Our People

Moira Allison

MBA, RD

Account Supervisor

Moira is passionate about building and maintaining thought-leadership programs, creative content development and staying up to date on the latest nutrition news and guidance. She has experience in event planning, stakeholder relationship management, executive-level presentation development, social media development, implementation translating scientific research. The foods most often on Moira's mind are quiche, coffee, fresh pasta, and tangerine La Croix sparkling water.

Danielle Butbul

MPH, RDN

Senior Account Executive

Danielle is a registered dietitian who holds a master’s degree in public health. She is passionate about helping businesses and professionals understand the connections between nutrition, agriculture, policy, business, culture and sustainability.

Andrea Carrothers

MS, RD

Senior Vice President, Group Lead

Andrea's experience spans stakeholder outreach programs, advising on food and nutrition policy issues, translating science into consumer messaging and educational materials, and providing regulatory counsel in evaluating product health claims. She also has extensive expertise in developing speaker's bureaus and advisory boards and creating and promoting scientific symposia and conference events. The foods most often on Andrea's mind are caprese salad, sushi, and a crisp glass of rosé.

Dana Colla

MS, RDN, LDN

Account Executive

Dana is an account executive and registered dietitian at the Chicago office of FoodMinds, a division of Padilla. FoodMinds provides consulting and communications services specializing in harnessing science, public affairs, food values and communications to meet business and public health objectives.

Carla Curle

MS

Senior Account Executive

Carla brings diverse expertise in content creation, writing, event coordination and food systems sustainability to her clients. The foods most often on Carla's mind are Pad Thai, nectarines, and goat cheese.

Jean Curran

RD

Director

Jean loves to be at the leading edge of nutrition news and trends. She develops science-based communication resources for health and wellness professionals, manages key opinion leader relationships and activities and implements nutrition education programs. The foods most often on Jean's mind are falafels, French fries, and anything with cheese.

Chelsea Elkin

MS, RD, CDN

Senior Director; Lead, Stakeholder & Influencer 2.0 Platform

Chelsea's areas of expertise include nutrition research translation and content development, healthcare professional programming and engagement, traditional media relations, social and digital media, event management and nutrition influencer relationship building. She has extensive experience building and leading influencer networks and expert advisory boards for her clients and is passionate about mentoring emerging media registered dietitians. The foods most often on Chelsea's mind are sushi, pasta, and an Oregon Pinot Noir.

Bree Flammini

Senior Vice President

Bree's areas of expertise include strategic program planning, health influencer education and outreach, nutrition media relations and issues management. Specifically, she has extensive experience working with clients on their nutrition research programs and promoting published results to health professional audiences. The foods most often on Bree's mind are sushi, oysters, and cheese.

Laurie Hainley

MS, RD

Director

Laurie's expertise is in food and nutrition affairs, nutrition analysis and scientific communications. She enjoys using a combination of nutrition expertise and personal creativity to provide delicious recipes and practical health-focused tips to consumers, while staying up to date on nutrition policy and providing evidence-based nutrition guidance to a variety of clients. The foods most often on Laurie's mind are coffee, Fuji apples and all things dark chocolate.

Lauren Hoffman

MBA, RD

Senior Director; Lead, Healthy, Sustainable Food Systems Platform

Lauren helps her clients translate the latest research into meaningful campaigns for health professional, thought leader and consumer groups. Her expertise includes building influencer engagement programs, event management, nutrition content development, and research communication and strategic outreach. The foods most often on Lauren's mind are tacos, champagne, and brussels sprouts.

Maura Killian

RD

Senior Account Executive

Maura stays attuned to the latest developments in nutrition and food policy. She applies her industry knowledge and expertise in communications, nutrition science and public affairs to support several clients. The foods most often on Maura's mind are hot tea and fresh scones.

Sara Levy

MPH, RD

Global Director Food & Nutrition Affairs; Lead, Global Food & Nutrition Affairs Platform

Sarah's areas of expertise include global food and nutrition affairs, including nutrition policy and regulation analysis and response, strategic coalition development and scientific communications. She works with clients to effectively navigate an increasingly complex global food landscape, leveraging public health and policy insights to build and implement strategic nutrition, health, and wellness platforms. The food most often on Sarah's mind is freshly baked bread dipped in olive oil.

Maya Maroto

EdD, MPH, RDN

Vice President

Maya is involved in managing strategic health professional and thought leader partnerships, and developing proactive communications and issues management strategies for clients. She is passionate about translating evidence-based nutrition science into understandable and actionable messages for consumers. Her background and expertise lie in federal nutrition policy, plain-language communication, consumer-focused research and health equity. In her previous roles, Maya worked on award-winning food and nutrition outreach projects at USDA and FDA, served as a leader at a national food equity nonprofit, and spent many years in academia. Maya received her doctorate in educational leadership from Morgan State University and her master’s degree in public health nutrition from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and food science from Auburn University and is also a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN).

Allison Mikita

MS

Vice President; Lead, Global Scientific Affairs & Communications Platform

Allison has experience in developing, implementing, and managing health and nutrition-related communications and marketing programs for international health professionals, thought leaders, and food and beverage industry audiences. She has a science background and a passion for writing, enabling her to “translate the science” through engaging communications for a variety of audiences. The foods most often on Allison's mind are wine, freshly baked bread and good cheese.

