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Team

		Michael Dimock Executive Director Michael Dimock is an organizer and thought leader on food and farming systems and heads Roots of Change (ROC) a project of the Public Health Institute. ROC develops and campaigns for smart, incentive-based food and farm policies that position agriculture and food enterprises as solutions to critical challenges of the 21^st century. Since 2006, Michael has been spawning and leading education and policy campaigns, community dialogues and creative engagements with government and corporate leaders to advance regenerative food and farm policies and practices that make agriculture and food enterprises solutions to critical public health challenges of the 21st century. His leadership has rendered one new law and funding program at the federal level and three new California laws that included two new funding programs and five successful budget requests. As a result, nearly $400 million in funding for improved nutrition has flowed to CBOs. He has been a player in passing regenerative agriculture policies that have resulted in $500 million in funding to provide farmers with incentives to reduce emissions and/or capture carbon and retain water in the soil and reduce the use of toxic chemicals. He is the host of the podcast Flipping the Table featuring honest conversations about food, farms and the future. Author, Katrina Fried, and Photographer, Paul Mobley, feature Michael in their book, Everyday Heroes: 50 Americans Changing the World. He began his career in 1989 as a sales executive in Europe for agribusiness and in 1992 founded Ag Innovations Network to provide strategic planning for companies and governments seeking healthier food and agriculture. In 1996, he founded Slow Food Russian River and, from 2002 to 2007, he was Chairman of Slow Food USA and a member of Slow Food International’s board of directors. Michael’s love for agriculture and food systems grew from experiences on a 13,000-acre cattle ranch in Santa Clara County in his youth and a development project with Himalayan subsistence farmers in Nepal in 1979. In the 1980s, he was a campaign worker for California Governor Jerry Brown. Michael earned a BA in History with Honors at UCLA and a Master International Affairs at Columbia University.
		Doris Meier Communications Specialist Doris brings various business and management experiences to her position as Communications Specialist with Roots of Change. For close to a decade, she directed an international education business and later worked as an organizational development consultant and business coach. She was recently involved in a start-up company focused on building a story-telling platform for mission-driven brands to help consumers reconnect to the origins of the food they eat and make more ethical purchasing choices. She is very committed to facilitating the growth and success of Roots of Change and its community and to reaching the goal of establishing a sustainable, climate-smart, healthy and accessible food system in California. Doris received a Bachelor’s degree in Humanities from New College of California and a Master’s degree in Organizational Psychology from Golden Gate University. She grew up in a small farming town in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, is bi-lingual in German and English and speaks conversational French and Spanish. She has called the Bay Area her home for more than half her life, is an avid photographer, traveler and cook…and loves to eat!
		Coco Sanabria Research Associate Coco Sanabria is a Research Associate with Roots of Change supporting work on a variety of research projects and assisting in facilitating stakeholder engagements including state and federal agencies, industry associations, businesses, and philanthropic supporters. Coco has a background in engineering with a focus on development of health technologies. She has also worked in teaching, mentoring, and community engagement to address skill and knowledge-building in critical topics ranging from sexual health to gun violence. She completed advanced studies in systems thinking to address global challenges. Noting how food systems impact health, Coco turned to work upstream to improve and maintain health through investments in healthy food environments that will serve this generation and those to come. Coco has a B.S. in Bioengineering, with honors, and an M.S. in Sustainability Science and Practice both from Stanford University. She is trilingual, speaking English, Spanish and French.
		Matthew Marsom Consultant Policy Advisor Matthew Marsom, CEO of GoodWin Strategies serves as consultant policy adviser for ROC, providing strategic counsel and support to help ROC secure our goals in a rapidly changing and complex public policy landscape. Matthew is an experienced strategist, advocate, and nonprofit leader with almost three decades of experience serving in senior leadership roles in nonprofit organizations and government agencies in the U.S. and U.K. Previously, Matthew held executive roles at the Public Health Institute, where he led government relations, program management, and public policy initiatives and his career also includes impactful work at the California Department of Public Health and the United Kingdom’s Department for Education and Skills.
		Dr. Raissa Sorgho Director of Global Nutrition and Partnerships Dr. Sorgho leads the design, development, and execution of three global human-centered food and nutrition programs in sub-Saharan Africa, southeast Asia, and Latin America. She investigates international policy and program application to the USA context to advance key markets, support sustainable agriculture, and protect the health of agricultural workers. Furthermore, Dr. Sorgho manages partnership growth, client development, and oversees the alignment of leadership strategies with health equity principles. Her international experience and expertise guides ROC’s expansion of work to include international projects related to nutrition and regenerative agriculture. She completed her undergraduate studies at Bucknell University (USA), holds a master’s in public health and a doctorate in global health from Heidelberg University (Germany). Her expertise includes health (nutrition and heat), climate change (adaptation and sustainability), and policy (review and implementation), with an emphasis on evidence-based decision making. She has professional experience in conducting qualitative political economic analyses in southeast Asia, investigating the association between reducing greenhouse gas emissions and health co-benefits in western Europe, and implementing agro-biodiversification and nutrition randomized control trials in east and west Africa.

