Bio:

ELLIOT BERTHELET (he/him) is the Food Procurement and Programs Coordinator at Malvern Family Resource Centre. With an educational background in sociology, horticulture, and food science, he brings professional experience from across the food system.

CLAIRE PERTTULA (she/her) is the Urban Agriculture and Food Programs Manager and Malvern Family Resource Centre. She brings 10 years of farming, food bank, and other food systems work and research to the role, which informs her food sovereignty approach to food insecurity work.

SUSAN WRIGHT worked in student nutrition for years as the Regional Director for Ontario at the Breakfast Club of Canada. After being regularly asked by parents, community groups, and students for support outside the school day, she launched summerlunch+. She is a human resources professional with over 20 years of experience across corporate, non-profit, and public sectors. She believes that healthy food, active living, and shared meals help give kids a great start in life.

JOEIE SCHWARTZ, a Registered Dietician, has been with summerlunch+ since 2017, sharing her passion for cooking and health to help kids discover nutritious eating and gain food skills. She enjoys creating learning content, connecting with partner sites, and developing recipes. Her favourite summerlunch+ recipe is the black bean brownies.

ABHI POTDAR is the Founder and Executive Director of Nutrition Blocs, an Ottawa-based food charity, with a mission to Eradicate Food Insecurity for All School-Aged Children in Ottawa. He immigrated to Canada from his hometown Mumbai, India, about 8 years ago. Abhi has over 25 years of experience developing and managing Institutional and Community Food Programs, including University, Hospital, School Meal Programs, and Community Meals Programs, both in the United States and Canada. His expertise is in building program efficiencies and impact through innovation and collaboration; this includes building alternate food program models and bringing business acumen to the charity sector through social enterprise, cost-sharing models, and fundraising.