Janet Whited is an Environmental Specialist for San Diego Unified School District and is on a mission to help students, teachers, and staff reduce waste, help the environment, help the community, and save money. Her focus is to engage the entire SDUSD family in developing an overall sustainability mindset that will assist the District in reaching their Climate Action Plan goals. To this end, she develops and implements programs to expand recycling and composting opportunities within the district, conducts environmental education and outreach, and assists in the coordination of the district’s edible food reduction, recovery and rescue program at over 180 schools and district facilities. She has worked for the district in this capacity for over ten years and previously worked at the City of San Diego Environmental Services Department coordinating residential and commercial recycling programs.

Duane Beebe is the current Lead Custodian at Harmony Elementary School in Vancouver, Washington’s Evergreen School District. An employee of American Building Maintenance, Duane’s responsibilities are to maintain the Safety and Health of the school. Overseeing aspects of daily sanitization and smooth operation are key factors in the success of the school. He is a former employee of the high tech profession and has applied such knowledge to the school’s meal programs. Serving with a focus on early habit forming skills at the kindergarten level to 5th grade has been a process that has yielded great results. With the team effort learned from previous jobs he has enabled kids to have a win-win mentality in ownership of the school and their practices.

Erin Primer is the Director of Food & Nutrition Services at San Luis Coastal Unified. She brings over 15 years of experience in the food service industry, ranging from high quality catering to healthcare, universities and school food service. With two young children of her own, she is passionate about providing students with quality food options and ensuring a healthy school environment. She constantly tests new recipes that fit dietary needs while managing to establish food contracts with local farmers and vendors. Erin believes in teaching youth about our food system and engaging them in delicious and healthy meal options!

Vince is the Executive Director of Nutrition Services & Warehousing for Natomas USD. With over 20 years of experience in the food service industry including 8 years as Department Chair of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Los Angeles, Vince has merged his background in culinary arts, nutrition, education and business operations to bring delicious meals to the students of Natomas USD. As the Executive Director since 2012 Vince embraced many sustainablity programs including California Thursday, a collaboration between the Center for Ecoliteracy and public school districts to serve healthy, freshly prepared school meals made from California-grown food.