LIFT's capacity to achieve its goals rests on its close collaboration with county and community resources, its research-based, proven operational model, and the extensive experience of its Directors and Advisors, many of whom are recognized leaders in the fields of pediatric nutrition, health and prevention; strategic planning and finance; and program development, delivery and evaluation.
Joelle Appenrodt is currently a Senior at San Rafael High School. As Student Body President for the second year, she is a very proud Bulldog. Aside from school, she enjoys volunteering with Special Olympics and improving her county as the chair of the Marin County Youth Commission. Currently, she is applying to universities on the east coast under a political science major.
Kara Connors, MPH, is a consultant in children's health promotion and health professions education. Over the past decade, Kara has established her expertise in a variety of areas including: training and education for consumers and health professionals in both distance and in-person formats, program development/management, and evaluation and research. With a strong communication background, Kara has an excellent ability to conceptualize an idea into a well resourced project, lend strategic thinking and “hands on” leadership toward project completion, and develop relevant tools to evaluate its impact.
Kara graduated from Hamilton College in Clinton, NY with a degree in political science. Her thesis, "Women and the Politics of AIDS," was one of the first academic analyses of those factors impacting women in the early years of the AIDS epidemic. Kara completed her master's in public health from the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Public Health. Her master's thesis was titled: "Faculty Development and Service-Learning: Critical Issues and Emerging Innovations in Community-Based Health Professions Education." The evaluation component presented in her thesis is reported in Academic Medicine.
Kara enjoys working with community, academic and health enterprise sectors. She is available for short or long term consultation in the areas of: in person training and distance education, program development/management, and evaluation and research.
Currently the San Geronimo Valley Community Center Executive Director, Dave is also the Coordinator of the San Geronimo Valley Healthy Community Collaborative.
Dedicated to ensuring the continued vitality of Marin County, Dave serves on the Sir Francis Drake High School Leadership Council, is a San Geronimo School Open Classroom Parent Board Member, on the Board of Directors for the Coastal Health Alliance in Point Reyes Station and the Lagunitas School Foundation, Board of Directors.
Dave has served two terms as Commission Chair for the Marin County Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission. He was a counselor, supervisor, and family worker at Full Circle School in Bolinas, a residential group home for emotionally disturbed boys and a Marin County Juvenile Probation and California Youth Authority Counselor.
Mr. Cort graduated from Northwestern University with a B.S. degree in Human Development and Social Policy.
Nina Gardner is an employee benefits broker/consultant with Filice Insurance
Agency. Her focus is on business development, strategic benefit planning,
benefits implementation, and open enrollment meetings, as well as coordination
of health and wellness fairs. Prior to joining Filice, Nina was an employment law
attorney with Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold and Littler, Mendelson, both
large, national law firms. Prior to law school, Nina worked as a manager of a
broadcast union, N.A.B.E.T and as a paralegal for Wild, Carey & Fife. Nina holds a
B.A. in Comparative Literature with highest honors from U.C. Berkeley and a J.D.
from Berkeley Law (Boalt Hall School of Law) at U.C. Berkeley.
Nina Gardner has also served on the board of the Kentfield Schools Foundation
Dr. Alan L. Nager is Head of the Division of Emergency and Transport Medicine at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The Emergency Department treats 63,000 patients annually and is the only Level I Pediatric Trauma Center in southern California. In addition, he is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California and has a Master of Health Administration degree from the University of Southern California.
Dr. Nager has lectured extensively on a variety of emergency medicine topics. His interests are in acute gastroenteritis and dehydration in children, urinary tract infections and injury prevention. He is frequently quoted in the media and has appeared on numerous television and radio segments, talking about injuries such as near drowning, motor vehicle accidents, sports injuries, and falls. He is a member of several organizations dealing with health and injury prevention and was a consultant for the Los Angeles Poison Control Center for four years.
Maria Reyes is Youth Leadership Institute's Senior Director of Programs, Marin.
Mr. Searcy has a Master's degree in Management from the University of Redlands and a Master's degree in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University in Los Angeles. Prior to working at the Hope through Housing Foundation, Mr. Searcy served as the Manager of Human and Social Services for the City of Irvine, California. He has served on the Board of Directors of several organizations including serving as President of the Board of Directors of INFOLink Orange County and Board Vice President of Development for Women Helping Women in Costa Mesa. In his position at Hope Through Housing, Mr. Searcy has responsibility for program operations at over forty affordable housing developments throughout Southern California.
Richard has a commitment to personal growth, fitness and nutrition as he understands how important each of these components is to achieving a life of health and vitality. This commitment led to his founding LIFT for Teens/Levantate in 2008 when he recognized a lack of programs addressing these issues in local low-income communities. His mission is to utilize community resources to educate and motivate children and families to engage in healthy activities, specifically focusing on proper nutrition, gardening, physical activity, diabetes prevention and positive life choices.
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