EFR TC Leadership

Members of the Edible Food Recovery Technical Council are staff from local government (cities and counties), food recovery organizations and services, collection companies, consultants, food industry and other stakeholders working on food waste prevention and food donation programs. The goal is to have a mix of members from the Southern, Central and Northern districts. There are 14 members on our executive council and several subcommittees working on the development of resources for our members. 

You can connect with us via email at efrcouncil@gmail.com Visit our community discussions on our public forum under Resources.

2026 Technical Council Executive Committee Contact Information

• Annika Anderson

• Mallika Sen

• Julia Heath

• Jack Steinmann

• Cassie Bartholomew

• Monica White

• Robin Martin

• Alyson Schill

• Paddy Iyer

• David Hott

• Mike Learakos

• Erika Parker

• Claire Wilson

• Kristen Sales

Executive Committee Members:

Chair - Annika Andersen

Annika is a Senior Associate for HF&H Consultants, where she brings over eight years of experience within sustainable policy and program management, with focuses in zero waste management and program development, solid waste, recycling, and organics statewide compliance, contract negotiations and contractor monitoring, environmental inspection, and edible food recovery program development. As a consultant, Annika has worked for over 25 jurisdictions across the state on a range of projects from zero waste plan development to state-wide surveying of solid waste management systems to SB 1383-compliant program design. Annika previously worked for the City of Oceanside, where she facilitated the design and implementation of the City’s food recovery program in coordination with the City’s Green Oceanside Kitchen and food waste prevention programming. Annika’s favorite way to save food is to freeze leftovers or fruits and vegetables that she knows she won’t get to eat before they spoil.

Co-Chair - Malika Sen

As Environmental Solutions Director, Mallika is in charge of ensuring Solana Center's environmental services are addressing the needs of the community and our local government. Mallika has built the Environmental Solutions team into a highly-regarded resource known throughout California. Under her leadership, Solana Center serves more than 80% of the jurisdictions in San Diego County, providing consulting, education, tier identification, and compliance enforcement on legislative issues. Mallika and her staff developed Solana Center’s innovative statewide virtual education, Food Recovery Inspection Training: California SB 1383 Compliance, launched in 2024 in partnership with California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA) and Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA). Mallika holds a Sustainable Business Certificate from UCSD Extension as well as BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech. She enjoys driving change to make the world more sustainable. Her favorite way to reduce food waste is to plan her meals ahead of time and to always use a shopping list.

Treasurer - Julia A. Heath

Julia is the City of Berkeley’s Recycling Program Manager where she is working to renovate a City facility to act as a food and wash hub to support capacity building for tier II prepared food recovery and to help reusable foodware service providers scale to build a reusable takeaway system. Julia formerly worked for Oakland where her expertise in edible food recovery systems was highly valued by the City Administrator’s disaster response team during the COVID-19 health emergency, and she was temporarily reassigned as a disaster response worker. Following this assignment, she convened an interdepartmental working group to address excess food and food insecurity by leveraging the strategic partnerships she established during the assignment. Prior to the pandemic Julia had been assigned to lead Oakland’s implementation of city-wide edible food recovery (EFR) efforts required by ground-breaking state legislation (Senate Bill 1383 - California's Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Reduction Strategy). Julia excelled in this role by identifying, engaging with and then expanding existing food distribution efforts in Oakland, including obtaining a state block grant to expand cold food storage capacity in Oakland, among other efforts. In addition, she represented Oakland in the Pacific Coast Collaborative, a coalition of Pacific Northwest states and cities collaborating to reduce food waste, and represented Oakland in several local and regional networks. My favorite food savings tip is to put fresh herbs in a cup of water on your counter or in your fridge or wash all your fresh herbs and store them wrapped in a damp towel or just grow your own so they never get soggy and gross rotting in a plastic bag forgotten in the back of your fridge.

