CACFP Board Member Elections 2022: Candidate Profiles

 

 

Annetta Rutland, CMP, CCNP 40 Years CACFP 321 family homes with 2,951 children served 50 child care centers with 2,850 children served	Conferences Attended: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 Conference Participation: Attendee, Workshop Presenter, Scholarships Committee Current Position: Strategic Director, Quality Programs 4C for Children Cincinnati, Ohio Current and Previous Boards Served: • National CACFP Sponsors Association - 9 years • Ohio CCFP - Chair, 2 years • Ohio CCFP - Vice Chair, 2 years • Ohio CCFP - Secretary, 1 year
Gabriela Rangel, CMP, CCNP 7 Years CACFP 293 family homes with 2,052 children served	Conferences Attended: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 Conference Participation: Attendee, Workshop Presenter, Scholarships Committee Current Position: CACFP Director Child & Family Resources Tucson, Arizona Current and Previous Boards Served: National CACFP Sponsors Association - 3 years
Jami Lee-Rokala, MS, LN, CCNP, CMP, CFPM, CLC 6 Years CACFP 16 Child Care Centers with 1,000 children served	Conferences Attended: 2022, 2021, 2019 Conference Participation: Attendee, Workshop Presenter Current Position: Child Nutrition Services Manager Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, Inc. Crookston, Minnesota
Lawrence Karow, CMP, CCNP, DDiv 15 Years CACFP 350+ child care centers with over 3,000 children served 199 at-risk afterschool sites with 1,800 children served	Conferences Attended: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 Conference Participation: Attendee, Workshop Presenter Current and Previous Boards Served: IDA SPENCE - Vice Chair, 8 years District Operations Team (UMC) - 10 years Church Impact Team (UMC) - 5 years Current Position: Chief Executive Officer UMCFood Ministry Covington, Kentucky
Melissa Moore, CCNP 11 Years CACFP 115 family homes with 1,000 children served 100 at-risk afterschool sites with 5,000 children served	Conferences Attended: 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012 Conference Participation: Attendee, Workshop Presenter Current and Previous Boards Served: National CACFP Sponsors Association - 6 years Treasurer - 4 years Catonsville Rails to Trails - 7 years Current Position: Director of Programs Family League of Baltimore Baltimore, Maryland
Robert Fillmore, CMP, CCNP 20 Years CACFP 7 child care centers with 392 children served	Conferences Attended: 2022, 2020, 2019 Conference Participation: Attendee Current Position: CACFP Program Coordinator Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Susan Ison, CMP 29 Years CACFP 200 family homes with 1,835 children served 5 child care centers with 550 children served	Conferences Attended: 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002, 1999, 1997, 1996, 1994 Conference Participation: Attendee, Workshop Presenter, Conference Committee Current and Previous Boards Served: National CACFP Sponsors Association - 3 years Community Shares of Utah - 9 years Executive Committee - 5 years Child Care Resources and Referral (CCR&R) - 5 years Current Position: Executive Director Helping Hands, Inc. Taylorsville, Utah

 

What are your qualifications to serve on the board?

Annetta: I am currently on the NCA Board of Directors, which has given me the opportunity to work with a number of wonderful individuals. I have served on Ohio CCFP and Clermont County local board.

Jamie: For the past 6 years, I have overseen the administration of the food and nutrition services for Early Head Start/ Head Start and Migrant and Seasonal Head Start for Region V and XII, located in Minnesota and North Dakota. As the Child Nutrition Services Manager for Tri-Valley Opportunity Council Inc., I sponsor 16 sites that participate in the CACFP and/or SFSP. Some of the qualifications and experience I possess include efficiently administering USDA’s food programs, creating menus that not only meet CACFP meal pattern requirements but also adhere to the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, conducting monitoring reviews, trainings, procurement, and financial administration. I offer guidance to all staff and families and have the ability to understand socioeconomic and cultural populations. Policy is another passion of mine, especially for the state of Minnesota. I have testified at the State Capitol alongside Senator Mark Johnson, Senator Mike Goggin, and Representative Ted Lippert on behalf of the Good Food Access Bill and Farm to School Bill. Creating partnerships is something I firmly believe in. I am constantly seeking opportunities to strengthen others around me, and I am an active leader in my community and state of Minnesota and am versatile in many different committees.

