Nancy Gould Chuda

Co-Founder & Chair of Honorary Board, Author & Environmental Activist

is the founder of Healthy Child Healthy World. Healthy Child Healthy World was established to honor the Chuda’s only child, Colette, who died in 1991 at the age of five due to a rare, non-genetic, form of cancer. Since launching both the Colette Chuda Environmental Fund and Healthy Child Healthy World, Nancy has won numerous awards for her advocacy. The California League of Conservation Voter's Environmental Leadership Award, The Healthy Schools Heroes Award, presented to both her and her husband James Chuda by Governor Gray Davis for their legislative efforts in securing The Healthy Schools Act which was signed into law in September, 2000.

She serves as an associate of the Director's Council of Public Representatives of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and was appointed by President Clinton’s Health and Human Services Secretary, Donna Shalala, to serve as a member of the National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council for the National Institutes of Environmental Health Science (NIEHS) a position she held for four years.

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Kiersten Alton, Rph.

Nutritionist

After graduating from the University of Montana with a Pre-Med Zoology degree, I then attended pharmacy school at the University of Texas where I obtained a bachelors degree in Pharmacy.

I currently work for a holistic, wellness Pharmacy called Peoples Pharmacy. We specialize in helping patients get back their health by changing diet and lifestyle first. When needed, we use supplements, herbs, vitamins and diagnostic testing to help manage all types of conditions. I have over 500 additional hours of training in other modalities of healing. I love working with infants, toddlers and older children.

My true passion lies in changing the way we feed our children. I firmly believe many of the childhood diseases and conditions such as asthma, ADD, and eczema could be reduced if we gave those little growing bodies the building blocks to develop a healthy system. As a pharmacist I feel that the overuse of antibiotics has greatly contributed to many of these conditions. I work with many Autistic and special needs children. This is the most rewarding work anyone can do. These children desperately need our help. Their bodies are extremely toxic from the environment, the food and modern medicine. My future goals are to start a structured nutrition program in schools, which engages the parents, teachers and children to develop healthy eating habits. Good eating habits begin with that first bite of food at 6 months of age.

I love what I do, but more importantly I love being a mother even more! My toddler has taught me more about life in the last 4 years than any school or class ever will. He has helped me develop toddler friendly programs and tests all of my recipes and natural remedies!

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Jenny Brady

Green Educational Consultant

Jenny has been working with Healthy Child, Healthy World (HCHW) since 1999. Ms. Brady brings a wide range of professional experience in project coordination, business management, and client service. In addition to a BA from UCLA in Ecosystem Analysis, she received an MA from Antioch University in Environmental Advocacy. She is passionate about educating people about the pervasive toxic substances that affect our health and environment. A Certified Green Build Professional, she founded Going Green Consulting, a HCHW partner business devoted to non-toxic solutions for living environments. She is married with two children living in Southern California.

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Amy Brenneman

Actress, Activist and Mother of Charlotte and Bodhi

Amy Brenneman is one of the most talented and respected actresses of her time. Additionally, she spends her time working with two organizations dear to her, Healthy Child Healthy World and The Feminist Majority. Amy is a champion messenger for Healthy Child and has gone on numerous television and radio shows to help educate the public about children’s health.

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Erin Brockovich

President of Brockovich Research & Consulting, Environmental Advocate

Erin Brockovich is President of the consulting firm Brockovich Research & Consulting and was the Director of Environmental Research at Masry and Vititoe law firm until 2008. She is credited for spearheading the 1996 environmental lawsuit against Pacific Gas and Electric Company on behalf of 600 members of the Hinkley, California community. Her tireless efforts resulted in a $333 million compensation package, the largest settlement ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit. Erin’s Healthy Child Healthy World message advocating for children’s health appeared on over 22 million Organic Valley milk cartons in 2003.

