection of national and regional media, including traditional print and broadcast as well as online news and social media outlets. Featured broadcast segments include NBC Weekend Today in New York, WPIX Morning News and NY1, where Lisa shared with viewers healthy, vegetarian recipes and discussed how viewers can incorporate healthy food choices into their diets. Lisa has also made broadcast appearances on The Wendy Williams Show, ABC News International, One-on-One with Steve Adubato, FIOS Push Play, CUNY TV, NY1 and News 12 New York, Bronx, Brooklyn and New Jersey.
Randi Kant – Planning Board Member
Randi Kant, MS, MPH, ~ Certified Health Education Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Intrinsic Coach®, Certified Veggiecator® Educator ~ self-proclaimed community health educator and advocate.
Motivated by a deeply held belief in the power of a healthy lifestyle to maximize health and quality of life, Randi has developed, led and advanced wellness programs for extremely diverse populations in a wide variety of settings.
Her work in the wellness field has flourished into a cornucopia career encompassing active aging, personal training, health coaching, worksite wellness and community health advocacy.
Now as a mom to her 4 year old daughter, she loves bringing Veggiecation® to the families in her community-minded Chicago neighborhood. She says it’s a dream program that fills a simple yet ultimately vital need – the acquisition of the knowledge and skills needed to make the healthy choice the easy choice.
Lauren Roth – Program Illustrator
Lauren’s artwork is a unique combination of specialty paper, watercolor, acrylics, paint markers, ink, you name it and she has probably used it!
Her focus is a mainly a linear based whimsical expression of simple objects found in life. The dreamy colors and organic shapes layered on a textured surface invite the viewer in. To her it brings an understanding of what she see and what she want to express to the world.
Lauren received her degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Illustration. Since graduating has worked as an artist and marketer for Whole Foods Market in New Jersey, New York and Hawaii, while keeping up a steady freelance of gallery exhibitions, magazine publications, and many more unique fun projects. The places she has lived and traveled hold a heavy influence on her world.
She has an array of styles, all unique to her, please check out Lauren’s website see them all. You will also find all the current fun happenings on her facebook page under Yellow Bird Bohemia.
Jovanni Ramos – Education Consultant
Jovanni Ramos graduated Fordham University in 2005 with a degree in English and Sociology. He immediately was accepted into Americorps’ New York City Teaching Fellows program and has been teaching elementary school in Washington Heights for the last six years. Jovanni taught all early childhood grades (K, 1, 2), as well as small intervention groups with students in grades 3-5. While teaching he obtained a masters degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from the City College of New York. After he completed Bank Streets College’s leadership program for Bilingual and ESL teachers and received a leadership certification.
To expand his teaching experience and continue his professional growth Jovanni now serves as a founding teacher and team leader at a new charter school in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Nancy Burgos-Jackson – Recipe Developer
Nancy Burgos-Jackson began her school food career in 1989. She received her degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management from New York City Technical College. After graduation, she was selected by the school to do an internship in Germany. She took full advantage of her time in Europe, traveling extensively and getting first hand experience in sampling different foods and cultures. At every opportunity, Nancy has continued her travels – always on the trail of new food adventures, which she brings back and shares with the schools she works with. Nancy worked in independent school food service for four years as the Assistant Chef Manager before becoming the executive chef at JC Food in 1993. Nancy is a very talented and innovative chef who oversees the day-to-day operations of many schools throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. She is passionate about creating more nutritious, lighter versions of classic dishes. Her favorite part of her job is getting to see the smiles on students’ faces and see how excited they get about the foods she serves them. Nancy’s greatest accomplishment is her two beautiful twin daughters in whom she has successfully grown a love of vegetables!