After graduating from university, I knew I wanted to get engaged in the sustainable food movement. I found myself interning at a small organization in San Francisco called the Good Food Foundation (previously known as the Seedling Projects).

From 2010 – 2011, I helped to launch the first year of the Good Food Awards with the director, Sarah Weiner, and three other interns. The goal was to create a national brand that provided recognition for sustainable and quality food producers. In that first year, we attracted Alice Waters (founder of the organic food movement) as our keynote speaker, had many notable judges in each of our 7 categories, and received over 800 entries from 41 states. As of 2021, the Good Food Awards is one of highest forms of recognition for America’s sustainable food producers.

Our work involved anything and everything necessary to get the event off the ground. This included cold calling hundreds breweries, creameries, chocolatiers, and other food producers across the USA and coordinating with volunteer judges. During the judging event and award ceremony, we switched into full event planning mode. As the designated design coordinator, my responsibilities also included producing collateral for website, marketing materials, and event signage.