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Laura Dern

Actress, Activist, Mom to Ellery and Jaya

Laura Dern has emerged as one of the great actresses of her generation proving that she is capable of great depth and range, touching audiences and critics alike with her moving and heartfelt performances. The recipient of countless awards, Laura is recognized for her ability to portray a wide range of characters. Not only is she a wonderful actress, but she is a dedicated environmentalist and mother. Her decision to join the Healthy Child Healthy World Advisory Board and become their spokesperson is a testament to her commitment to the cause.

"We hear the news that we're having a baby and we want to be really healthy and careful. So we eat organically, avoid mercury in fish, don’t drink, don’t smoke; we don’t use hair color or paint our nails. We spend all this energy and time creating a really healthy environment--and then we totally switch gears. We stop thinking about health and somehow lead ourselves to believe that the most important thing for the baby when it comes home from the hospital is…a pretty room. And so we choose the coolest crib design, instead of the safest or healthiest crib. We pick the absolute cutest linens, even if they’re covered in flame-retardants and other chemicals (never mind that a baby can hardly see at first). Unwittingly, we put loads of toxic chemicals into the room as we strive to make it look just right."

To read more from Laura and many others, pick up your copy of our book, Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home, today.

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Christopher Gavigan

CEO / Executive Director

Christopher Gavigan is Chief Executive Officer of Healthy Child Healthy World. For more than a decade, he has dedicated himself to improving the lives of children and families. He holds degrees in environmental science and geography from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has extensive graduate training in child psychology and education. He has worked as an ecology and sciences teacher in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area, and as a child and family specialist. He is the founder of Pinnacle Expeditions, an outdoor leadership program for teenagers.

Since joining Healthy Child Healthy World, Gavigan has launched public awareness campaigns, strategic partnerships, and educational programs that have educated millions about daily choices and actions that impact our children’s health and our planet’s future. He is the best-selling author of "Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home". 

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Rebecca Foster

Green Educational Consultant

Rebecca Foster is one of the original members of Healthy Child, Healthy World. Being a mother of three girls made it a priority to stay closely involved for the last 17 years. From co-chairing many Healthy Child annual events, to launching The Green House, her experience and knowledge has been invaluable. She found her passion blending her sense of style, love of great design and enthusiasm for green interior design into assisting Healthy Child with it's goal of being a leader in children' environmental health. A Certified Green Building Professional she co-founded Going Green Consulting.

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Mandy Geisler

Programs Director

As Programs Director at Healthy Child Healthy World, Mandy oversees and coordinates programs, projects, operations and events.  Mandy holds a Master's Degree in Economics and Education. When not working, she loves to travel above all else, dance, and ride her bike all over the inhospitable streets of Los Angeles.

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Anna Getty

Green Living and Holistic Lifestyle Expert, Mother to India

Anna Getty is a certified Kundalini Yoga and Prenatal Yoga teacher, a specialist in organic cooking and cuisine, the founder of Pregnancy Awareness Month, and a consultant for her positive lifestyle brand, PureStyle Living. She has a series of best-selling yoga DVDs and is releasing two organic cookbooks in 2009. Anna sits on the board of Healthy Child Healthy World and the Environmental Media Awards, and works closely with The Organic Center.

"The question I like to ask myself is, How green can I get? I pose it without getting completely insane about it, also trying to keep it lighthearted and easy. It’s about taking baby steps; doing what you can when you can.
I’m always doing research. It makes buying things complicated—I’m on the lookout for what’s fair trade, organic, sustainable or nontoxic. But it also makes me ask myself how badly I need something. I have to admit that sometimes all the searching and worrying turns me into a neurotic mess—I’ve found myself getting down on my husband for not recycling—but then I have to remember that he too is learning and taking small steps as well.
Right now I’m doing great on the garbage front—our trash guy only collects it every two weeks. We just started a compost system. I try to avoid gigantic packaging, and I buy more used and vintage pieces. My current project is trying to recycle of all the plastic I’ve collected over the years: baby bottles, toys sippy cups, etc. It’s a cool challenge to look in the garbage and ask, How do I make this even less?"

To read more from Anna and many others, pick up your copy of our book, Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home, today.

