John Bottoroff, assistant director of campus dining & shops, University at Buffalo
John Bottorff has over 30 years of experience in the food industry, with 12 years of that at the University at Buffalo. Recently, John has been tasked with institutionalizing UB's food recovery efforts, partnering not only with the university's Sustainability departments but with local community outreach programs. John is passionate about the community and loves to think outside the box to help reduce waste, all while providing over 30,000 meals a day to UB's, students and guests.
Lucy Burke, director of procurement and administrative services, Hamilton College
Lucy Burke is the Director of Procurement and Administrative Services at Hamilton College located in Clinton, NY and has been in this role at Hamilton since December 2019. Dining services at Hamilton has been a focus of Lucy’s since taking the position and Hamilton recently conducted an RFP process with Porter Khouw Consulting and transitioned to a new dining vendor this past July. In addition to dining and contracted vendors on campus, Lucy manages the Auxiliary Services functions, Procurement functions, and the faculty housing program. Prior to joining Hamilton, she spent 30 years in healthcare administration in various roles.
Dan Burrows, corporate chef, MegaMex Foods
Working in every aspect of the restaurant industry since age 13, Chef Burrows has over 35 years food service experience from hot dog stands to fine dining to R&D and Corporate Chef for major foodservice companies. Dan graduated from the Culinary Institute of America with High Honors in 1988. Upon graduation Chef Burrows gained valuable experience working at Charlie Trotters and University Club of Chicago. Dan then joined the corporate Chef World as Corporate Executive Chef for Quaker Oats, Unilever, and HJ Heinz. Dan has brought his years of experience to his own consulting firm, specializing in menu development for major chains and start ups. Dan prides himself on making food that customers want to eat, be it fine dining or QSR. Throughout his career Dan has been a go to consultant on BOH operations, Menu Design, Recipe development and standardization among other things for many multi-national chain.
Heather Carrera, DCN, MS, CNS, CDN, nutrition and wellness manager, Campus Auxiliary Services
Dr. Carrera is a Doctor of Clinical Nutrition, Functional Nutritionist, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Dietician Nutritionist, and has been at Campus Auxiliary Services at SUNY Geneseo for 8 years as Nutrition and Wellness Manager. It was through her own health struggles that she began her academic interest in nutrition; using food as medicine to heal her own body fueled her passion to help others. Heather has been in clinical practice for 10 years, applying nutrition-based interventions to bring relief or resolve chronic conditions in her clients. She is dedicated to using research-based evidence to find food-based solutions to the health challenges faced by members of the Geneseo community.
Lisa Eberhart RD, LDN, director of nutrition, Menu Analytics
Lisa Eberhart is the Director of Nutrition and co-founder of Menu Analytics. She has 20+ years of C&U foodservice experience, including as Director of Nutritional Wellness at North Carolina State. She works to empower foodservice operators to provide inclusive and transparent menus to every guest.
Dustin Freeley, assistant director for residential dining and catering, Cornell University
Dustin Freeley is currently the Assistant Director of Dining at Cornell University, working specifically with Residential Dining, Catering, and Concessions. Prior to joining the team at Cornell, Dustin spent 15 years in New York City in various management roles in restaurants, as a Brand Manager for Diageo, and a Lecturer at Hunter College. Upon moving to Ithaca, he was the Director of Operations, Sales, and Marketing at an independently owned hospitality company. Joining Cornell, he began as a sales manager in the Catering department before becoming the Director of Catering and moving into his more current position.
Brandon Fortenberry, senior manager of training and development, Cornell University
Brandon Fortenberry has seen Cornell Dining from the inside since 2006 when he got his start as a line cook in the kosher dining hall on campus. His professional journey since then has spanned oversight of a full-service and renowned Catering team, including Concessions operations and a restaurant on campus. As the Senior Manager for Cornell Dining's Training and Development program, Brandon has been instrumental in designing, supporting, and implementing ongoing training programs to enhance the skills and knowledge of a team of over 500 full-time employees. He has combined his wealth of institutional knowledge with his impressive foodservice repertoire to think differently about how programs, systems and policies have a very real impact on how it feels to come to work every day.
Greg Gorgone, co-founder, Pineapple Academy
Greg is a graduate and former Chef Instructor of Johnson & Wales University with over 40 years of experience in food service and hospitality management. Greg has developed and implemented operational policies and procedures for all types and sizes of operations. Additionally, he has managed concept development projects, kitchen designs, set-ups, and grand openings for hotels, restaurants, QSRs, and healthcare operations. Greg has been a speaker and presenter for over a half dozen regional and national industry conferences and aims to provide hospitality-driven food service environments that improve the lives of all customers.
Sabrina Hafner MS, RD, LDN, associate director of nutrition, UMass Amherst
Sabrina Hafner is the Associate Director of Nutrition for UMass Dining, the #1 campus dining program in the country. Her main roles involve managing menus for the 36 dining operations on campus, overseeing dining’s wellness initiatives, and accommodating students with dietary restrictions.
