Lorin Kleinman, Office Manager
Lorin ensures the efficient operation of the organization.  She acts as HR Director, oversees bookkeeping, is in charge of payroll, drafts revisions to the policy manual, selects new equipment, keeps our outside IT consultant on his toes, and makes sure a copy of all data is kept off-site in case the building burns down. Before she came to CFS, she worked for seven years at the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Co-op, where she managed a team, directed HR, oversaw a staff of seventy as interim manager, and sat on the Board; and where she gained a deep appreciation for proper management, good food, and sustainable agriculture.

Meredith Niles, Cool Foods Campaign Coordinator
Meredith joined CFS in 2007 after spending significant time traveling abroad in Southeast Asia and Australia and living in New Zealand.  During her time abroad she worked and volunteered in a variety of positions and gained valuable insight in international sustainable agriculture.  Prior to joining CFS she worked as an outdoor education instructor in Maine and New Hampshire leading backcountry backpacking trips and teaching school groups.  She has also worked for the State Department coordinating public affairs for international HIV/AIDS assistance.  Meredith is a summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Catholic University with a B.A. in politics, honors in environmental studies and a minor in Italian.  At CFS she is co-coordinating a national campaign to educate the public about how food choice can affect global warming, and promoting sustainable alternatives like organic, local and whole foods.  She is passionate about the outdoors, food, cooking and traveling.

William H. Wenzel, Policy Advisor
Bill joined CFS in January 2009 to promote policymaker education on national issues such as genetic engineering, climate change and agriculture, sewage sludge, and food safety. Bill is also the National Director of the Farmer to Farmer Campaign on Genetic Engineering, a network of 34 farm groups organized in 1999 to provide a national voice for farmers on genetic engineering in agriculture issues. Bill is a 1981 graduate of the Hamline University School of Law. He has served as Chief of Staff and Agriculture & Environmental Resources Committee staffperson for two former Wisconsin State Senators. He has a long history of grassroots activism with more than 20 years of experience in federal and state policy development and advocacy on agricultural, environmental and rural development issues.

STAFF BIOS: WEST COAST OFFICE

Rebecca Spector, West Coast Director
Rebecca Spector joined CFS in 2000 and has been instrumental in growing the organization and creating its West Coast Regional Office in San Francisco. As CFS's West Coast Director, she champions California policy initiatives at the state level and coordinates public outreach campaigns to promote healthy, safe and sustainable food systems. Previously, she served as director of development at Green Seal, the first U.S. product eco-labeling organization, and at Mothers & Others she spearheaded its organic cotton marketing campaign. Rebecca is associate editor of Fatal Harvest: The Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture and Your Right to Know: Genetic Engineering and the Secret Changes in Your Food. She has authored numerous articles and reports including the California Food and Agriculture Report Card on Genetic Engineering.  Rebecca founded and co-owned Purisima Greens organic farm in Half Moon Bay, California, and created its community supported agriculture (CSA) and farmers' market programs that regularly served hundreds of families in the Bay Area. She received her M.S. in Environmental Policy from the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment.

Lisa J. Bunin, Ph.D., Campaigns Coordinator
Lisa Bunin joined CFS as a Switzer Environmental Leadership Fellow, with a long history of environmental activism, having led successful international, national, and local campaigns on toxic pollution, clean production, and genetic engineering.  At Greenpeace International in Europe, she launched a winning campaign that culminated in a global ban on the burning of toxic waste at sea through the United Nations.  In the US, she worked with Greenpeace to bring the first certified organic cotton clothing to market.  Lisa was instrumental in securing a Santa Cruz County-wide moratorium on the planting of genetically engineered crops, as a member of the Public Health Commission's Genetic Engineering Advisory Board and co-editor of its investigative report.  Lisa received her Ph.D. in Environmental Sociology from UC Santa Cruz where she studied organic cotton production systems and markets, conducting field research at sites in India, Switzerland, and California.  She has taught college courses on environmental policy, nature and society, and social movements.  Prior to joining CFS, Lisa worked as an independent policy consultant on sustainable agriculture issues with government agencies and NGOs such as the Ecological Farming Association, Environmental Commons and Sustainable Cotton Project.

Zelig Kevin Golden, Staff Attorney
Kevin Zelig Golden joined CFS in 2006 following a season farming and teaching at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center's sustainable agriculture project. At CFS, Kevin works on legal and policy issues related to genetically engineered crops and food safety laws. Kevin began his legal career as a fellow with the law firm Adams, Broadwell, Joseph & Cardozo, where he worked on environmental health and safety issues and litigated environmental cases on behalf of California labor unions. Prior to law school, he worked as a backcountry biologist for Kenai Fjords National Park, farmed organically in Idaho, taught middle school environmental science, and worked with Costa Rican farmers to develop local, organic alternatives to chemical pesticides. Kevin graduated magna cum laude from the University of Washington with a B.S. in ecology, focused on sustainable agriculture. He received his J.D. with a certificate in environmental law in 2004 from the University of California, Boalt Hall School of Law. At Boalt Hall, Kevin worked on the Ecology Law Quarterly as Executive and Articles editor.

George Kimbrell, Staff Attorney
George Kimbrell joined CFS in 2005, following a clerkship with the Honorable Ronald M. Gould, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. At CFS Mr. Kimbrell works on legal and policy issues related to genetically engineered foods and crops, organic standards, and aquaculture. In addition, he is a staff attorney at CFS's sister organization, The International Center for Technology Assessment, where he covers legal and policy issues related to biotechnology, nanotechnology, and climate change. Mr. Kimbrell has also written law review articles on a variety of environmental issues, including nanotechnology, endangered species protection, and water law. Mr. Kimbrell received his law degree from Lewis and Clark Law School, graduating magna cum laude with a Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resource Law. While there, he was an Editor of the Environmental Law Review, a member of the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Clinic, and spent time in Alaska working for The Nature Conservancy. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, in History and Government from the College of William and Mary.

Paige Tomaselli, Staff Attorney
Paige joined CFS in 2008 as Staff Attorney. At CFS, Paige works on law and policy related to genetically engineered crops, organic standards, and other safety issues. Previously, she served as Staff Attorney for Sher Leff, representing public water suppliers and public agencies in cases involving groundwater contamination and toxic torts. Paige is a dedicated environmental advocate, with a focus on animal welfare and food safety issues. She is an active member of the San Francisco Permaculture Guild, a volunteer for the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture, and involved in a variety of projects geared towards creating a secure food supply in San Francisco. Paige holds a J.D. from Vermont Law School, where she was a member of the Environmental and Natural Resources Litigation Clinic, published an animal welfare article through the Animal Legal and Historical Center, and spent time at the University of Siena, Italy, studying international law.

Heather Whitehead, True Food Network Director 
Heather has worked with the True Food Network since its inception in 2000 and has been its director since 2003. Heather worked at Greenpeace USA for nearly 10 years, most recently as the National Markets Campaigner with the Genetic Engineering Campaign, where she led the True Food Network's successful campaign urging Trader Joe's to transition to GE-free products. In addition to directing the True Food Network, Heather is the editor and lead writer of CFS's quarterly newsletter Food Safety Now!, and was a contributing writer to CFS's new book Your Right to Know: Genetic Engineering and the Secret Changes in Your Food. Heather has worked across the U.S. on several environmental, social justice and corporate campaigns, and has worked with several groups including Rainforest Action Network, the Ruckus Society, and the Genetic Engineering Action Network. She recently served as Associate Director at CorpWatch and is a current Steering Committee member of Californians for GE Free Agriculture.