STEERING COMMITTEE

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Cheryl Jean, Co-Chair, Community Member

Director, Lower Roxbury Coalition and Wellness Initiative

Cheryl Jean is currently the Director of the Lower Roxbury Coalition and Wellness Initiative.  The Lower Roxbury Coalition and Wellness Initiative is a network of community stakeholders dedicated to improving the quality of life for residents in our community by supporting and strengthening children and families for a stronger and healthier community.  Cheryl has 25 years of experience in the nonprofit field and has held various roles in the non-profit, public, and private sectors of Boston. Cheryl’s work with local organizations through her organization is a testament to her using her platform for good.   Cheryl is also the Vice President of F.A.M.I.L.Y. Movement’s board, F.A.M.I.L.Y. Movement is an organization dedicated to fight homelessness by stabilizing and empowering families in our community. Cheryl is the founder of Single Mothers For Change (SMFC), an organization addressing the challenges of single mothers in the community. The organization has created a space to share resources and workshops with the community.  Cheryl most recently became the Co-chair of the Boston Food Access Council ( BFAC). The Boston Food Access Council (BFAC) brings community and stakeholder voices together to create access to affordable, just, culturally connected, healthy, and sustainable food in Boston.  Cheryl graduated with her Master’s in Nonprofit Organization from Wheelock College, after receiving her Bachelor’s of Science in Human Services.  Cheryl is currently a member of the Dorchester community where she lives with her two sons.

Liz Miller, Co-Chair, Organizational Member

Community Relations Manager, Spoonfuls

lmiller@spoonfuls.org

Liz was born and raised in Boston, is a Boston Public Schools alumna, attended Boston University for undergrad, and received her Master's in Public Administration from UMass-Boston. Liz's career began as an AmeriCorps member working on an urban demonstration farm in Knoxville, Tennessee, and her work there set in motion a career dedicated to ensuring food as a right for all, not a privilege for some. Since then, she's worked in a variety of roles in TN and MA focused on food access in nonprofit, public, and higher education settings. As Community Relations Manager at Spoonfuls she is responsible for the organization's community engagement and outreach work, its advocacy to strengthen the food recovery ecosystem and build awareness of the issues wasted food, food insecurity, and the climate emergency, and supports Spoonfuls' partnership development.

Christine E.M. Keller, PhD, Organizational Member 

Director, Fourth Church Presbyterian Food Pantry

Christine E.M. Keller, PhD serves as the Director of Fourth Presbyterian Church’s Food Pantry in South Boston. There she has led a dedicated group of volunteers to improve the service received by the guests of this medium-sized pantry. The pantry has also received many grants to improve the capacity and nutritional quality of foods offered at the pantry. Spurred on by the beautiful and inspiring lives of the Pantry’s family, friends, and neighbors and Fourth’s commitment to social justice reform through the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, Christine joined BFAC in fall of 2019 and joined the Steering Committee in late 2020. Christine was raised in the the Chicago suburbs, St. Louis, and central Indiana. In 2016 she earned a doctorate in nutrition science with a graduate certificate in Ingestive Behavior Research and a graduate minor in gerontology. Prior to this, Christine worked as a biochemist in the chemical and pharmaceutical research industries. Outside of her food and nutrition activities, Christine and her husband are foster parents for newborn through toddler aged children. Christine enjoys making and listening to music, sewing and knitting, and spending time outdoors exploring native edible landscaping and permaculture, skiing, kayaking, SCUBA diving, or with her cats “Marmalade” and “Toast” and St. Bernard “Avalanche”.

Elections are held for Steering Committee openings every December.  The next election will be held in December 2024 at our quarterly public meeting. 

For more information email office@bostonfoodaccesscouncil.org.