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Dina Goda

Program Intern

Dina has been helping Healthy Child Healthy World in researching and writing blogs, program assitance and web contents.

She has earned a BA degree from UC Berkeley in Spanish Literature and another Molecular and Cellular Biology with Genetics Emphasis. She will be attending the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, medical school in January of 2009.

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Jason Graham-Nye

Kimberley (wife of me) and I (Jason) had this grand plan...to move to America from Australia and launch a new and very unique kind of baby diaper: gDiapers. They are flushable and compostable and have been in Australia since 1991. We were just happy customers who loved it so much, we bought the rights to the rest of the world and headed to Portland, Oregon with child and dog in tow.

We launched the product 11 months ago and are now available nationally through Whole Foods & Wild Oats and 300 or so natural supermarkets.

We are the very first consumer good with William McDonough’s "Cradle to Cradle" product accreditation - something we are very proud of. We also give a percentage of revenue to CHEC - we love those guys and gals.

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Dr. Philippe Grandjean

Adjunct Professor of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health

Dr. Grandjean has served as Vice-Dean and Institute Chairman at Odense University and as member of the Danish Medical Research Council. He is founding editor of the web-based journal Environmental Health and has served as European Editor of the Archives of Environmental Health and is currently a member of editorial boards of ten scientific journals. He has been elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was elected to the Board of Collegium Ramazzini in 2005. Past committee memberships include the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency SAB/SAP Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program Subcommittee, the Danish Committee on Scientific Dishonesty, the Panel on Contaminants of the European Food Safety Authority, and the chair of the Commission on Toxicology of IUPAC, and the Danish Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Research, as well as advisory tasks for several international organizations.

http://myprofile.cos.com/PGrand

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Dr. Alan Greene

Founder of DrGreene.com, Author of Raising Baby Green: The Earth-Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Baby Care

Dr. Greene is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine, an Attending Pediatrician at Packard Children's Hospital, and a Senior Fellow at the University California San Francisco Center for the Health Professions. He is the Past President of The Organic Center, on the Advisory Board of Healthy Child, a founding partner of the Collaborative on Health and the Environment, and a consultant for the Environmental Working Group. In 1995, he launched DrGreene.com, cited by the AMA as “the pioneer physician Web site” on the Internet. His award-winning site receives over 440,000 Unique Users a month from parents, concerned family members, students, and healthcare professionals.

"Though a doctor may not provide the "greenest" answers to your questions, how he or she answers is often just as illuminating. Willingness to engage in a dialogue may be the real hallmark of a green pediatrician. When choosing a doctor, you of course want someone steeped in science, and aware of recent literature and controversies. But you also want someone who both articulates a point of view and desires to hear yours. I believe that teaching and inspiring one's patients, along with their families, about the value of nutrition, exercise, and overall attentiveness to environment may be of greater importance than the ability to write a prescription."

To read more from Dr. Greene and many others, pick up your copy of our book, Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home, today. 

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Dr. Alan Greene is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine, the President of the Society for Participatory Medicine, on the board of directors of Healthy Child Healthy World and the Organic Center. He is the author of many popular health and parenting books including Raising Baby Green and Feeding Baby Green.

He has been featured in the New York Times and has appeared on CNN, The TODAY Show, Good Morning America - NOW, and NBC Evening News. Dr. Greene was honored as one of “the 100 most creative and influential innovators working in health care today” and was named the Children’s Health Hero of the Internet by Intel. He is the Founder of the pioneering consumer health Website DrGreene.com that has touched millions of lives since its inception in 1995.

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Tessa Hill

Board Member, President of Kids for Saving Earth

Motivated by the loss of her 11 year-old son and her husband to cancer, Tessa Hill founded and serves as President of Kids for Saving Earth. A founding board member of Healthy Child Healthy World, she has worked to protect the Earth and its children. Tessa is also is a board member of Beyond Pesticides, a Community Partner with The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and served on federal advisory board for the EPA's Children's Health Office.