Secretary - Jack Steinmann

Jack (He, Him, His) has been involved with organics diversion since 2015 when he started San Francisco State University’s first food recovery program. Since then, he’s continued in the zero waste field as an intern with the EPA, Climate Corps Fellow with the City of Hayward, Co-Chair of the NCRA Zero Food Waste Committee, and now in his current position as a Sustainability Specialist with the County of San Mateo’s Sustainability Department. In his current role, Jack focuses his efforts on the County’s implementation of SB 1383’s edible food recovery and procurement requirements. He is thrilled to contribute to preventing food from being wasted with the CRRA EFR TC.

Conference Coordinator - Cassie Bartholomew

Cassie is a Senior Program Manager at StopWaste (Alameda County Waste Management Authority) with over 30 years of experience in environmental education, food waste reduction, and food recovery in nonprofit and government sectors. She leads StopWaste’s Food Waste Reduction and SB 1383 Edible Food Recovery initiatives, including capacity planning, grantmaking, and regional compliance support. Cassie also supports coordination of the agency’s grants program. She works closely with cross-sector partners on food system policy, funding, and behavior change efforts, and serves on several state-wide and regional coalitions as an Executive team member of the CRRA Edible Food Recovery Technical Council, Advisor to the California Food Recovery Coalition and Jurisdiction partner on the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment.

Cassie’s favorite food saving tip: Lazy Pickling! Got produce that’s a little past its prime? Don’t toss it, pickle it! Chop up cucumbers, green beans, zucchini, onions (or whatever veggies you have) and toss them into a simple brine of vinegar, salt, and herbs. Let them sit in the fridge, and you’ll have tasty pickled veggies that last up to a month. Easy peasy!

CRRA Coordinator - Monica White

Monica is the Sustainability Manager at Edgar and Associates. She has over 16 years of experience working in the sustainability arena where she has led teams in developing sustainability programs for a range of companies and sectors. She has played a leadership role in assisting companies to develop strong sustainability and environmental programs, securing grant funding and strategically achieve desired goals, including how to incorporate carbon projects into their business to meet their carbon reduction targets. Notably she has assisted in the development of zero waste programs, SB 1383 compliance plans, and cutting-edge approaches to the management of edible food. Monica co-chairs the Funding and Policy Subcommittee.

Communications Coordinator - Robin Franz Martin

Robin Franz Martin came to the Food Recovery Initiative of Joint Venture in 2017 to head a food recovery pilot project, bringing 20 years of experience in public health and community team building. During her tenure at Joint Venture, she founded the Silicon Valley Food Recovery Council, the Santa Clara County Food Recovery Program on behalf of all jurisdictions in Santa Clara County, and authored numerous seminal reports. She speaks publicly on a regular basis about the importance of safe and nutritious food recovery and waste prevention. Robin serves as a board member for the Santa Clara County Food System Alliance. She leads as the state-wide Chair of the Best Practices and Protocols Subcommittee of the Edible Food Recovery Technical Council. Robin’s favorite food saving tip is a weekly Mustgo’s family dinner, where every bite of leftovers Must Go. Family tradition!

Advisory Members - Alyson Schill

Alyson is the CEO of the food donation app, Careit. She thrives at the heart of shaping and advocating for city, county, and statewide policies and support for food waste prevention. With a background in volunteer management, gleaning, sustainable event production, environmental service-learning leadership in educational institutions, and restaurant management, Alyson combines experiences from across the food waste chain to create meaningful and comprehensive waste reduction programs. Alyson’s food waste prevention tip is to find a neighbor with muscovy ducks! They love eating practically anything.

Paddy Iyer

Paddy Iyer is the ED of Daily Bowl, a Southern Alameda County based food recovery non-profit organization. Paddy has been instrumental in growing Daily Bowl into a recognized food recovery organization, forging relationships between donors and receiving agencies alike. Food waste is an issue that Paddy is passionate about, and as such he lives every day to Daily Bowl’s exit strategy of “If there is no Food Waste, there should be no Daily Bowl”. But till then, it’s his mission to help reduce food waste, connecting with agencies feeding the hungry, completing the circle. In his spare time (if there is any), Paddy dreams about what he would like to do in his spare time. Paddy’s food waste tip : Let your eyes not be bigger than your stomach.