Caitlin Mondelli

MS, RDN

Director

Caitlin is passionate about translating nutrition science and navigating the food and nutrition affairs environment to develop strategies and programs that ultimately help people achieve a healthy lifestyle. Her expertise includes influencer and health professional engagement, event management, nutrition content development, and nutrition research communications and strategic outreach. The foods most often on Caitlin's mind are xiao long baos, beef burgers and cheese.

Nancy Morgan

MS, RD

Account Executive

Nancy is an account executive and registered dietitian at FoodMinds, a division of Padilla. In her current role, Nancy applies her knowledge of the latest developments in nutrition science, food policy and market research insights to develop compelling content and results-driven program strategy for her clients.

Rebecka Palmquist

MS, RD

Senior Analyst

Rebecka translates primary and secondary research into stories that guide strategy and provide content for communication materials tailored to a variety of audiences – from consumers to industry leaders. Through thoughtful design, implementation, and analysis of market research studies, she enjoys uncovering meaningful insights that help answer clients' most pressing questions. The foods most often on Rebecka's mind are chocolate chip cookies, vegetable biryani and honey lavender lattes.

Katie Pawelczyk

MS, RD

Senior Account Executive

Katie's experience spans social media and consumer education content development, stakeholder outreach programs and translation of science to consumer messaging and educational materials. She helps to support the integration and execution of multifaceted strategic communications programs for a variety of clients. Although nearly impossible to choose, the foods most often on Katie's mind are burrata, bold red wine and pickled vegetables.

Maggie Peeke

MS, RDN

Senior Account Executive

Maggie comes to FoodMinds with over 10 years of marketing communications, nutrition and consumer packaged goods (CPG) experience. Prior to joining the firm, Maggie worked in Boston for agencies spanning work across various industries before going back to school to become a registered dietitian nutritionist and getting her master’s in nutrition. She comes to FoodMinds from a CPG company where she helped with health claims, sports nutrition guidelines and new product development. Maggie received her B.A. from Dickinson college, her B.S. from NYU and master’s degree at Simmons University.

Grant Prentice

Senior Vice President, Strategic Insights

Grant specializes in strategic marketing and market research and has extensive experience in building marketing and issues management programs that utilize nutrition and agricultural science-based intellectual property. He works with clients to develop strategies for the commercialization of intellectual property and conduct a range of marketing research projects. Grant is very passionate about all forms and types of food, so rarely is eating not on his mind.

Elizabeth Reilly

Senior Director

Elizabeth's expertise lies in helping clients navigate the rapidly evolving food policy, science and media landscape by leading communications and advocacy programs, spearheading high-impact and high-profile stakeholder engagement strategies, designing distinctive thought leadership platforms, and developing science-based storytelling. She brings depth of experience in global food and sustainable development policy, and a passion for advancing food systems transformation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The foods most often on Elizabeth's mind are tahini, white peaches from Washington, D.C.'s Dupont Farmers Market, and yogurt she makes every weekend.

Sarah Ryan

MS, RDN, LD

Director

Sarah is a director and registered dietitian nutritionist at FoodMinds, a division of Padilla. FoodMinds provides consulting and communications services specializing in harnessing science, public affairs, food values and communications to meet business and public health objectives.

Lindsay Tuck

MPH

Account Supervisor

Lindsay is a master of public health with a focus on all things nutrition. Following three and a half years working in the health advertising industry, she decided to go back to school in September of 2020 to pursue her MPH-Public Health Nutrition at New York University. During her time at NYU, she completed a year-long internship in nutrition communications. She also worked as a research assistant at the Socioeconomic Evaluation of Dietary Decisions (SEED) lab, which aims to combat obesity, reduce health disparities, and impact international and domestic food policy by informing policymakers and organizations in the U.S. and global communities with empirically supported guidance on improving the world’s diet.

Alice Vaught

Administrative Assistant

Alice can be found taking care of every detail needed to ensure the office is running smoothly, from getting staff the office equipment they need to making sure guests have an enjoyable visit. When she's not managing the office, Alice jumps in to assist the account teams on special projects including social media management and event coordination. The foods most often on Alice's mind are chocolate, chocolate, and chocolate.

Sherry Watkins

Events Manager

Sherry is an expert at managing advisory panel meetings, summits, receptions, and numerous client events for FoodMinds. From behind-the-scenes meeting planning to helping clients build and staff exhibit booths, Sherry can be found executing every detail. Her passion and attention to detail for her work is reflected in the client's successful events. The foods most often on Sherry's mind are beef tenderloin with Gorgonzola sauce, accompanied by roasted brussels sprouts and a baked potato.

Sarah Weyers

PhD, RD, CAPM

Senior Account Executive

Sarah is involved in managing strategic health professional and thought leader partnerships, and developing proactive communications and issues management strategies for clients. She is passionate about translating evidence-based nutrition science into understandable and relatable messages for consumers. Her background and expertise lie in medical writing, scientific communications and behavioral nutrition, which is the interplay between biology, environment and human eating behavior.