		Carol Mills Program Administrator, Finance & Operations Carol Mills has 20 years of experience in grants administration, healthcare research and program and operations management. Her current position entails providing financial and operational support for a portfolio of projects within the public health sector – budget development, financial forecasting, overseeing payables, expense tracking and overall financial management. Carol’s career includes organizing community outreach programs to promote cancer awareness as well as collaborating with schools and local programs to develop key partnerships to address minority underrepresentation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Carol grew up on the Caribbean island of Barbados. She has a B.S. in Business Administration and has worked in medical research centers and institutions of higher learning throughout the US including New York, Florida and most recently in Atlanta, Georgia.
		Angela Blatt Research Scientist Angela Blatt has extensive experience leading national efforts to advance food system financing, including managing initiatives that position local and regional food systems as investable asset classes. She has worked directly with communities across the country, providing technical assistance and developing strategic plans that leverage development finance tools to support infrastructure, agriculture, and small business growth. Her work emphasizes building equitable, resilient food economies through targeted investment and financial innovation. A U.S. Navy veteran, Angela holds two degrees from The Ohio State University: a Master of Public Administration with a focus on food policy from the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, and a Bachelor of Science from the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
		Sanjana Anand Social Media & Fundraising Coordinator (Intern) Sanjana Anand is an undergraduate student at UC Berkeley, pursuing a dual degree in Environmental Economics & Policy and Data Science. She is deeply interested in the intersection of food equity, agricultural policy, and sustainable business practices as pathways to address the climate crisis. Sanjana has interned with the Sustainability department at e&, a Dubai-based telecommunications company, consulted for Bay Area food organizations, and contributed to research exploring food as a social connector in Indigenous and international communities. On campus, she co-led a course on clean energy transitions and advocated for healthier dining options through student government. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, thrifting, and learning new languages.
		Anna Kathawala Bachelor’s Practicum Intern Anna Kathawala is an undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley pursuing a degree in Society & Environment and Political Science. She has long been passionate about the intersection between resilient food systems, natural resource management, the climate crisis, and regenerative agriculture. Anna has interned for the regenerative agriculture advocacy organization Kiss the Ground, conducted research on the impacts of compost policy on California food systems, and worked on an urban farm. Outside of work, she loves anything outdoors, cooking, and eating!
		Dalia Hernandez Master’s Practicum Intern Dalia Hernandez is completing both her B.A. in Urban Studies with a minor in Human Rights, and her M.A. in Sustainability Science & Practice from Stanford University. She has previous experience with policy and infrastructure work, and has worked in partnership with the City of Oakland, and has also worked with Equality California and their Safe & Supportive Schools program. She is committed to issues of community care, environmental justice and the relationship between systems that perpetuate inequity in urban areas. Through this project and her time at ROC, Dalia hopes to expand on her understanding of food systems and the potential for longterm, environmental change to better local communities and the planet. She is from the Port of Los Angeles, and grew up speaking both English and Spanish.
		Jacob Dunlap Master’s Practicum Intern Jacob Dunlop is a master’s student at Stanford University with a background in biomaterials engineering. His research centers on transforming waste products into biodegradable textiles, with a particular focus on creating resilient supply chains that support rural and coastal communities. He is currently developing sustainable textiles from wool waste and sugar kelp. Born and raised on Kodiak Island, Alaska, he worked on subsistence fishing boats during long summer months, an experience that helped guide his commitment to environmental stewardship. He believes biomaterials can benefit rural producers and promote a more circular economy. During his bachelor’s degree, Jacob was a visiting student at the Carnegie Institute for Science and separately worked with a graduate student to print and characterize 3D bioink for the controlled delivery of protein therapeutics.”
		Kathy Mossburg Contract Lobbyist Kathy Mossburg is a member of Mosaic Solutions and Advocacy, a team of professional partners who are uniquely experienced in the world of public policy, public advocacy and association management. Prior to joining Mosaic Solutions and Advocacy, Kathy was a partner with MVM Strategy Group for eight years, another Sacramento based lobbying and advocacy firm. Kathy has been lobbing for over 20 years and has represented a wide range of clients broadly focused on public health and safety net issues since she first formed Mossburg and Associates in 1998. She has a comprehensive knowledge of legislative, administrative and budget processes. In addition to ROC, she has successfully represented such clients as the Public Health Institute, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Essential Access Health, California Association of Food Banks, California Food Policy Advocates and the Local Health Plans of California.
		Courtney Grace Podcast Producer Courtney Grace is a sound designer, vocalist, and music producer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She studied Sound Design at San Francisco State University and started her music and sound business, Courtney Grace Music and Sound in 2015. She has worked on several podcasts, films, and songs, and has worked on projects with Google and Skywalker Sound. Aside from work, she is very passionate about social justice issues, video editing, graphic design, and enjoys healthy foods and adventurous hikes in nature.