(PDF, 111KB)View the roster(PDF, 176KB) of the current commission members, including term lengths and demographic makeup
Anne-Marie Braga
Anne-Marie Braga is a transformational leader with 25 years of experience in the health and human services field. She recently joined Mayor Johnston’s cabinet as the Executive Director for Denver Human Services where she supports a diverse group of 1,300 employees who serve 1 in 3 Denver residents. She embodies a strengths-based approach, is dedicated to community engagement and enjoys solving complex problems to get results. Prior to this appointment, Anne-Marie worked for the State of Colorado’s Department of Human Services and Public Health and Environment where she provided people-centered leadership to a variety of programs that helped Coloradans thrive. She holds a Masters of Science degree in Social Work from Columbia University and has earned a variety of state and national awards for her work. And while Anne-Marie thrives on serving others, her roles as wife and mother to her two extraordinary children keep her grounded and happy.
Austin Locke
Austin Locke currently serves as the Donor Relations Manager for Warren Village in Denver, CO. Over the last decade, he has spent a majority of his professional time working with stakeholders to connect them to their passions and to improve the lives of families with a focus in nonprofit and higher education sectors. Austin’s recent work in the food insecurity space and homeless/houselessness initiatives inspired him to become a Commissioner for Healthy Food for Denver's Kids. A graduate with a degree in Political Science with an emphasis in Economics and Public Policy he enjoys staying up to date on current events and policy. In his spare time he can be found reading a good book, connecting with friends, and visiting family.
Councilwoman Diana Romero Campbell
Diana Romero Campbell is your Denver City Council District 4 representative. Diana grew up in southeast Denver, where her and her husband raised their daughter and son who are now young adults. She is a Denver Public School alum from Jefferson High School, a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, and has spent her career working in the nonprofit sector. Diana’s career has been dedicated to ensuring that all children, youth, and families have access to the same opportunities that she and her family have enjoyed, and thus why she wanted to serve on the HFDK Commission. Her advocacy for early care and education, youth development, and Out-of-School-Time program and family support has anchored her values in community. Diana understands at her core that change happens when you listen to all voices, treat everyone with respect and dignity, lift up people who have been historically marginalized, and follow the data as well as your heart. One thing Diana enjoys most is hanging out at her mom's house by Bible Park with family or walking the Highline Canal or Cherry Creek trails.
Dwight Jones
Dwight Jones currently serves as the Executive Director of the Office of Children's Affairs in Denver. He is proud to join the city of Denver after having previously served as the Interim Superintendent of Denver Public Schools and the Commissioner of Education in Colorado.
Giselle Díaz Campagna
Giselle is the Executive Director at The GrowHaus, a Denver nonprofit dedicated to cultivating community-driven food justice through education and food access. She is a veteran nonprofit leader, multicultural social equity promoter, fundraiser and social justice program developer. She has held executive management appointments at various local and national non-profit, media, healthcare and higher education organizations. Giselle’s lifelong passion for food justice and children’s causes fuels her volunteerism and work with local organizations to promote sustainable food systems programs for youth. When she is not out tending to her vegetable garden, Giselle explores life as a yoga teacher, creative writer, art student and social activist.
Joshua Yuen-Schat
Joshua Yuen-Schat serves as the Youth Garden Educator with Kaizen Food Rescue. He is Indigenous Taiwanese from the Atayal tribe. His maternal grandfather was the first peach farmer in Taiwan and played a significant role in supporting the economic and social well-being of rural, mountainous Indigenous communities. Inspired by his upbringing and heritage, Joshua pursued studies in Environmentalism at Kenyon College and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of Colorado Boulder. Since 2019, he has worked with farmers' markets, urban farms, school gardens, public health agencies, and food and farming non-profits in Colorado. He approaches his work with community participatory and equity-centered values and looks forward to collaborating with fellow commission members. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball, teaching cooking and gardening classes, tending to his community garden, and serving as a church organist.
Karin McGowan
McGowan is a long-time public health leader in Colorado, bringing years of experience managing public health and environmental crises and delivering results for healthy communities. She is Mayor Johnston's last cabinet appointment as ED of DDPHE. An avid gardener, she appreciates the connection between fresh, healthy foods and positive health outcomes for kids and families. She has annual mediation encounters with tomato hornworms and they usually win.
