Bio:

MERYN CORKERY  (she/her) is a white settler on the beautiful unceded Squamish territory. As School Food Coordinator with the Sea to Sky School District, she champions the expansion of school food programs across 15 schools in one of BC’s diverse and geographically expansive school districts an hour north of Vancouver. Before this role, Meryn served as a Community Animator with Farm to School BC, where she brought together partners from education, public health, agriculture, and community organizations. She is a passionate advocate for the power of partnership-driven work — embracing its complexity and messiness as the driver of lasting, meaningful community change.

JORDAN SOKMENOGLU is a Certified Food and Nutrition Manager with the Saskatoon Public School Division, where she leads school‑based food service operations and the development of culturally responsive meal programs. She oversees the division’s universal hot lunch and snack program, guiding menu planning, procurement, logistics, staffing, and overall food service management. Jordan’s work is grounded in food literacy, equity, and student well‑being, and she advocates for the vital role of Nutrition Managers in school food systems. With a strong focus on mentorship and team development, she builds capacity to ensure school food programs are nourishing, efficient, resilient, and rooted in best practice

COURTNEY WHEELTON is from the Tahltan Nation based in Telegraph Creek, British Columbia. She is a born and raised Yukoner, with family ties to the Kwanlin Dün First Nation. Since 2020, she has worked for the Yukon First Nation Education Directorate and has led the development of a nutrition program for Indigenous children in the territory.  She is the mother of a two-year old and enjoys sharing the simple joys with her son: going to their family’s fish camp in the summer, picking cranberries in the fall, and tanning moose hides under the guidance of traditional teachings.

MATTHEW KEMSHAW is one of the founders and current Executive Director of Flourish! School Food Society. He has worked for over twenty years supporting school food program development through academic research and not-for-profit roles, including ten years working in management positions in the not-for-profit sector. Matthew holds a BA in Political Science and Environmental Studies and an MA in Environmental Education and Communication. He is a committed father and caretaker of the land. His family settled on southern Vancouver Island three generations ago and he continues to live in the unceded territories of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.