"Clinton was 11 when he died. I don't know for sure if pesticides caused his death. Many scientific studies suggest a link between pesticides and brain cancer. I do know that it isn't worth taking a chance with toxic bug control methods. There are many safe ways to eradicate pests, including lice. I used boric acid to beat back a roach infestation at our beach house; it worked beautifully and didn't contaminate the property. I refuse to use standard mosquito sprays or flea treatments that contain cancer-causing chemicals.
Before he died, Clint wanted to start a club to teach kids and parents about environmental issues. Kids for Saving Earth (kidsforsavingearth.org), which provides materials to educate and empower children, parents, and instructors about ways to protect the Earth and children's environmental health, is Clint’s legacy."

To read more from Tessa and many others, pick up your copy of our book, Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home, today.

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Tessa Hill

President, Kids for Saving Earth

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Jeffrey Hollender

President, Seventh Generation, Inc., Father of Meika, Alexander, and Chiara

President and Chief Inspired Protagonist of Seventh Generation, Jeffrey Hollender is a well-respected leader in the socially and environmentally responsible communities. Jeffrey has led Seventh Generation from its humble beginnings to its current position as the leading and fastest-growing brand of natural products for the home. Currently he serves on the Board of Directors of Greenpeace USA, Healthy Child Healthy World, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, and Alloy Inc., a publicly traded company.

"We know how to create that healthy home the doctor spoke about, and we have. What I want is for everyone else to know, too. Because so many people simply don't. People just don't realize that many of the things surrounding them are turning their homes into toxic sinks in which the air is two to five times more polluted than the air just outside. Most of all, they don't realize what all these things can do to the most vulnerable and defenseless among us. I don’t want anyone else to feel what I felt on that scary summer day. I don't want another child to suffer. From where I sit, I can see the place where those things never happen. I can see a world that's safe, clean, and healthy, one that nurtures life instead of harming it, and we're going to get there."

To read more from Jeffrey and many others, pick up your copy of our book, Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home, today.

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Emily Lynne Ion

Communications and Outreach Associate

As Director of Communications and Outreach at Healthy Child Healthy World, Emily fuses her interest in media, marketing, and outreach with her passion for improving the health and well-being of children. She holds a degree in International Communications from the American University of Paris, and has extensive work experience as a mentor and tutor for children of various ages. She is committed to lifetime learning and exploring all sides of creativity through words, music and design. Her other passions include romance languages, travel, doing yoga, and listening to Stevie Wonder.

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Dr. Harvey Karp

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, UCLA School of Medicine, Author of The Happiest Baby on the Block

Harvey Karp has been a practicing pediatrician and child development specialist for 30 years and is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine in Los Angeles. He has been a spokesperson on children’s environmental health for the American Academy of Pediatrics, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the California Department of Health Services, and the California Medical Association. He is author of “The Happiest Baby on the Block” and "The Happiest Toddler on the Block", and has committed his full-time efforts to writing, lecturing and education.

"John Muir, the great American naturalist, said that if you reach out and tug on a tiny piece of nature, you’ll discover that everything is connected to everything else. And because of this great connection, we often blunder into doing harm. “Oops, we’re sorry we polluted your river for the next 100 years!”…“Oops, we didn’t know the chemical we were using caused cancer!” These unintended consequences are especially worrisome for our children because early life experiences and exposures influence whether or not they will grow up to have healthy and happy lives.We've changed the world before and now, for the sake of our children, it’s time to do it again. This book lays out many ideas to boost health, shrink risks, and stack the deck in favor of your child’s well-being. And, as a bonus, your thoughtful example will nurture in your children your deep values, respect for nature, and the desire to make the world better."

To read more from Harvey and many others, pick up your copy of our book, Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home, today.

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Jena King

Environmental Activist

Jena King is a founding member of C.O.A.C.H for Kids, an organization that provides medical assistance to underprivileged children. She is also on the Boards of University Elementary School (UES) and the Environmental Media Association. Jena is a philanthropist who oversees the Jena and Michael King Foundation, helping support numerous causes championing children and the environment. Jena and her husband Michael King live in Los Angeles with their two children Audrey and Teddy.

