STAFF
Bonnie Moore
Mary Porter
Francisca Swisher-Gomez
Executive Director and Board Member
Bonnie Moore
Bonnie Moore is a strategic planner, professional chef, and culinary educator focused on healthy eating, connecting farms with communities, and developing projects that have a positive impact on underserved communities around the world. When her son began elementary school in 2010, she was concerned at the nutritionally-void food served in school cafeterias and alarmed to learn that many students at her son’s Title 1 school depended on school meals for most or all of their caloric intake. She became a founding board member of Real Food for Kids, where she promotes nutrition security for all children and their families across the National Capital region. When schools shut down in March of 2020, she co-founded Real Food for Kids’ Chefs Feeding Families program to provide children and their families with nourishing, plant-forward meals while employing DC area cooks and complementing emergency school feeding programs that many children had challenges accessing when not in school buildings. Two months later, she became the Executive Director of Real Food for Kids.
Prior to leading Real Food for Kids, Moore was on the development team at Willowsford, the groundbreaking ‘agrihood’ and nationally recognized Community of the Year, for an unprecedented five consecutive years. As part of a USDA Team Nutrition Training grant, she is the chef advisor for Virginia Department of Education School Nutrition Services, successfully implementing strategies for increasing scratch cooking and participation in school food programs. Her work in underdeveloped areas across the globe links food baskets with local diets to increase access to nourishing, sustainable foods. She was formerly the Sous Chef at Michelin 3-Star Inn at Little Washington.
After graduating from Boston University with a BS in Mathematics and Statistics, Bonnie found her true calling in the kitchen and soon exchanged her calculator for a whisk. She earned degrees in culinary arts and foodservice management from Johnson & Wales University. She is a past president of the national nonprofit Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, where she promoted role models to inspire future generations of culinarians.
Director of Programs
Mary Porter
Mary Porter has been involved with Real Food for Kids since 2010 as a founding board member focusing on education, outreach and communications. She currently serves as Director of Programs, a position she assumed in 2016 after two years as Education Manager for Junior Achievement of Greater Washington. Mary has worked in for-profit, non-profit and education environments for over 25 years. She is a graduate of The George Washington University and holds a certificate in Nonprofit Leadership and Administration from Northern Virginia Community College. In 2010 she became an accredited health counselor through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and opened her private counseling practice, A Better Plate. She has held seats on Fairfax County Public Schools Schools’ Health Advisory Committee and Superintendent’s Budget Task Force and currently represents the Mount Vernon District on the Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee. A former PTA president for Hollin Meadows Science and Math Focus School (a Title I school) she was named the Lady Fairfax for the Mount Vernon District in 2014 for her work with Real Food for Kids.
Email:mporter@realfoodforkids.org
Program Manager
Francisca Swisher-Gomez
Before joining Real Food for Kids in August 2023, Francisca Swisher-Gomez spent a year traveling and immersing herself in the culture of her mother’s native Chile. Prior to that, as a member of Americorp, Franci worked to improve literacy and reduce the opportunity gap among elementary school students in Arlington with Aspire! Afterschool Learning Center. A native of Arlington, Franci graduated from William & Mary with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a minor in Public Health. Building on her dedication to community outreach and fostering nutrition security among youth, Franci’s work with Real Food for Kids is focused on our community and school-based SNAP Ambassador programs to increase SNAP enrollment in Arlington.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Rick Barnard
JoAnne Hammermaster
Bonnie Moore
Ed Kwitowski
Rodney K. Taylor
LaTonya Henderson
Tim Ma
Board Chair
Rick Barnard
Rick Barnard is Co-founder and Director of Development of Real Food for Kids. Rick has 15 years of business development experience at a number of commercial organizations. Rick has a B.S. from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the University of Maryland. Rick has also held a number of leadership positions at his school PTA, including chair of Chesterbrook Elementary School’s wellness committee where he has launched a number of health related initiatives. Rick was selected to chair the Fairfax County Superintendent’s Nutrition Task Force.
