FRN National Team
Executive Director | she, her, hers
Regina Harmon has been the Executive Director of Food Recovery Network since 2015 and has been a pivotal voice in raising awareness and harnessing action to reduce food waste, end hunger, and positively impact the environment. She has been invited to share her insights with media outlets such as CNN and Al Jazeera and was recognized as one of the most influential leaders in the food industry by SELF magazine and Food Tank. Apart from her position at Food Recovery Network, Regina is also a board member of Food Tank and Earth Island Institute, serves on ReFED’s Advisory Council, is an OpEd Project Ambassador, and is a member of the Philadelphia artists' collaborative Pink Noise Projects. Regina emphasizes the need to address the racial disparities in the food system that disproportionately affect the health and economic outcomes of Black, Latinx/Latine, and Native American communities, highlighting the importance of working together to bring about change.
Regina holds an MA in Literary and Cultural Studies from Carnegie Mellon University and a BA in English Literature from the University of Maine at Augusta.
Chief Operating Officer | she, her, hers
Katie is delighted to join FRN as its first chief operating officer. In this role, Katie will partner with the executive director to oversee programming, fundraising, communications and operations for the organization. Katie has worked across all sectors including beginning her career managing the fundraising, communications and messaging for local political campaigns. She also worked for Harris Interactive (now Nielsen) in its nonprofit and consumer package goods practice. While at Harris Interactive, she ran the DonorPulse which tracked the rates of giving, volunteering, and advocacy in America.
Prior to joining FRN, Katie was the director of strategic initiatives at Independent Sector where she oversaw the development, implementation and evaluation of key internal and external organization priorities. Katie has a B.A. in political science from James Madison University (go dukes!) and a M.S. in nonprofit leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.
Director of Programs | she, her, hers
At FRN, Katie supports college students in recovering surplus food and finding their place in the food recovery movement at large. She also leads FRN's after-school produce market program, where she gets to debate the merits of broccoli vs. carrots with elementary school students. She grew up in South Florida (sofla if you know) and now lives in DC. The question always on her mind is - how do we make places that are good to live in for everyone? Two things she loves are finding that one perfect seat in the coffee shop that you never want to leave and making increasingly specific themed hangouts with her friends.
Operations Manager | he, him, his
Born in California and raised in Colorado, Stephen has made his way across the country to Washington, DC, where he joined FRN in 2021. After obtaining his degree in International Affairs from the University of Colorado, Boulder, Stephen spent several years in the large retail grocery space managing operations, finances, and working to ensure a positive work environment.
As FRN’s Operations Manager, Stephen supports programming and manages internal operations. In his free time, he enjoys exploring the new outdoor areas on the East Coast through hiking, backpacking, and kayaking.
Director of Development | she, her, hers
Since joining the FRN team in 2018, Cassie has worked across nearly all areas of organizational development including program, communications, stakeholder engagement, and fundraising. Today, as the Director of Development, Cassie uses her holistic knowledge of FRN’s programs and initiatives to direct all aspects of fundraising in support of FRN’s national college student-led food recovery mission and programming. She is known for bringing energy and light into a space, leading with curiosity and always asking questions, and integrating feedback to increase personal and team performance.
Cassie graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology. After venturing to Washington D.C. to start her career at FRN, Cassie has since then moved back to the California Central Coast where she now lives, plays, and explores while continuing to work remotely for FRN. When she’s not working with FRN or volunteering in her local community, Cassie is most likely found playing in the ocean, exploring outdoors with her partner and pup, treasure hunting at local thrift stores, crafting at home, or hanging upside down in her aerial yoga hammock.
Director of Stakeholder Engagement | she, her, hers
Erin Price is a Virginia native, living just outside of Washington, DC. She received her BS in Psychology from the University of Mary Washington in 2013. Over the years, she discovered her passion for food policy and food justice issues, which inspired Erin to earn her Master’s degree in Public Administration from American University in 2017. Erin now serves as the Director of Stakeholder Engagement at Food Recovery Network, providing 100+ food businesses and events with the resources needed to donate their surplus food. Erin is committed to the movement for a more sustainable and equitable food system, which she is thrilled to support through her work with FRN and in her personal life every day. In her free time, Erin enjoys wandering through the farmer’s market, experimenting with vegetable-inspired recipes in her kitchen, and traveling - especially to explore our National Parks!