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Philip J. Landrigan, MD MSc

Ethel H. Wise Professor of Pediatrics, Chair of Community and Preventative Medicine, Director of the Children's Environmental Health Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Philip J. Landrigan, M.D., M.Sc., is a pediatrician, epidemiologist, and internationally recognized leader in public health and preventive medicine. Dr. Landrigan is known for his many decades of work in protecting children against environmental threats to health, most notably lead and pesticides. His pioneering research on lead toxicity at low levels persuaded the US government to mandate removal of lead from gasoline and paint, actions that have produced a 90% decline in incidence of childhood lead poisoning over the past 25 years. He has been a leader in developing the National Children's Study, the largest study of children's health and the environment ever launched in the United States. He has been centrally involved in the medical and epidemiologic studies that followed the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. He has consulted extensively to the World Health Organization, and has published more than 500 scientific papers and five books.

"I’ve seen some terrible cases of lead exposure during pregnancy. In these situations, pregnant moms and their partners decided to sand down old paint on window frames and doors because they wanted to make their homes safe and beautiful for their baby. Tragically, they didn’t realize that the paint they were sanding was lead paint with very high lead content. The sanding produced lead-contaminated dust, and the moms inhaled the dust. In one family, the mom developed a blood lead level of 45 mg/DL, an extremely toxic level. Lead passes easily across the placenta from mother to baby, and her baby was severely brain-damaged. The tragedy is that with proper information, this could have been completely avoided."

To read more from Dr. Landrigan and many others, pick up a copy of our book, Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home, today.

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Gigi Lee Chang

Plum Organics Founder

Inspired by his joy of eating and hearing my mommy friends talk about the lack of fresh baby food options, Plum Organics was born. To give parents more choices and to provide babies with better more nutritious baby food.

Using baby-approved recipes and the finest organic ingredients, our products are cooked to perfection and then flash frozen to lock in freshness and nutrients. That's why our foods retain more of their rich flavors, vibrant colors and textures.

From one parent to another, I know you will feel good about Plum Organics when you see the smile on your baby's face!

http://www.plumorganics.com/

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William McDonough

William McDonough + Partners

William McDonough is a world-renowned architect, designer, and winner of three U.S. Presidential Awards: the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development (1996), the National Design Award (2004); and the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award (2003). Time magazine recognized him as a "Hero for the Planet" in 1999 and in 2007, stating that "his utopianism is grounded in a unified philosophy that - in demonstrable and practical ways - is changing the design of the world." He is the founding principal of William McDonough + Partners, an internationally recognized design firm practicing ecologically, socially, and economically intelligent architecture and planning, and the co-author of 2002's book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things.

"Because of the fear of depleted resources, many people have a mentality dominated by the notion of limitation. How much can I get? How little can I give? That way of thinking is now part of our design, too. So we must design something new. We must come up with a plan that offers hope, expansiveness, and a sense of abundance rather than despair, fear, and a sense of limitation. There's no reason to perpetuate this current bad design; no reason for us to continue to use materials that are toxic to our species; no reason we can't put what we know about clean production to good effect. The next generation should be excited about the potential of this new plan, which is driven by a sense of fairness and community, forthrightness and decency, all of which we already have in abundance."

To read more from William and many others, pick up your copy of our book, Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home, today.

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Jeremiah McNichols

Jeremiah McNichols

Jeremiah McNichols is a blogger, author, industry consultant, and consumer advocate. With his wife Jennifer, Jeremiah publishes Z Recommends, a daily parenting blog featuring product reviews, consumer research, industry reports, and information, with an emphasis on safe, educational, and entertaining toys, activities, and projects to help kids grow into intelligent consumers with sustainable lifestyles. Z Recommends' research and reviews have been cited by such sources as the Washington Post, the Environmental Working Group, the Sierra Club, U.S. News and World Report, Grist, and a wide variety of blogs and websites.