Board Member
JoAnne Hammermaster
JoAnne Hammermaster is Co-founder and past Executive Director and past Chairman of the Board of Real Food For Kids. JoAnne is the past Health and Wellness Chairperson for the Georgia PTA and Certified Nutrition Coach. She has held numerous leadership positions in the PTA throughout all stages of her children’s education, where she started several health initiatives. She is a former member of the Fairfax Education Coalition and the FCFT Sustainability Committee. JoAnne has a BA in Finance and an MBA. She started a ministry at her church that works with domestic abuse victims, and held other church leadership positions. JoAnne has been recognized for her advocacy and non-profit work by the White House and the Fairfax County School Board. She currently resides in Marietta, Georgia with her husband and two children.
Executive Director and Board Member
Bonnie Moore
Bonnie Moore is a strategic planner, professional chef, and culinary educator focused on healthy eating, connecting farms with communities, and developing projects that have a positive impact on underserved communities around the world. When her son began elementary school in 2010, she was concerned at the nutritionally-void food served in school cafeterias and alarmed to learn that many students at her son’s Title 1 school depended on school meals for most or all of their caloric intake. She became a founding board member of Real Food for Kids, where she promotes nutrition security for all children and their families across the National Capital region. When schools shut down in March of 2020, she co-founded Real Food for Kids’ Chefs Feeding Families program to provide children and their families with nourishing, plant-forward meals while employing DC area cooks and complementing emergency school feeding programs that many children had challenges accessing when not in school buildings. Two months later, she became the Executive Director of Real Food for Kids.
Prior to leading Real Food for Kids, Moore was on the development team at Willowsford, the groundbreaking ‘agrihood’ and nationally recognized Community of the Year, for an unprecedented five consecutive years. As part of a USDA Team Nutrition Training grant, she is the chef advisor for Virginia Department of Education School Nutrition Services, successfully implementing strategies for increasing scratch cooking and participation in school food programs. Her work in underdeveloped areas across the globe links food baskets with local diets to increase access to nourishing, sustainable foods. She was formerly the Sous Chef at Michelin 3-Star Inn at Little Washington.
After graduating from Boston University with a BS in Mathematics and Statistics, Bonnie found her true calling in the kitchen and soon exchanged her calculator for a whisk. She earned degrees in culinary arts and foodservice management from Johnson & Wales University. She is a past president of the national nonprofit Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, where she promoted role models to inspire future generations of culinarians.
Board Member
Ed Kwitowski
Ed has been in the food service industry for over 20 years. A graduate of the University of Buffalo and Culinary Institute of America class of 1996, he is currently The Director of School Food Services for DC Central Kitchen (DCCK).
Over the course of his employment with DC Central Kitchen, Ed has managed their nationally recognized School Foods Program. This unique program provides locally-sourced scratch-cooked meals to thousands of students who attend schools in the District of Columbia. With its distinctive programming and extensive recipe book DCCK’s School Foods program serves as a model to other programs across the country.
Prior to arriving at DCCK, he worked in many fine dining restaurants in the District of Columbia. Most notably, he spent nine years at Bisto Bis and Vidalia under the direction of James Beard award winner, Chef Jeffrey Buben. He also served as the opening Chef de Cuisine with Celebrity Chef Ris Lacoste at Ris.
Board Member
Rodney K. Taylor
Rodney K. Taylor is the former Director of Food and Nutrition Services, for the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCSP), in Virginia. FCPS is the 10th largest district in the U.S. with 186,000 students, in 196 schools, providing 149,000 meals per day. Prior to his employment with FCPS, Rodney was employed as the Director of Nutrition Services, for the Riverside Unified School District, in Riverside, California.
A noted pioneer, and expert in farm-to-school salad bars, he is particularly known for establishing the “Farmers’ Market Salad Bar” (FMSB) program in 1997, while working as Director of Food and Nutrition Services in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, in Santa Monica, California.
Rodney has served on numerous boards such as the California State Board of Food and Agriculture, the University of California (UC) President’s Advisory Commission for Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the Network for a Healthy California’s Executive Committee.
Board Member
LaTonya Henderson
LaTonya Henderson is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cedar Tree Academy Public Charter School located in Washington DC. She leads 500 students and 95 staff in an early childhood setting. LaTonya is a former school principal and elementary school teacher. She has held numerous leadership positions in the education field where she started partnerships with local community organizations to help the students and families she serves.
