Chair

Miette has been a volunteer Driver with EFN for eight years. She enjoyed a successful scientific career with emphases in life sciences, biotechnology and patents, and was part of the senior leadership at the UVA Patent Foundation. In retirement she has served on multiple boards and volunteered for several local nonprofits, all with the aim of combating the effects of poverty in its various manifestations. Miette and her husband George share their farm with six donkeys and three cats.

First Vice Chair

Beginning as an office volunteer in 1997, Anne joined the Board as special projects chair in 2006 and moved to first vice chair in 2009. She is a former high school English teacher and now works part time for the Bibliographical Society of the University of Virginia. Anne and her husband have two grown daughters.

Second Vice Chair

A native of California, Deanna most recently lived six years in North Texas where she volunteered with Allen Community Outreach (ACO), The Samaritan Inn, and the Association for Talent Development before she and her family moved to Charlottesville in 2020. Shortly after her arrival, she started volunteering with EFN. Deanna is President of GoldenLight Learning, a company specializing in corporate training, elearnings, videos, and support materials. Outside of EFN, Deanna spends volunteer time at her son’s school and mentoring young professionals entering the design field.

Treasurer

Rick and his wife Linda grew up in the Hudson Valley of New York and found their way to Charlottesville in 1974, where he spent his professional career developing IT systems for UVA. Over the years, he has volunteered with the Rivanna Trails Foundation, the Places 29 Community Advisory Committee, McIntire Botanical Garden, Dunlora Forest HOA, and the Charlottesville Camera Club. Since retiring from UVA he has enjoyed spending time with his interests in photography, travel, woodworking, gardening and golf. He has become acquainted with EFN as a volunteer shelver.

Secretary

Diane and her husband moved south from New York City to a small farm in western Albemarle in 1992. Her main volunteer work in the past 25 years has been with her children's schools, Congregation Beth Israel, Hadassah, and the EFN. She joined the EFN as a volunteer driver in 1998 and joined the Board in 2009, where she has served as ways & means chair and interim chair, before becoming secretary.

Member-at-Large

A native of Pennsylvania, Theresa is a current medical student at the University of Virginia. In the past, she has volunteered with Ruth’s Harvest, an organization dedicated to providing weekend meals to schoolchildren. She is passionate about community service and honored to be working with EFN in Charlottesville to provide healthy meals to clients. In her free time, she enjoys reading, taking walks in nature, exercising, and spending time with her family, friends, and dogs.

Development Chair

Conner has lived in Charlottesville since 2019, where he works as a Project Director at local tech company WillowTree. Before his life in tech, he served in the United States Marine Corps. He is devoted to public service, and continues to volunteer regularly with EFN as a shelver and frequent volunteer shifts with MVMNT Church, Love INC, and the Haven. He's deeply committed to an equitable and just future for all Charlottesville and Albemarle County residents. 

Produce Chair

A New Yorker and Yankee at heart, Jane has called Charlottesville home since 1986. After careers as a film editor, a chef, and in public relations, she decided when she retired in 2012 it was time to give back to the community. Jane joined the Emergency Food Network in the fall of 2013. She is an avid reader and enjoys getting together with her book group, cooking for friends, walking, and exercising at the gym.

Distribution and Milk Chair

Born in Charlottesville but having moved to Texas as a toddler, Carolyn has gone from El Paso to Lubbock, Austin to Philadelphia, and finally back to Charlottesville nine years ago to begin the next chapter in her life. She immediately began volunteering at The Haven. While there, she met a wonderful friend who invited her to volunteer at the Emergency Food Network. Carolyn has worked in distribution ever since. She also works part time and dabbles in art.

Bookkeeper

Sue moved to Charlottesville from New York 19 years ago. She brings to the EFN a background in accounting and nonprofit management and holds the designation of Certified Association Executive from the American Society of Association Executives. Her passions are her family, reading, knitting, and working toward making this world a better place. Her current volunteer efforts focus on Hadassah and the Emergency Food Network.