In addition to publishing Z Recommends, the blog's parent company, ZRecs, publishes the blog giveaway hub PRIZEY and the group gardening blog and garden planning tool, Gardenaut. Jeremiah is a frequent guest on the parenting podcast Jumping Monkeys and a contributor to the Wired.com blog GeekDad. Current projects include a series of audio stories for children, a novel for young adults, and a book for toddlers about vegetarianism. Jeremiah and Jennifer are also the proud parents of Z, who started it all.

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Elena Moroz

Research and Writing Intern

Elena is starting her fourth undergraduate year at UCLA, majoring in Neuroscience and International Development Studies, with a minor in French. Besides her studies, she researches Epilepsy at UCLA, and hopes to pursue graduate studies in International Public Health. Her future plans also include learning Arabic and Portuguese fluently and joining the Peace Corps to work with indigenous tribes in the Amazon. Elena loves dancing salsa and tango, doing yoga, and travelling. She is excited to intern at Healthy Child Healthy World, where she is learning so much about a subject that she is interested in and passionate about.

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Bianca Nepales

Marketing Intern

As a Marketing Intern for Healthy Child Healthy World, Bianca promotes outreach to local communities and national connectivity via the world wide web. She works on spreading the news on the organization's latest book and educating parents about recent environmental health findings through blogs. Bianca loves good food, newspapers, and is currently pursuing a degree in Psychology at UC Berkeley.

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Robyn O’Brien

Founder of Allergy Kids, Mother of four

"I was completely clueless about food allergies, which is what my pediatrician diagnosed when I called him. And that’s when my education began. That night I sat down at the computer and started researching, and I was stunned at how prevalent the problem had become in the last ten years and how little information there really was about it. I thought, it’s tough enough to protect my child in my own home; how will I protect her when she’s old enough to be at school? Or at friends’ houses? It dawned on me that there had to be a universal symbol for food allergies the way there’s a pink ribbon for breast cancer, so allergy kids could be identified. And so that night I sat down and sketched out that symbol, which became the bright green “stop sign” shape stickers I’ve been trying to get into the hands of parents of the millions of children with allergies."

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Matthew C. Parker

Environmental Health Program Intern

Matthew is a recent alumnus from the University of Southern California, graduating with honors with Bachelor’s of Science degree in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Studies. Matthew became interested in Healthy Child Healthy World as a result of his exposure to the nonprofit last year while working in Washington, D.C. As the Environmental Health Programs Intern, Matthew has the opportunity to utilize his passion for health and writing through contributing to the daily BLOG posts. Matthew has extensive background experience as a student researcher at USC, and, last spring, Matthew split his time between volunteering as a student researcher at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and working as a Children’s Health Intern at the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). He has decided that he wants to pursue a possible career in either health writing and marketing or continue his schooling and earn his M.D. He is currently pursuing his Master’s of Science degree in Biostatistics and Epidemiology at USC’s Keck School of Medicine. In his free time, Matthew enjoys attending concerts around Los Angeles and finding every opportunity to escape the LA smog and experience the outdoors with his friends.

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Andrew Postman

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Dr. Andrea Rudominer M.D., M.P.H.

Pediatrician

Dr. Rudominer is a practicing pediatrician with Kaiser Permanante in San Jose, California and a passionate advocate for children’s health.

Throughout a ten-year career in healthcare, she has demonstrated a commitment to educating others and recently organized seminars on dental health, environmental health, and diabetes self-management. She is currently designing a program that will provide group doctor’s visits by conference call to parents with children of similar ages or diseases. The goal is improve healthcare by encouraging parents to share knowledge and support each other.

Dr. Rudominer is a graduate of UC Davis Medical school and UC Berkeley’s school of public health where she received an MPH in Maternal and Child Health. She trained as a resident at Stanford University’s Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital.

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Alicia Seiger

Vice President of Corporate Sales and Business Development, TerraPass

Alicia Seiger is Vice President of Corporate Sales and Business Development at TerraPass. Prior to joining TerraPass, Alicia was Director of Business Development and General Manager of Wine Clubs at Wine.com, the country’s largest online wine retailer.