LaTonya did her undergraduate work at Arkansas State University where she received a Bachelor of Science in Education. She obtained a master’s degree of Education in Administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She earned a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
LaTonya is a strong educational advocate for students in the District of Columbia.
Board Member
Tim Ma
Tim Ma is a critically-acclaimed chef and food & beverage entrepreneur. Growing up in a family of restauranteurs, Tim’s family pushed him towards an engineering career as he earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Masters of Science from Johns Hopkins University. After a successful 8-year engineering career, Tim decided to pursue his passion for restaurants and left it all behind – selling everything he owned and moving to New York City – to attend the French Culinary Institute, now the International Culinary Center.
Following an externship at a 2-Michelin Star Momofuku Ko, and cooking at the highly regarded Momofuku Ssam, Tim moved to St. Thomas, USVI to cook and formulate the plan for what would be his first restaurant. In 2009, Tim purchased a restaurant found on Craigslist with his last remaining credit card, remodeled it with dear friends and family, and opened Maple Ave Restaurant on August 15, 2009.
Fast forward to 2013, Tim opened his second restaurant, Water & Wall, to rave reviews and Maple Ave was ranked the #1 restaurant in Northern Virginia. Always on the lookout for a sandwich, Chase the Submarine – Tim’s dream vision for a craft sandwich shop – was brought to life in November 2015. March 2016 saw the opening of Tim’s first DC restaurant, Kyirisan, which offered creative Chinese-French cooking in a modern, home-like setting, winning awards such as Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand, and an annual recurring spot in Washington Post’s Best Restaurants Dining Guide. Tim also joined as Culinary Director of healthy school meal delivery service Box’d Eats in 2017.
In April 2017, Tim was hand selected by Katherine Lo to partner with her to bring to life Eaton Workshop’s first and flagship hotel in Washington DC. Eaton Workshop is a global purpose-driven company from founder Katherine Lo at the intersection of culture, content, hospitality, wellness, and progressive social change. Chef Ma developed and opened seven food and beverage outlets within Eaton DC, including Wild Days Rooftop Club, Kintsugi Café, Allegory Cocktail Speakeasy, and American Son, the all-day restaurant that received rave reviews and a Michelin Bib Gourmand in its first year of operation.
In November 2019, Tim joined as Culinary Director for Laoban Dumplings, attaching his Chinese heritage and unique culinary perspective to the humble dumpling shop. Today, Laoban Dumplings counts almost 1500 grocery stores, including national brands such as Whole Foods Market and Sprouts, selling its unique dumplings in addition to its brick and mortar.
In the same month in 2019, his family was honored by the Smithsonian Museum of American History by including himself, his Uncle Paul, and their family heirlooms from their history of restaurants into the new “FOOD: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000” exhibit.
In November 2020, in the middle the pandemic, Tim founded Lucky Danger, an updated take on American Chinese take-out by a Chinese American. The concept received rave reviews by critics and guests alike, leading to 5-months of complete sell-outs every night, the cover of the Washington Post, New York Times Food section, the Wall Street Journal, among many publications. Lucky Danger currently has two locations in Arlington, VA, and Washington, DC.
In May 2021, he co-founded the Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate non-profit that was able to expand into 4 cities (NYC, DC, SF, Detroit) and raise over $200,000 in the fight against Anti-Asian hate. The non-profit was featured on the Today Show and Good Morning America, as well as culminated in Tim and his co-founder Kevin Tien speaking at the Solidarity Against Asian Hate Rally on the National Mall. In May 2022, Tim and Kevin were honored with the GMA Inspiration Award for the work with Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate.
In November 2021, Tim developed and assisted in opening Bar Chinois, a French cocktail dim-sum bar, which replaced Prather’s on the Alley and the original pop-up location of Lucky Danger. Even in its short time open so far, It has seen incredible success and blown the doors wide open for Asian-themed bars.
Upcoming for 2022, Tim has expanded once again serving as COO for Ex-Pat Ventures, which will open 2 sports bars with integrated sports gambling in Western Market at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC.
