Hector Figarella :: Project Director

Hector Figarella is the Project Director for the Holyoke Food & Fitness Policy Council.  He oversees the implementation of the Community Action Plan, working closely with our lead partners (The Holyoke Health Center, The Greater Holyoke YMCA and Nuestras Raices).  Prior to joining the HFFPC, Hector worked at The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts focusing on emergency food access in the four counties of Western Massachusetts, providing support for emergency food programs around capacity building, trainings, and advocacy.  Hector has worked as a farm worker in Western Mass., and sits on the Board of the Food Bank of Western Mass., The Markhan-Nathan Fund for Social Justice, he’s also a member of the Steering Committee for the Healthy Incentives Pilot.  Hector is a graduate of Umass Amherst and he lives in Western Mass. with his three kids.

Contact: Hector.Figarella@hhcinc.org

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Laura Porter:: Program Coordinator

Laura Porter is Holyoke Food & Fitness Policy Council’s Program Coordinator.  She works on projects at HFFPC such as grant and report writing, data and communications management, and program management and evaluation.   With a background in adult education, ESOL instruction, and community development, Laura brings her passion for community organizing to support the multi-faceted efforts of the Holyoke Food and Fitness Policy Council.  Her experience includes a two year term of service in the Peace Corps in El Salvador, a Master’s of Arts in Teaching ESOL and Spanish, and many years of ESOL instruction throughout the Pioneer Valley.  In her free time, she loves spending time with her son, playing in the dirt and watching things grow in her home garden, cooking,  dancing, and hanging out with friends around a fire.

Contact: laura.porter@hhcinc.org

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Diego Angarita, Nuestras Raices  :: Food Systems Coordinator

Diego Angarita Horowitz is the Food Systems Organizer for Nuestras Raices. He is in charge of coordinating the food policy change part of the Community Action Plan for the Holyoke Food and Fitness Policy Council. As an organizer he coordinates the youth program, works with community food producers off season and sits on the Massachusetts Food Policy Alliance. He graduated from Hampshire College in 2008 and focused on the intersections of Latin American studies, Media studies, and Nutrition.

Contact: diego.angarita@gmail.com

Chef Ana L. Jaramillo, Holyoke Health Center :: Health & Wellness Coordinator

In late summer of 2010, Ana started working at Holyoke Food and Fitness Policy Council as the Child and Adolescent Health and Wellness Coordinator. A Colombian native, Ana grew up cooking with her Colombian mother, learning many of the traditions of classical Colombian cuisine. Her family owns a food company, and in her early teens, she worked at her family’s restaurants and business, expanding her culinary knowledge.

At the age of 24, Ana graduated as a Food Science Engineer in Medellin, Colombia. To further hone her talent, she enrolled and graduated in the Connecticut Culinary Institute. Her education and extensive knowledge of culinary and gastronomy has given her a wide range of ideas to draw upon and a broad framework to create innovative Latin cuisine. She has worked in various restaurant settings, from University of Massachusetts Catering Department as a culinary student intern to the Dean Technical High School as a Culinary Instructor. She has been working in collaboration with Holyoke Public Schools to increase awareness of school wellness within the public school system culture and overall school environment, focusing on programs and policies that promote healthy eating, physical activity, and nutrition education and physical education. Ana has been an active board member of the Pioneer Valley Chef Association for the past three years, and also serves as Holyoke Food and Fitness Policy Council’s representative at meetings of Holyoke Public Schools’ Health Advisory Board, the Holyoke Food Task Force, the Springfield/Holyoke Health Alliance for research and engagement (SSHARE), Peck Basic Needs Group, and the Holyoke Safe Route to School Bus Group.

Liz Budd, Greater Holyoke YMCA :: Built Environment Coordinator

Catherine Sands and Carol Stewart :: Partnership in Practice

Partnership in Practice is the evaluation team lead by Catherine Sands and Carol Stewart. Catherine Sands, MPPA, Director of Fertile Ground farm to school programs, and lecturer of Community Food Systems at UMass Amherst; and Carol Stewart, MPPA, current Ombudsperson at Mount Holyoke College and former Director of Mediation Services at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in New York City. This team offers a mix of resources including experience in community organizing around food access and school food, skilled community-based participatory research and evaluation, multi-sector collaboration and conflict resolution expertise including facilitation and negotiation skills. With ongoing support from the University of MA School of Public Health & Health Sciences and the Center for Public Policy, strong ties to the to the Holyoke community and a knowledge and appreciation of the diversity of Holyoke, Partnership in Practice strives to engage the community in a multi-method, participatory evaluation process.

Arielle Aronoff :: Youth Food Advocate

HFFPC welcomes aboard Arielle Aronoff through an Americorps VISTA position. She graduated from SUNY Geneseo in Western New York with a BA in Anthropology and minor in Environmental Studies. We welcome her to our team, where she will serve as our Youth Food Advocate, spearheading the School Food Task Force and organizing the youth F.E.E.S.T (Food Education Empowerment Sustainability Team). She has experience in community organizing through a variety of college organizations including the Geneseo Community Garden, the Geneseo Environmental Organization, and the Sustainability Task Force. We look forward to working with her as she puts her skills to work in a new environment.  

contact: Arielle.Aronoff@hhcinc.org

Anne Cody :: Kindergarten Initiative Coordinator

Anne Cody is the Kindergarten Initiative Coordinator for the Holyoke Food and Fitness Policy Council.  The Kindergarten Initiative will pilot at three Holyoke schools beginning in fall 2012; prior to coming to Holyoke Anne ran the KI in the Worcester Public School system.  She is deeply committed to local agriculture, having worked for many years with the Massachusetts Farm to School Project, as a Farm Viability Enhancement/APR Improvement Program business plan consultant for the Mass. Department of Agricultural Resources, and as owner of her own small farm located in Oakham.  Prior to her work in agriculture Anne has fifteen years management experience in financial technology in both Boston and New York, and an economics degree from Wellesley College.

contact: Anne.Cody@hhcinc.org