Alicia is a graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she was co-president of the Environmental Management club. After earning her MBA, Alicia spent two years as a research assistant and case writer for the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the Stanford GSB.

Alicia has also held Senior Manager positions in sales and business development at online marketing firms Engage Technologies and Flycast Communications. Alicia hopes that TerraPass will let her harmonize her business skills with her environmental passions. She spends her free time running, biking, playing soccer, practicing yoga, and pursuing the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Alicia holds a BA in Environmental Science and Policy and Cultural Anthropology from Duke University.

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Janelle Sorensen

Senior Editor and Outreach Strategist

 Janelle joined Healthy Child's team as Senior Editor and Outreach Strategist after years of working with a variety of environmental organizations, government offices, schools and parent groups across the country. Janelle also takes care of her sweet little girls, cooks, cleans, gardens, reads, bikes, hikes, crafts, laughs, speaks using silly voices and accents, drafts environmental policies, works on a Master's Degree, and tries to keep up with social media. Well, typically not all at the same time.

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Jennifer Taggart

Educational Programs Specialist

Jennifer Taggart is a passionate advocate for children’s environmental health. She is the mother of two - a 3 and 1/2 year old boy and a 1 and 1/2 year old girl. She is committed to eliminating or reducing toxins from their environment in today’s busy word, focusing on simple and practical solutions. Outside the home, Jennifer is a partner with Demetriou, Del Guercio, Springer and Francis, LLP, a Los Angeles boutique law firm where she practices environmental law, focusing on consumer product labeling and Proposition 65 compliance and litigation.

Prior to becoming an attorney, Jennifer worked as an environmental engineer for an aerospace company. She has a B.S. in Engineering Science. This technical background helps her understand the complex chemistry of today’s consumer products.

Jennifer also teaches a course entitled Smart Mama’s Green Guide: Reducing Toxins in Your Baby’s Environment. She focuses on practical advice to busy parents to reduce exposures to toxic chemicals. She recognizes that in today’s busy world, deciphering product labels and researching product ingredients can be daunting. She focuses on easy steps that can eliminate or reduce toxic chemical exposures. Her forthcoming book is designed for parents who want to reduce toxins, but need easy to implement ideas. In other words, it will educate, inform and encourage parents and caregivers to hug a tree without getting dirty.

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Leonardo Trasande, M.D.

Assistant Director, Center for Children's Health and Environment, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Dr. Trasande earned a Master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He completed a pediatrics residency at Boston Children's Hospital. During this residency, he noticed that residents rarely learned how to influence the policy-making process to improve the lives of children. As a result, he developed and established an advocacy training program for residents.

In his current work at CCHE, Dr. Trasande uses his previous advocacy experiences to influence local, state and national policy. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and he continues to practice clinically both in New York and in Boston.

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Alicia Voorhies - Guest Blogger

Alicia Voorhies is a recently retired RN, wife, mother of three and founder of The Soft Landing. With her own family, she searches for BPA, PVC, phthalate and melamine-free options in feeding gear for the whole family, bringing them together in the first store of its kind.  Alicia also publishes The Soft Landing Blog, featuring product reviews, toxic plastic research and quick reference shopping guides. Her research has been cited by ABC News, Newsweek, the New York Times, the Kansas City Star and health-conscious websites such as The Green Guide, Enviroblog and Safe Mama.

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Jessica Webb

PR/Communications Intern

As a PR/Communications Intern at Healthy Child, Jessica assists with marketing and media strategies as well as general research and writing. Jessica recently graduated from Wheaton College (MA) in May, after the completion of independent research on the long-term effects of drug therapies used to treat children with ADHD. As a Psychology major with a clear enthusiasm for the neurosciences, she hopes to continue her education in domestic and global health and plans to obtain a Masters in Public Health in years to come. She has worked closely with children both domestically and internationally which has undoubtedly contributed to her concern for children’s health and welfare worldwide.

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