ADVISORY BOARD
Bonnie S. Benwick
Ryan McElveen
Chef Kevin Tien
Ann Cooper
Kristy Sampson Rodriguez
Mike Curtin
Jessica Donze Black
Culinary and Program Advisor
Bonnie S. Benwick
Advisor
Ryan McElveen
Ryan is associate director of The Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center, and his experience spans the public- and private-sectors, NGOs, and academia. He served for eight years as an at-large member of the Fairfax County School Board (2012-2020), where he fought for and implemented healthier school food; curriculum internationalization; LGBTQ protections; sustainability initiatives; student mental health programs; student discipline reform; dress code reform; later high school start times; gun violence prevention; human trafficking prevention; improved college and career access; name changes for schools named after confederate figures; and excused absences for students participating in civic engagement activities. Ryan holds a Master’s of International Affairs in human rights from Columbia University, and a B.A. in Anthropology and East Asian Studies from the University of Virginia.
Industry Advisor
Chef Kevin Tien
Chef Kevin Tien (a 2024 James Beard Foundation Finalist- his 5th nomination), 2023 RAMW Chef of the Year, Food and Wine Best New Chef 2018, Esquire’s Best Restaurant of the Year 2021) is the Executive Chef/Owner of nationally celebrated Moon Rabbit .
He is the co-founder of Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate, an organization bringing together the culinary world to support AAPI and social justice causes. It originated in the spring of 2021 as a way to raise money and awareness of the increase in violence against Asian Americans in the United States. It has since brought together more than 50 chefs from across the country, hosting dinners and take-out meals, and funneling $500,000-plus to various like-minded organizations, regionally, nationally and globally. It was recognized in Washingtonian’s list of “100 Reasons to Love our Fierce Food Scene.”
A native of New Orleans, Louisiana- much of his modern Vietnamese cuisine is influenced by his experiences there, as well as the diverse regional dishes from Vietnam.
Tien’s menu strives to move the culture forward while maintaining and preserving integrity and tradition by reinventing recipes that have been passed down through multiple generations.
Moon Rabbit is a personal journey and exploration of Chef Kevin’s journey as a first-generation Vietnamese chef. His modern cooking philosophy and dishes are non-traditional Vietnamese cuisine but feature the true essence of Vietnamese flavor.
Advisor
Ann Cooper
Chef Ann Cooper is an internationally recognized author, chef, educator, public speaker, and advocate of healthy food for all children. In 2009, Chef Ann founded the Food Family Farming Foundation (now the Chef Ann Foundation), a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to helping schools take action so that every child has daily access to fresh, healthy food. CAF programs include Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools, Mission Nutrition, Parent Advocacy Initiative, Healthy Breakfast for Kids, as well as The Lunch Box, an online resource that provides free step-by-step guides, tools, and recipes to help schools improve their food programs. Chef Ann serves as Director of Food Services for Boulder Valley School District in Boulder, Colorado, and is Partner of Lunch Lessons, LLC, a consultancy for school districts going through large-scale food change. She also writes a monthly blog for U.S. News & World Report and performs regular Speaking Engagements throughout the country. Visit our Multimedia Content page to view some of Ann’s notable lectures, including her four TED Talks.
Advisor
Kristy Sampson Rodriguez
Kristy Sampson Rodriguez is the Lead Trustee of the Myles D. and J. Faye Sampson Family Foundation. Kristy graduated from Mercyhurst College in 2000 with a BA in Business Management and Dance, and received a Master’s Degree in Multicultural Education from George Mason University in 2005. Along with her education degree, she also studied at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York City where she obtained a certification as a Holistic Health Coach. Her goal is to combine her knowledge base of dance, yoga, nutrition, education, philanthropy and wellness to promote and support programs that create healthy and active communities.
Advisor
Mike Curtin
Mike Curtin is the Chief Executive Officer of the DC Central Kitchen, an organization dedicated to reducing hunger through recycling food, creating wholesome urban food systems, serving quality school meals, and training unemployed adults for culinary careers. Mike has had a 20-year career in the hospitality and food-service industry, including owning and operating his own restaurant, The Broad Street Grill, in Falls Church, Virginia. Mike is also a Chair Emeritus of the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, as well as a Board Member for The Common Market in Philadelphia. He serves on the Advisory Board of DC Greens and Catalyst Kitchens, the Leadership Council of DC Hunger Solutions, and is an Advisory Board member for the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School.
Advisor
Jessica Donze Black