Mike Learakos

Mike is a food service professional with over 30-years of food industry experience. Under Mike’s leadership and with his unique perspective into the foodservice industry, Mike has developed a nationally recognized food care model that focuses on the benefits, collaborations, data and support that is needed between public, private and nonprofit sections.

Claire Wilson

Claire is a Senior Managing Consultant with R3 Consulting Group. She has 7 years of experience in the solid waste consulting space and worked with over 75 cities and counties to implement state laws, procure new solid waste services, develop and fund new solid waste programs, and more. She has identified and inspected generators, worked collaboratively with food recovery organizations, worked to build capacity for edible food recovery. Claire has a particular interest in local edible food recovery funding and working at the intersection of food waste, reuse, and policy. She recently completed a master’s in public policy from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School with a graduate certificate in sustainable food systems. Her favorite food saving tip is making what she calls “garbage tacos”, a mix of whatever leftovers she has heated up with some cheese on top with cilantro and hot sauce!

Kristen Sales

Kristen is the Program Coordinator at Zero Waste Sonoma. She has over a decade of experience in the solid waste industry, first as a consultant, and now as a representative of local government. Kristen splits her time between HHW and organics projects, managing the Oil Payment Program and coordinating e-waste collection events while also serving as Zero Waste Sonoma’s SB 1383 Edible Food Recovery lead. She also works on Compliance, Inspections, and Enforcement for SB 1383. Her proudest accomplishment is securing a $2.5 million workforce development from CalVolunteers which leveraged the local Conservation Corps to serve at a Food Recovery Service. Over the course of two years, the Conservation Corps rescued over 330,000 pounds of excess edible food from Tier 1 and Tier 2 Generators. Kristen is a proud lifetime member of the “Clean Plate Club.”

David P. Hott

David P. Hott is the Chief Executive Officer of Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen in Silicon Valley, leading innovative food recovery efforts through the award-winning A La Carte mobile food recovery program. He holds an MBA in Responsible Business and a degree in Collaborative Health and Human Services from the University of California, Monterey Bay. A Certified Zero Waste Practitioner, David serves on the Executive Committee of the California Resource Recovery Association’s Edible Food Recovery Technical Council, the Steering Committee of the California Food Recovery Coalition, and the Board of Directors for the National Food Recovery Association. His work is dedicated to building sustainable systems that increase food access, reduce waste, and strengthen community resilience. Under his leadership, Loaves & Fishes has expanded its impact through strategic partnerships connecting surplus food to those most in need. A Bay Area native, David blends local knowledge with national leadership in the fight against food insecurity and environmental waste. Outside of his nonprofit work, he guides backcountry expeditions in Yosemite, combining his love of nature with a lifelong commitment to service. His favorite everyday food-saving tip: use short-dated produce to make nutrient-packed smoothies, preventing waste while creating something delicious and healthy.

Erica Parker (She/Her)

Erica graduated in 2025 with an M.S. in Environmental Policy and Management from UC Davis, specializing in Sustainable Food Systems and Agriculture. As a Policy Associate at Californians Against Waste, she advocates for legislation and regulations that advance food waste reduction and recovery, organics recycling, landfill methane reduction, and climate change mitigation. Her work is centered on the successful, full implementation of SB 1383 and ensuring the success of local and statewide programs that expand composting capacity, support community composters, and strengthen edible food recovery. Erica led advocacy efforts for AB 660 (Irwin, 2024), California’s Food Date Labeling Law. She also coordinates and participates in statewide coalitions to strengthen waste and climate policies. Erica is a passionate zero-waste home cook. Her favorite food saving tip? ... Leftovers for breakfast and put wilting greens in a glass of water!

Subcommittees:

Best Practices and Protocols: Robin Franz Martin

Funding and Policy: Monica White

Capacity: Annika Andersen