Development Manager | she, her, hers
Kimmy graduated from West Chester University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Geography in 2019. While completing her undergraduate degree, she focused her studies on sustainability and the impacts people have on their environment. Her passion for sustainability and social justice led her to become a founding member and first president of West Chester University's Food Recovery Network chapter. After graduating, she continued at WCU where she received her Masters in Geography and certificates in Nonprofit Administration, Education for Sustainability, and Geographic Information Systems. She focused her graduate education on sustainable food systems and is excited to work at FRN as the Development Manager to continue fighting for a just, sustainable future for all. In her free time, Kimmy enjoys hanging out with friends, adding books to her “to read” pile, and spoiling her cats.
Program Manager | she, her, hers
As Program Manager for FRN, Julia provides technical assistance and support to student chapters across the country to ensure that they can fight hunger and climate change in their communities! Julia was born and raised in Buffalo, NY and earned her BS in Conservation Biology with a minor in Applied Statistics at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). At ESF, Julia was a student leader for her FRN Chapter and found her passion for conservation, education, and environmental justice. After graduating in 2020, Julia completed a year of service with AmeriCorps Cape Cod where she completed outdoor field work including shellfish propagation, marine mammal strandings, prescribed burns, and much more. Julia currently lives in Orlando, FL and in her free time is a Conservation Educator at Walt Disney World teaching guests natural history topics and the importance of conservation. She enjoys going to the beach, thrifting, watching baseball, and being out in nature.
Director of Communications | she, her, hers
Over the past two decades, Sarah has played a major role in helping nonprofits and small businesses engage community stakeholders through strategic communications and marketing. Before joining Food Recovery Network, she served as the communications lead for direct service hunger relief organizations, including Beyond Hunger based on Chicago’s West Side. Her dedication to food justice stems from her personal experiences facing financial and food insecurity.
Sarah started her career in student leadership development and is enthusiastic about joining an organization that aligns with her life’s work. She is excited to contribute to Food Recovery Network’s leadership in addressing climate change and ending hunger through food recovery efforts.
Sarah resides in Oak Park, Illinois with her family. She is actively involved in local civic activities and volunteers to help promote an equitable, inclusive community where everyone is celebrated. Sarah holds a Master’s in College Student Personnel Administration from Illinois State University.
Communications Associate | she, her, hers
Moving from her 2023 role as Communications Assistant, Bella joined FRN full time in 2024 as the Communications Associate. Her role involves managing daily communications with students and stakeholders, including social media, content creation, graphic design, and more.
Bella graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Master’s degree in Public Policy, and currently resides in Raleigh. She has worked in food pantries, interned under policy professionals, and engaged in grassroots advocacy coalitions, all centered around food and farming systems. Bella is particularly interested in exploring the ethics of food, taking into account animal rights, environmental impact, labor practices, and other complex factors.
She enjoys collecting physical media, involving herself in overly complex DIY projects, traveling far and wide to try new vegan restaurants, and picking up her long-forgotten instruments every once in a while.
Program & Operations Associate | she, her, hers
As a Programs & Operations Associate, Hannah supports the Food Recovery Verified team. She credits her passion for food waste and hunger to her rural upbringing on a multi-generational Iowa farm. A Midwesterner her whole life, she moved to Washington, DC from Kansas City, Missouri, where she was a Data Analyst at a regional planning nonprofit called Mid-America Regional Council. Her time on the employee green team, creating sustainability programming and supporting the organization's internal composting program, sparked her curiosity of how she could pivot her public service career into the environmental space.
Hannah is currently a graduate student at American University pursuing a Master of Public Administration degree and recently completed an internship at The Climate Reality Project in their Executive Office. She also holds a B.S. in Political Science from Northwest Missouri State University. In her free time, she enjoys reading, thrifting, cooking, being outdoors, and cheering on her favorite sports teams.
Program Associate | she, her, hers
Fran graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelor's in Environmental Studies and later received a master's from Northern Arizona University in Sustainable Communities. While completing her master's, her passion for waste mitigation grew. After graduating from NAU, Fran became the Sustainability Specialist for Campus Dining and was introduced to food waste. This is where the Food Recovery Network became the center for her work.
