
BERTHA MENDOZA B.S., M.S.
OC Board Vice-President
EFNEP/SNAP-Ed Extension Agent Kansas State University
Southwest Research-Extension Center
Garden City, KS
Building on her upbringing in Chihuahua, Mexico, Bertha’s fields of expertise are education, youth/family development, nutrition and health—as well as creating partnerships to address important community issues.

WILLIAM J. NELSON
OC Board Treasurer
Chair, Ralph K. Morris Foundation
William J. Nelson, LLC.
St. Paul, MN
Having worked for decades with educational organizations, membership associations, cooperatives, and nonprofits, William is focused on building outreach that can be both effective and sustainable.

ELAINE BELANSKY
Director of the Center for Rural School Health & Education
Morgridge College of Education, University of Denver
DENVER, CO
Having worked with rural communities across Colorado, Elaine understands the important role of healthy, happy schools on the lives of students, families, and educators.

Calley Runnels
County Extension Agent-Family & Community Health
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Swisher County Extension Office
Tulia, TX
In more than two decades working in rural communities as a County Extension Agent-Family & Community Health, Calley has spent 15 years working with OC programs, and really appreciates building elective partnerships that add value to our towns and residents.

Jeremy West
Director of Partnerships & Member Engagement
Urban School Food Alliance
Springfield, CO
After a more than a decade of pioneering a viable Farm-to-Cafeteria model in urban school systems, Jeremy brings organizational leadership skills to OC and innovative ideas to our Rebuilding Local Food Systems Program.