Raymond Kohl, director of marketing and communications, University at Buffalo Faculty Student Association
In his role within the Faculty Student Association at the University at Buffalo for the past 17 years, Ray oversees the marketing, public relations and communications functions for all divisions. He has been recognized by NACUFS, serving as a presenter for the National Marketing Institute, serving as a facilitator for several Conference Marketing Forums as well as the creator of several entries that have won national awards. Ray has also served as the Marketing Chair for the SUNY Auxiliary Services Association. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Studies from SUNY Fredonia along with NYS Secondary Education Teaching Certification from New York State.
Crista Martin, director for strategic initiatives & communications, Harvard University
Crista Martin joined HUDS in 1998 and with her team coordinates online and print marketing, social media, market research, and public and media relations. The Communications team has won numerous awards from such organizations as the University & College Designers Association and the International Association of Business Communicators. Crista is a frequent presenter and volunteer with NACUFS, including as its Regional Director and Regional Conference Chair. Crista also spearheads HUDS Strategic Initiatives, guiding the planning and implementation of work in the areas of sustainability, food donation, business development and planning, customer service and more. She serves on numerous University and industry planning committees and working groups, and was named a "Food Hero" by the City of Cambridge for her work on HUDS' food donation program. Crista has worked for several non-profit associations, and has degrees from Boston University and American University in public relations and creative writing.
Joshua Miller, CP-FS, founder & principal, Remarkable Academic Foods
Joshua's culinary journey began at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, where he earned his Bachelor's degree in Culinary Management. While in school, he entered the realm of collegiate dining, where he quickly garnered success early on before climbing the ranks and becoming a Culinary Director for AVI Foodsystems, contributing to improvements for multiple accounts and divisions for the foodservice contractor. Joshua's passion for transforming academic foodservice stems from his personal experiences and corporate background. Today, he's on a mission to work with schools on strategies to improve student dining experiences as a consultant and podcast host.
Erin Moscati, zero waste manager, University of Buffalo
Erin has over twenty years of experience, expertise, and relationships in the sustainability field to move UB’s sustainability work forward. Erin develops solution-based approaches to help departments achieve sustainability on campus and assists passionate students in creating and implementing initiatives that further our climate neutrality goal. Erin coordinates the university’s Zero Waste strategy and develops collaborative partnerships to achieve Zero Waste on campus. Erin works closely with colleagues in Facilities, Campus Dining & Shops, Athletics, Campus Life and Contracts and Purchasing to institutionalize sustainability practices.
Lisa Pellegrino, client services strategist, CET - Center for EcoTechnology
Lisa Pellegrino works on waste reduction and client services for the Center for EcoTechnology. She has 20+ years of experience working for nonprofits and over 10 years of experience working on sustainability. Lisa is an alum of the University of Rhode Island, AmeriCorps, the Southface Energy Institute, and received got her MBA in Sustainable Systems specializing in sustainable food & agriculture, and in her spare time plays music with her band Soil & Soul at her local farmers markets in the Hudson Valley of New York.
David Porter, CEO & president, Porter Khouw Consulting, Inc.
David Porter, FCSI, has completed dining services master plans, meal plan studies, written and bid RFPs for foodservice operator selection, and has programmed and designed foodservice spaces throughout the United States and Canada. His professional experience includes more than 52 years of hands-on foodservice operations and consulting experience, with over 30 years of experience in the field of independent foodservice consulting primarily serving the college and university market in North America. David is a regular speaker at both regional and national NACUFS conferences as well as other industry meetings and has authored several articles for Food Management magazine. He is also the author of the book The Porter Principles: Recruit & Retain More Students & Alumni, Save Millions on Dining and Stop Letting Food Service Contractors Eat Your Lunch.
Sam Stephens, graduate teaching assistant and dining services student employment specialist, The Ohio State University
Sam Stephens is a first-year graduate student at The Ohio State University, studying counselor education, specializing in clinical mental health counseling. Sam is employed through Dining Services as a Student Employment Specialist, and much of her work through Dining Services aligns with her future career as a clinical mental health counselor. Sam has a strong passion for supporting student leaders and witnessing their growth as they develop into mentors within Dining Services. Sam is elated to share her impactful experiences of programming and leadership development with the Dining Student Community Leader program at Ohio State.
Connor Vezina, graduate teaching assistant and student employment specialist dining services, The Ohio State University
Connor is a second-year graduate student at The Ohio State University, studying higher education student affairs. Connor is employed through Dining Services as a Student Employment Specialist, and much of his interests for work after graduate school relate to what he does in Dining Services. Connor's student-first perspective guides the way he supports others and the programming he has helped develop over the last two years. Connor is eager to share his experiences with the Dining Student Community Leader program at Ohio State, as it has been a transformative experience.