Rooted Santa Barbara County has named local nonprofit community leaders and nutrition and food system advocates Lacey Baldiviez and Angela Manavella to its Board of Directors.
Baldiviez started her food banking career in January 2019 as director of education for the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County.
In the role, Baldiviez developed the Food Boss curriculum, created a new Food Creativity Lab program for high school students, worked with Feeding America network partners on the Healthcare Partnership Community of Practice, and implemented a Healthy Nudges program with partner agencies.
As director of Community Programs and Education, Baldiviez and her team guided the establishment of 50 new SAFE food distributions across the county and transitioned all senior food distributions to home delivery, making 75,000 safe deliveries.
Under her leadership, a farmworker food access and education program, a Food Rx partnership with healthcare providers and CalFresh and Pandemic-EBT support were implemented across Santa Barbara County.
Originally from Santa Maria, Baldiviez holds a Ph.D in nutritional biology with an emphasis in international and community nutrition from UC Davis.
Manavella is currently the programs and network manager for local nonprofit Leading From Within, providing leadership development programs and offerings to empower local changemakers.
In her position, Manavella works to enhance the experience and impact created from the program curriculum and growing network of local leaders working across Santa Barbara County and diverse community issues. She is core in the organization’s efforts in expanding its diversity, equity and inclusion, and the evaluation of its programs and services.
She is also recently an alumna of Leading From Within’s Emerging Leaders program.
Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Manavella has been engaged in the city’s nonprofit sector since graduating college in 2014. She earned a B.A. in planning, public policy and management at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.
She has worked sporadically over the years at the Santa Barbara Farmers Market for local farmer, Jacob Grant, of Roots Organic.
“Angela and Lacey bring unique leadership skillsets, passion for our mission, and range of experiences to our Board of Directors and growing organization,” said Beth Skidmore, Rooted chair “We’re incredibly honored and thrilled to be working together to advance Rooted’s important mission to mobilize Santa Barbara County to grow health equity and resilience through whole food plant-based nutrition education and support.
“Their partnership will help to lead critical growth as we work to thoughtfully grow our programs, services, and partnerships in 2023 and beyond.”
For more about Rooted’s leadership and advisory councils, visit https://rootedsantabarbara.org/collaborators/.
Rooted is mobilizing Santa Barbara County to grow health equity and resilience through whole food plant-based nutrition education and support. Rooted’s priority is to serve residents with the greatest barriers to good health and the healthcare and direct services that support them. Rooted equips community members with the knowledge, tools and support to improve health with plant-forward lifestyles.