BOARD
Ashley Costa
Board Member
Born and raised in Lompoc, Ashley Costa graduated from UCLA in 2009 with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Political Science and a minor in Portuguese. She was elected to the Lompoc City Council in 2010 as the youngest Councilwoman ever elected in Lompoc and served until 2014. Ashley is now the Executive Director of the Lompoc-based non-profit, the Lompoc Valley Community Healthcare Organization and facilitates the Healthy Lompoc Coalition, a multi-sector stakeholder group created to address the current health issues in the community. Committed to her own health journey, she is an avid CrossFit athlete and owns a local boutique strength and conditioning gym in Lompoc.
Lisa Bertero Palmer
Board Member
Lisa has more than 25 years of experience as a practitioner in communications strategy development, research, community outreach, public hearings, media relations, and crisis communications, managing numerous complex and long-term public affairs efforts for projects navigating the public permitting process, primarily in California.
After spending most of her career working for a national public affairs firm, she launched her own strategic communications consulting practice in 2016, assisting private, non-profit and public agency clients with communications strategy, message development and stakeholder engagement.
She also serves as a board member of the Los Olivos Community Services District and Santa Ynez Valley Community Aquatics Foundation.
Lisa holds a degree in Political Science from UC San Diego. She lives in Los Olivos, CA with her husband Steve where they raised their three now-young adult sons. In her free time she enjoys running, hiking, family adventures and travel.
David Coryat
Board Member
David has been deeply involved in working with under-represented populations for the past 4 years. He is the Executive Director of Fuente Sagrada Foundation, a non-profit focused on services for the unhoused. He has worked directly with New Beginnings, SBACT, and City Net. He currently sits on the board of Veggie Rescue and Good Samaritan Shelters while also leading the Advisory Committee for the Good Samaritan Food Project.
Chuy Vidales
Board Member
With 20 years in the service industry, Chuy Vidales is no stranger to hospitality and events. A level II Certified Sommelier, Chuy started his journey in the hotel business hanging his hat at world class resorts, including The Balboa Bay Club & Resort - Newport Beach California, Turtle Bay Resort - Oahu Hawaii, Queen Kapiolani Hotel - Waikiki, Montage - Kapalua Bay Maui Hawaii and Montage - Laguna Beach California. From General Manager of Restaurants to Director of Food & Beverage, Chuy has had first hand experience creating memorable experiences for guests at the most luxurious locations on the planet. In conjunction to owning and operating Santa Barbara Wine Events, Chuy is also the owner of their subsidiary company Santa Barbara Vacation Stay.
Harold Litwiler
Board Member
Harold is an accomplished administrator who promotes a positive community through leadership and education. After growing up in Baywood Park and Morro Bay, he moved from Monterey, CA back to the Central Coast. Harold studied Organizational Leadership at Simpson University and received a degree in 2007. After graduation, he returned to the child nutrition profession to provide leadership in building and strengthening these programs to excel and offer innovative and unique experiences to children.
In his free time, Harold loves to take photographs and his work has been featured around the world in print and digital media. He also enjoys hiking and traveling with his wife Tania.
He is the current co-chair of the Santa Barbara Wellness Summit and has held several elected positions in the California School Nutrition Association and is currently on the Santa Maria Bonita DARE fundraising committee and Wellness Council.
Lonnie Smith, Jr.
Board Member
Lonnie has been involved in work focused on addressing food insecurity and homelessness in the Central Coast region for the past 2 years. As a project engineer for the Balay Ko Foundation, he has collaborated with organizations such as the Food Bank of Santa Barbara County and SLO Food Bank on projects working to eliminate food waste, deliver meals to vulnerable populations, and develop mobile food storage solutions that run on renewable energy. Additionally, Lonnie enjoys learning about climate technology and building climate resilience to find solutions to help heal the planet.
Terry Delaney
Founder
Founded Veggie Rescue in 2010. A life long sales & marketing veteran of the seafood industry. Resident of the Santa Ynez Valley for 29 wonderful years with his wife Holly co-founder of Veggie Rescue. Terry's grandparents were farmers in Nebraska and time spent in his grandmother’s garden in Costa Mesa, CA began his love and understanding of food & the soil at a young age.