Gabriela: I am employed by a CACFP Sponsoring organization, have an NCA membership,  and 7 years of supervisory experience in a CACFP sponsoring organization. I am the current CACFP Director at Child & Family Resources, and a current NCA board member.

Lawrence: UMCFood partners with agencies that serve children healthy meals. UMCFood has fine tuned its operation, and prepares our own meals and quickly pivoted during the pandemic to serve meals while kids were out of school. UMCFood has received perfect or near perfect state audits for all of our programs.

Melissa: I am a current board member and have  served two terms totaling six years, including four as the treasurer.

Robert: I have been in a supervisory role in the Child and Adult Care Food Program within my agency for five years now. I have been in a supervisory role in Head Start for over fifteen years. I have been employed by a CACFP sponsoring Head Start program for over twenty years and have been an NCA member for three years. I currently manage our CACFP program for the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan, Inc. Head Start and Early Head Start program.

Susan: I have a strong desire to support, enhance, and help the CACFP thrive. Participation on the board gives national access to be able to do this and to support others in the same endeavor.

 

What is your personal commitment statement to the members of the NCA?

Jamie: I not only have a commitment to my profession, child nutrition, collaborative partners, and the people that I serve but have a passion for it. I participate in everything I do at the highest level, am engaged in the process, think critically, speak eloquently and advocate for change and continuous improvement. Working in rural Minnesota, we are challenged by geographic distance, economic needs, sparse population and limited resources. My solution is to unite efforts to meet the needs of my communities by working to build and strengthen partnerships and collaborate towards common goals. I am a creative, innovative problem solver that collaboratively works towards these goals.

Gabriela: I am committed to making a positive impact nationwide through advocacy for the CACFP.

Lawrence: I will commit to the furtherance of the mission of the organization, and to provide support and encouragement to other sponsors in order to achieve high quality meals programs throughout the country.

Melissa: Serving as a Board member for the past six years has shed light on the amount of work the Board and Team puts into making each event, resource and conference as impactful and affordable as possible. It has been a pleasure working with this group towards the mission of NCA and the past four years as Treasurer. I live to serve and would be honored to continue to do so for the Association.

Robert: If elected to serve the CACFP Community as a board member of the National CACFP Sponsors Association, I will ensure my participation in all board meetings, conferences, conference calls, and any other meetings deemed necessary by the board.

Susan: I will take the time needed to make sure I fulfill all assignments and duties. Participation in the monthly meetings, committee meetings, the retreats and conference will be prioritized in my schedule.

 

What are your personal long range goals for NCA?

Annetta: I would like to continue to build our organizations membership, as well as increasing the number of people receiving their CACFP Professional Certification! The more you know, the more you grow!

Jamie: My long range goals are to build partnerships and collaborate with other professionals not only in the Child Nutrition Profession, but advocate on the state and national level to educate people about the importance of child nutrition and the positive impact programs such as CACFP play in children and families we serve.

Gabriela: Support NCA Mission, vision and values. Continue learning and advocating for our CACFP community. I would like to make a positive impact within the CACFP community and being part of the board will give me this ability, meanwhile supporting any new project within the NCA community.

Lawrence: Work collaboratively with the board and other sponsors to advance the ability of homes and centers to provide high quality meals; advocating for national and local policies that enable the vision to be realized.

Melissa: I see the National CACFP Sponsors Association as a one stop shop for Sponsors, Providers, Sites, Centers and Parents. NCA provides the resources that we need for meal patterns, enrichment, outreach and advocacy. These materials have helped our organization focus on its mission of helping families thrive without needing a graphic designer, policy expert, outreach specialist, and nutrition expert to develop all these things. These resources have been very affordable with our membership and the Conference is the most beneficial training and networking event of the year for these Federal Nutrition Programs. Continuing these themes and supporting the CACFP Community during reauthorization would be my focus if I were elected to another term.

Robert: My long-range goal for the NCA as a board member is to learn as much as I can about the NCA, to participate and assist the board and NCA as much as possible in any area I can.

Susan: To work with the board as NCA becomes even more of a national voice for the childcare industry. To advocate for the children and their nutritional needs.