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Healthier School Meals Can Mean Healthier Kids
A new study finds healthier school meals standards could mean lower obesity rates among lower-income children. Read a Q&A with the author.
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Meet the Team
Dwayne C. Proctor
Team Director and Senior Program Officer
Dwayne Proctor, a public health prevention specialist, is the director of the Childhood Obesity team.
Visit profileTonya D. Aldrich
Senior Team Coordinator
Tonya Aldrich is a member of the Childhood Obesity and Enterprise Level teams.
Jamie B. Bussel
Program Officer
Jamie Bussel works in the areas of childhood obesity and vulnerable populations. She designs and manages efforts that support environments and policies that promote the health of children and families.
Visit profileChristine A. Clayton
Communications Associate
Chris Clayton is a member of the Childhood Obesity team.
Visit profileVanessa I. Farrell
Program Associate
Vanessa Farrell works in the area of childhood obesity where she assists with the development of program strategies for national programs, reviews proposals, and responds to inquiries from the public and potential grantees.
Visit profileJohn Govea
Senior Program Officer
John Govea works in the area of childhood obesity, with a focus on identifying advocacy strategies that advance policies and environmental changes to reverse the national epidemic of childhood obesity by 2015.
Visit profilePatricia Hall
Communications Associate
Patricia Hall is a member of the Communications unit, on the Childhood Obesity team.
Visit profileJasmine N. Hall Ratliff
Program Officer
Jasmine Hall Ratliff brings her programmatic and grant management expertise to the Foundation’s effort to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic, in New Jersey and nationally, by 2015.
Visit profileTina J. Kauh
Program Officer
Tina Kauh utilizes her research and evaluation experience in real-world settings and her expertise in youth development to manage and oversee Childhood Obesity team programs. Of particular interest is how health-related programs and policies address health disparities across the nation.
Laura C. Leviton
Senior Adviser for Evaluation
Laura Leviton has overseen evaluations in most of RWJF's areas of focus and in her current role, is charged with improving them within the Foundation and in the field as a whole. She also serves as a member of the Childhood Obesity team and Vulnerable Populations Portfolio.
Visit profileAngela K. McGowan
Senior Program Officer
Angela McGowan focuses on public health issues. She hopes to use her public health and legal background to focus on building a broad national understanding of and constituency for public health law.
Visit profileJan A. Mihalow
Grants Administrator
Jan Mihalow applies her expertise in finance and public health adminsitration to assist the Childhood Obesity team.
Visit profileC. Tracy Orleans
Senior Program Officer/Senior Scientist
Tracy Orleans designs and oversees programs of research to identify science-based policy and environmental approaches to population-level health behavior change and childhood obesity prevention, as a member of the Research and Evaluation unit and Childhood Obesity team.
Visit profileMarjorie A. Paloma
Senior Policy Adviser
Marjorie Paloma guides the timing of and tactical strategy for health policy and advocacy efforts and leads the coordination of these efforts across the Childhood Obesity and Public Health teams and Vulnerable Populations Portfolio.
Visit profileSharon Z. Roerty
Senior Program Officer
Sharon Roerty, an environmental and transportation planner; national expert on bicycling and walking; and seasoned advocate, brings a trained focus on the built environment and government affairs.
Visit profileKathryn A. Thomas
Senior Communications Officer
Kathryn Thomas brings extensive expertise in print, broadcast, and online media to her role in designing strategic communications to reverse the national epidemic of childhood obesity by 2015.
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