Janessa Van Vechten
Board Member
A Santa Barbara native, Janessa spent the last two years as a Program Manager for the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County. She ran nutrition education programs for children in local after school programs, food distribution programs for seniors, and resource fairs and food distributions for low income families. She has a background working for international nonprofits such as Kiva (microfinance) in San Francisco and the International Rescue Committee in Oakland. Growing up, Janessa spent many happy times on her grandparents' farm in Sonoma County and has since treasured local farms and the fresh food produced throughout California. Janessa has her BA from UC Berkeley and will start a remote MA program at UPenn in the Fall of 2019.
Santiago Brown
Board Member
Santiago has little experience working with non-profit companies, but does have 20 years of experience working in leadership roles with plant breeding and production companies (mainly ornamentals) in several countries around the world. His responsibilities have ranged from Research Assistant to Managing Director. For the past six years he has been leading the R&D department (Breeding and Product Development) at Ball FloraPlant (a Ball Horticulture Company).
Growing up in Ecuador with a strong community/Catholic background, Santiago has been exposed to many organizations that have centered their objectives in helping underserved communities such as Centro Muchacho Trabajador, Gota de Leche and Madre Teresa de Calcuta (Tumbaco, Ecuador).
Through his education and work Santiago has had the opportunity to travel through many developing countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. This exposure has given him a broad perspective of how the world is functioning (or not functioning). He is committed to give back to the world and help communities in need.
Dreaming about being a physician Santiago studied Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (Boston University), which lead him into a different path to pursue a career in Plant Breeding (Wageningen University) and Business Administration (BU). Today Santiago lives in San Luis Obispo, CA with his wife Michelle and three kids Adrián, Mathias and Nina. You can find Santiago frequently rolling down the nearby hills of SLO on his mountain bike or taking pictures.
STAFF
Judy Taggart
Executive Director
Judy grew up in Goleta and has deep affection for serving her community and helping animals. She has an extensive background in program development, project management, and community engagement.
She earned Master of Science degree in kinesiology from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and was proud to be a member and vice chair of Santa Barbara County Public Health Department: Health Care Centers Board for 9 years.
Through her consultancy Fit Development, she works with entrepreneurs to develop strategy, operations and marketing systems. Prior to this work, she served as chief operating officer at the Santa Barbara Foundation. Her other professional roles include educational administrator at Santa Barbara City College and community health director for the Lompoc Valley Community Healthcare Organization.
Eryn Shugart
Development Consultant
Eryn Shugart is a Santa Barbara native who holds a doctoral degree in social psychology from Claremont Graduate University. She has worked in senior administration with human services nonprofit organizations throughout the county for the past 20 years in roles including executive director, senior development director, program director, and director of operations. Eryn also worked for Santa Barbara City College, where she helped to establish a healthy aging associates degree and taught classes in healthy aging and psychology.
Eryn has a grown son and daughter and is happy to again live in the house she grew up in. In her spare time, she loves to spend time in the outdoors hiking and biking, and volunteering for other nonprofits.
Peter Litwiler
Operations Coordinator
Peter Litwiler grew up in Red Bluff, a small town in northern California. He moved south to go to college, and I fell in love with the area and ended up staying. Peter has lived and worked in Santa Barbara County for about 11 years working for a tow truck company, a few wine tasting rooms, and now Veggie Rescue.
During the pandemic, he volunteered at Veggie Rescue. Peter said, “Serving our community during a very difficult time and helping provide people with food has had a profound impact on how I feel about myself and the world around me. The work we do every day fills my heart with love and hopefulness. Working for Veggie Rescue has also opened my eyes to the large amount of food insecurities and food waste.“
In his free time Peter enjoys woodworking, gardening, playing with our small dog peaches and gaming on my computer. Peter is also participating in the Leading for Community Impact program through Leading From Within.
Kevin Kemp
Fleet Manager
Olga Leatherbury
Driver & Admin Support