Office Chair

Gwen Goodkin, a native of Philadelphia, has lived in Charlottesville with her family since 2002. Her professional background is in financial and database consulting. She worked for two small consulting businesses in St. Louis before moving to Boston in 1997 and starting her own firm. Gwen has been a volunteer for the Emergency Food Network for many years, and joined the board in June 2018.

Member At Large

As an Army brat and retired Army Nurse Corps Officer, Kim has traveled far and wide. She, her husband and two sons settled in Charlottesville for good in 2004. In 2022, Kim began working with her good friend, neighbor and fellow board member Kathy Paulson as a Special Projects volunteer. She also continues her nursing practice two days a week at an Internal Medicine/Infectious Disease office. In her free time she keeps busy with various church activities and enjoys gardening, reading and puzzling with Kathy!

Donor Appreciation Chair

Dori was a special education teacher in the Charlottesville and Albemarle County Schools for 38 years. Now retired, she volunteers as a Patient Support Volunteer at Martha Jefferson Hospital and also volunteers at the Albemarle County Jail. She began working in distribution 3 years ago for the Emergency Food Network, and joined the board a year and a half ago. She and her husband Gordon have two grown children. She enjoys working out and spending time with family and friends.

Bagger and Shelver Chair

Originally from Seattle, Carly moved to Charlottesville from Portland, Oregon, with her husband and their three cats. In Portland, she earned a degree in Public Health and worked to connect members of the public with nutrition and food security resources. Carly is passionate about community resilience and the intersection between food systems and environmental justice. She connected with the EFN shortly after moving to Charlottesville, starting as a volunteer driver and joining the Board in 2024.

Driver Chair

Kevin started as a volunteer driver in 2015. His wife Laura is an elementary school teacher in the city, and they have four children.

Food Chair

Carol Lynn began volunteering for the EFN in 2018. After serving as a bagger and a shelver (and for a little while doing both at the same time!), she is joining the board as the Food Chair. Carol Lynn and her husband moved to Charlottesville in 2015 with their two children. Carol Lynn works part-time for Albemarle County and loves spending time with her family, running, reading, playing with their spunky dog, and cheering on the Hoos. 

Member At Large

A native New Yorker, Kathy was an Army wife for 26 years before moving from northern Virginia to Charlottesville in 2006. Kathy has worked as a distribution and special projects volunteer with the EFN since 2015, before joining the Board in 2024. Kathy enjoys jigsaw puzzles, word puzzles, reading, cheering on UVA mens' basketball, walks with her dog and time spent with friends.

Record Chair

George has worked for the EFN in some capacity for 15 years and has been on the Board for 10 years. He’s been in Charlottesville for more than 30 years, showing up as a U.Va. student and never quite leaving. When George isn’t working for U.Va.’s Law School or the EFN, he and his wife, Helen, are busy tending to the varying assortment of dogs that seem to accumulate around their house.

Special Projects Chair

Having served as a volunteer driver for over 20 years, Shamim joined the EFN Board in 2016. She enjoyed a long and rewarding career in higher education administration in the field of student affairs, retiring from the University of Virginia in 2006. Since then art has been her focus: studying in classes and workshops, painting from her studio in Charlottesville, and showing her work locally and regionally. She is a yoga enthusiast and avid traveler with her husband, including two voyages on the faculty of Semester at Sea.

Member-at-Large and Dietitian

Working as a registered dietitian for the past 40 years in the field of nutrition and disease prevention makes Rita realize two things: 1) we all need access to good food, and 2) what we eat affects our health and well-being. She feels it has been a privilege ensuring that our EFN clients receive fresh and nonperishable foods. When not teaching a class, Rita is providing diet-specific counseling, or sharing healthy menu and recipes ideas on TV or radio, Rita can be found playing with her grandchildren, digging in her garden, enjoying a walk, or reading.

Office Manager

Alaina is excited to support the Emergency Food Network's mission of reducing hunger in Charlottesville and Albemarle, and she joins the EFN with over a decade of local nonprofit administrative experience. Alaina and her husband, John, have lived in Charlottesville for 20 years and volunteered with the EFN for over a decade as Baggers.