Fran collaborated with FRN while working for NAU Campus Dining, and over the course of three years created an amazing network of student leaders and volunteers, a zero-waste food recovery, and integrated FRN practices into catering and football games for larger events. She is incredibly proud of bringing a new reusable container system on NAU's campus (USEFULL) with the full support and funding from NAU Green Fund. With the help of capstone groups, interns, and volunteers the work done at NAU will continue to thrive.
These experiences led Fran to a graduate certificate in Sustainable Food Policy and Leadership from Arizona State University. She is excited to join the FRN team as the Programs Associate and bring her past experiences to help support theFRN chapters. In her free time, she enjoys digging holes, bicycling, being a dedicated mashed potato enthusiast, and watching soap operas.
Stakeholder Engagement Assistant | she, her, hers
Christel joins the FRN team after recently completing her MS in Human Nutrition at California State University Northridge (CSUN). During her time as a CSUN student, Christel served as Volunteer Coordinator for the FRN chapter on campus. Through her chapter experience with FRN, Christel was connected with her campus food pantry and found her path in life. Christel continued to work at her campus food pantry throughout her academic journey and gained not only joy through the work, but a sense of belonging and community by connecting students with the resources they needed to succeed, including shelf stable and fresh foods, CalFresh Food benefits, and nutrition education. In addition to working with FRN part-time, Christel continues to work at CSUN as the Food Programs Care Coordinator with the Basic Needs Office.
As the Stakeholder Engagement Assistant for FRN, Christel assists with a variety of projects including data collection for the Food Rescue Locator Map as part of FRN’s Food Recovery Resource Hub, outreach to hunger-fighting partners, assistance with fundraising initiatives and grant proposals, and other special projects. In her free time, Christel enjoys cooking, reading, and playing with her cat, Sardine.
Board of Directors
President
Tina Gooch grew up in the rural Midwest and saw firsthand how the community, from professional farmers to backyard gardeners, planted, harvested and consumed what they needed, with minimal waste. She is passionate about Food Recovery Network's mission to fight hunger and reduce food waste, bringing a positive impact to the fight against climate change. In addition to proudly serving on the Board of FRN, Tina is the lead privacy attorney at AT&T, where she helps the company navigate complex global privacy matters. Before joining AT&T, Tina practiced as a white collar criminal defense attorney in Atlanta, Georgia, defending large companies in criminal and civil fraud matters, as well as conducting corporate internal investigations. Tina is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School.
Vice President
Bill McConagha (He/Him) is a partner in the FDA/Healthcare practice at Latham & Watkins. He is a nationally-recognized lawyer in Food and Drug law who has a unique combination of experience with regulatory, enforcement, and legislative matters. He worked for more than 17 years at the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in a variety of capacities including as an Assistant Commissioner, a Senior Attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel, and a Health Policy Advisor to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). While at HELP, Bill helped negotiate the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 (FSMA), which modernized federal regulation of the nation’s food supply. Before joining FDA, Bill worked as a criminal defense attorney at the Office of the Public Defender for the State of Maryland. He is a graduate of Carleton College and the Georgetown University Law Center.
Treasurer
Kevin Rettle (He/Him) is a proven strategic planning, marketing,
product development, and data science professional with over 25 years of leadership experience.
Currently, he heads strategic initiatives and primary supplier solutions at Amazon Business. Prior to Amazon, he worked at Sodexo across all onsite sectors, including colleges, universities, and schools, where he championed and experienced the work of Food Recovery Network first-hand. In addition to his work with FRN, he is an active member of the Loudoun County Medical Reserve Corp.
Kevin graduated from Liberty University with a degree in International Business and resides in Northern Virginia with his wife and two sons.
Board Member
Kenneth N. Ivory is a transformational hospitality thought leader, senior living executive, inspirational coach, community advocate, enthusiastic trainer, contributing author, and international speaker. His professional career spans over 35 years in the hospitality, academic, senior living, and non-profit industries. He has served in various roles from food service manager, vice-president of operations, regional food and beverage leader at Walt Disney World, executive vice president, chief operating officer, and others. He is currently the Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Community Life for ClarkLindsey. Previously he served as Chief Strategy Officer and COO for Genuine Foods.