Lacy Lavon McDonald III
SSG Lacy McDonald served honorably with the United States Army for 13 years with 2 deployments to Afghanistan. Currently, he volunteers full-time at Lake Middle School as a fitness coach and garden lead, providing weekly lessons to Lake’s center-based students. Additionally, he created a nonprofit organization called Outer Haven that provides outdoor urban education through fitness, camping, gardening, and archery. Lacy was a highly decorated Soldier being awarded the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Combat Action Badge, Army Commendation Medal with Valor, and nominated Soldier of the year in 2014 by the Chamber of Commerce of Aurora. Lacy has an extensive background mentoring and guiding the youth over the last 8 years. It is Lacy's goal to provide wisdom, character building, social-emotional support, and leadership skills for the youth today to become the leaders of tomorrow. Lacy demonstrated policy leadership in the development of the Big Green DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) as an experiment in democratizing and decentralizing our grant making when it comes to Food Justice. Lacy enjoys spending time with his family and youth from his community that he serves.
Linh Tran
Linh Tran brings a passion for sustainability, food, and collaboration to Healthy Food for Denver Kids Commission. She is committed to building sustainable water and food systems that ensure equitable access to healthy food.
Linh is currently the Rural Democracy Initiative Deputy Director, a philanthropic collaborative focused on civic infrastructure in rural areas in service of a stronger democracy and shared prosperity. Previously, she advanced cross-sector sustainability solutions as the Collaboration & Strategy Officer for the Water Funder Initiative and as the California Energy Service Corps Coordinator for the California Conservation Corps. She has also served as an Obama Organizing Fellow, Tom Ford Fellow for Philanthropy at the Compton Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund Climate Corps Fellow with Guitar Center, and sustainability consultant to Ares Management.
Linh holds a BA in Human Biology with a concentration in conservation and sustainable development from Stanford University, and a MA in Environmental Management from Yale University.
When relaxing, Linh can be found hiking the mountains of Colorado, tending to indoor plants and a backyard garden, and cooking elaborate community meals.
Maggie Brown
As the CEO of Bondadosa, Maggie proudly leads the organization to and through innovative solutions to strengthen the regional food ecosystem so that it is more kind and sustainable for generations to come. Bondadosa is a social impact company that provides tech, logistics, and transportation services to support government agencies, small businesses, and nonprofit programs, all with the goal of improving access to nutrient-dense food. Her personal commitment to creating meaningful change in the systems of food access and health equity stems from being raised on WIC, SNAP, FRL & other assistance programs. Maggie holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition-Dietetics and a diverse set of skills and experience in business management. Since 2012, she has worked in community health and logistics, always supporting local businesses and access to food. When she's not doing this passion-work, you can find Maggie enjoying books, TED talks or not taking herself too seriously in activities like yoga, tai chi, or weight training.
Meg Tracz
Meg is a senior social impact and public policy leader with 15 years of experience driving advocacy initiatives, building cross-sector partnerships, developing the capacity of nonprofit leaders, and investing in strategic initiatives. She has held leadership roles in social innovation and public policy with the United Way network, driving national campaigns to increase food security, build financial stability, and expand access to healthcare. Meg consults for social impact organizations seeking to drive systems-change through public policy and advocacy, optimal program design and delivery, and grant fundraising and investing. She volunteers as a grant reviewer with Serve Colorado, is an AmeriCorps*VISTA alumna, and received her BS from Cornell University and her MPA at the George Washington University.
Through her career, Meg has advocated to increase access to food (SNAP, summer meals, last mile food delivery) and she’s thrilled to bring her skills and passion to the Commission. In her free time, you’ll find Meg cooking, hiking, and exploring Denver’s amazing culinary scene.
Melinda Day, PhD, MPH
Melinda Day has over 20 years of experience in organizational development and nonprofit leadership. She's been an entrepreneur in higher education and educational technology, focused on workforce development, and led organizations in transforming employer-based training into apprenticeship-based degrees.
Dr. Day serves as the Chief Impact Officer at Food Bank of the Rockies. In this role, she steers organizational strategy, developing benchmarks and key performance indicators to measure impact. Committed to the organization's values — service, integrity, diversity, equity, inclusion, collaboration, and innovation — she ensures these principles integrate throughout the strategy, public policy, and operations. Dr. Day received her BA in Child Development from Tufts University and her Master's in Public Health focused on Maternal and Child Health from the University of Illinois-Chicago. She completed her Ph.D. in Child and Family Studies at Syracuse University. Her dissertation focused on race and ethnic stereotype formation and teacher training.
Councilman Paul Kashmann
Paul is a New Jersey native and moved to Colorado in 1971. A long time resident of the Virginia Village neighborhood, he has made his home in District 6 for some 40 years.
Paul has always been invested in community, having run The Washington Park Profile newspaper for 36 years. Wanting to continue his love for people and passion for community service, Paul successfully ran for City Council in 2015. Paul is currently serving his third and final term on council, where he is focusing his policy on the environment and children.
The proud parent of a blended group of five wonderful children and six grandchildren, outside of work Paul enjoys running, golf, hiking, reading, live music and live theater. Paul and his guitar are in great demand for bedtime lullabies and campfire singalongs. He is renowned among his circle of friends for his skill at three-ball juggling.