His credentials further include several professional certificates in the food and beverage safety sphere, as well as personality/temperament facilitation, and fostering a well-rounded workplace environment. He is a former adjunct faculty member in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Administration at North Carolina Central University. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Society for Hospitality and Foodservice Management (SHFM). He has recently been appointed to the LeadingAge Illinois CRCC/Life Plan Community Cabinet.
He holds an Associate of Science in Home Economics from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Bachelor of Science in Food Service Management from The University of Georgia, Postgraduate Diploma in Management Studies and Master of Business Administration in Hospitality from Oxford Brookes University in Oxford, England, and recently completed a Professional Certificate in Strategic Management from the Wharton School of Business online at the University of Pennsylvania.
Board Member
Charles is an experienced investment professional with over 17 years of experience, and he is currently a Senior Portfolio Manager at Macquarie Asset Management where he runs a Global Growth fund. During his investments career, he has spent time analyzing and traveling the globe to understand the fundamentals of companies in the public domain, with a particular passion for the Technology Sector. Prior to investing, he spent several years in Telecom and Manufacturing.
Charles has also been very passionate about mentoring and giving back to the community throughout his career. While in Kansas City, Charles spent 9 years as a mentor for at-risk youth as part of the Youth Educational Success (YES) program run by Cornerstones of Care in Kansas City. He was also a Board Member for 4 years at the Chinese School of Greater Kansas City. Since 2022, Charles is a Board Member for Friends For Youth, an organization that provides mentoring services for the at-risk youth population. He is also a volunteer at Freedom Service Dogs, an organization that transforms lives by partnering veterans, children with neurocognitive disabilities, and individuals with physical challenges with custom-trained assistance dogs. The mission of FRN to recover surplus food and feed anyone experiencing hunger in the USA is something that resonates deeply with Charles.
Charles earned a Bachelor of Engineering in mechanical engineering from the Bangalore Institute of Technology (B.I.T.) India, graduating with Honors. He earned an MBA with an emphasis in finance from the University of Missouri–Kansas City. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation. He is married with 2 wonderful children and he lives in Denver, Colorado.
Executive Chair of Student and Alumni Advisory Board | he, him
Dheeraj Bandaru, originally from Centreville, VA, is an incoming Masters student at the University of Chicago and is majoring in Computer Science. Dheeraj was an active member of Georgia Tech’s Campus Kitchens Project for the past 3 years and was the President of the organization. He has previously interned for the City of Atlanta and helped support the AgLanta program. He is excited to lead SAAB for this upcoming year and help make an impact.
Board Member
Dr. Jessica Lautz is the Deputy Chief Economist and Vice President of Research at the National Association of REALTORS®. She has been with NAR since 2007.
The core of her research focuses on analyzing trends for both NAR members and housing consumers. She is in demand as a speaker and by major media outlets to provide commentary on the real estate market. She has testified before Congress on behalf of NAR.
She also volunteers at Nottingham Trent University as an industry fellow mentoring real estate graduate students, is a committee chair at the National Association of Business Economics, and bakes birthday cakes for underserved youth with Cake4Kids.
Dr. Lautz has been recognized by Housing Wire's Women of Influence and RISMedia's Newsmaker award.
Jessica received her Doctorate of Real Estate from Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom. She also holds a Master's in Public Policy from American University and undergraduate degrees in Political Science and Law and Justice from Central Washington University.
Board Member
Russ Taylor is an accomplished insurance professional with nearly a decade of experience, specializing in manufacturing risks across the defense, food, beverage, and beauty industries. He has a proven track record of assisting companies with complex product liability exposures, developing innovative, founder-forward risk management practices that address real-world risks.
Currently, He is the head of insurance for SecureCPG, a specialty insurance brokerage that focuses on food, beverage, and beauty brands. Prior to SecureCPG, he worked in the consulting space advising manufacturing and engineering firms in the Mid-Atlantic.
Russ is a graduate of Virginia Tech where he was a member of the varsity tennis team. He currently resides in Baltimore with his wife and daughter.
Advisory Board
Student and Alumni Advisory Board
The Student and Alumni Board (SAAB) is a group of passionate, dedicated student and alumni leaders lending the perspective of students on the ground to the overall mission and direction of FRN.
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