Food & Fitness Staff and Leaders

Regional Council

The purpose of the Regional Council is to assure a regional, integrated approach to the work achieves the highest quality results for children and families in Northeast Iowa.  The Regional Team meets quarterly.

Ann Mansfield - Project Coordinator

Luther College - (563) 382-2949 - mansan01(at)luther.edu
Ann Mansfield has 30 years experience in health care and facilitation utilizing process improvement, multidisciplinary teams and systems thinking to achieve desired outcomes. Her degrees include BA-Nursing from Luther College and MSN from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Teresa Wiemerslage - NE Iowa Food & Farm Coalition

Iowa State University Extension - (563) 794-0599 - wiemer(at)iastate.edu
Teresa Wiemerslage is the Program & Communications Coordinator for Iowa State University Extension in northeast Iowa.  Half of her time is spent coordinating the work of the Northeast Iowa Food & Farm Coalition (NIFF). BS degree in Biology and Microbiology from SDSU and a Masters in Plant Pathology from Iowa State University.  She has a strong background in plant science including horticulture and agronomy.  She lives on a fourth generation cow-calf operation along the Minnesota border where they finish 180 head of beef annually.

Emily Neal - School Outreach Coordinator

Luther College - (563) 387-2138 - nealem01(at)luther.edu
Emily Neal is the  Director of School Outreach for Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. She has a Masters in Science Education and an undergraduate degree in Exercise Science, both from the University of Iowa. Neal has over 18 years of experience teaching people of all ages about integrating concepts of wellness, sustainability and stewardship into their lives. Neal is responsible for supervising FoodCorps and AmeriCorps members that serve in over 18 districts throughout Northeast Iowa. Together, they help districts foster healthy environments for students, staff and the communities they serve.

Lynette Houser- Youth Engagement Coordinator

Iowa State University Extension - lmanders(at)iastate.edu - (641) 330-5653
Lynette Houser is the Regional Youth Coordinator for ISU Extension and Outreach in Region 4.  She has a degree in Education from Northeast Iowa Community College and was the county youth and 4-H coordinator in Howard County for thirteen years.  She coordinates the youth engagement of the Initiative by supporting school-based 4-H youth teams.  4-H is community of young people across America who are learning leadership, citizenship and life skills. 

Halesia Johnson - Early Childhood Program Coordinator

NE Iowa Community College - johnsonha@nicc.edu
Haleisa has 30 years of experience in healthcare and healthy lifestyle education and has served as co-leader of the Community Health work within FFI since 2006.  She holds degrees from Winona State University in Communications and Sociology.  She looks forward to working with parents and providers of young children to encourage a healthy environment for them now and in the future.

Karla Organist - Core Partner Representative; Active Living Work Group

(563) 382-6071 - korganist(at)uerpc.org
Karla is the program manager for Community Transportation and Planning at Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission. 

Ashley Christensen - Safe Routes to School Liaison

Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission - ashley(at)uerpc.org - 563-382-6171, ext. 201
Ashley is a Northwest Illinois native with two Bachelor of Science degrees from Iowa State University in Kinesiology and Health and Animal Science. With a passion for active living, in addition to her background in community and public health, she is very excited to join the UERPC team.  Ashley is available as a SRTS resource to the region.

Whitney Brewer - AmeriCorps

Luther College - brewwh01(at)luther.edu
Resource Contact for Allamakee, Howard-Winneshiek and Riceville schools.
Whitney was born and raised in Iowa's capitol city of Des Moines.  She recently graduated from the University of Iowa where she studied cultural anthropology and international human rights focusing on food and the environment. Her two favorite things in life are food and Iowa!  After graduating college, she decided to dedicate this next year of my life to serving rural communities in Iowa and working with people to encourage the expansion of local foods and nutrition education.

Kayla Koether - AmeriCorps

Luther College - koetka01(at)luther.edu - 563-880-6873
Resource Contact for MFL Mar Mac, Central and Clayton Ridge schools.
Kayla grew up on a 5th generation farm in rural McGregor, where her family has raised grass-fed cattle and sheep since the 1980′s. Ever since she was a kid, she loved to play outside, to ride horses, and to watch their garden and livestock grow. Her parents and grandparents taught her to respect the environment and to value our small agricultural communities. With their influence, she developed a deep passion for food, agriculture, and the viability of rural areas.  Read more.

Katie Lay - AmeriCorps

Luther College - layka01(at)luther.edu - 937-286-8580
Resource Contact for North Fayette, Starmont and West Central schools.
Katie is originally from Miamisburg, Ohio but lived in Indiana for four years where she received her degree from Saint Mary's College in Biology.  She thinks it is important to educate our country about the power they have through their food choices.  She thinks you can say a lot about who you are and what you care about by what you eat!  Read more.

Elizabeth Makarewicz - FoodCorps

Luther College - makael01(at)luther.edu - (660) 619-1988
Resource Contact for Postville, Oelwein and Valley schools.
Originally from Missouri, she has spent the past five years living in the upper Midwest.  After graduating from Beloit College in Wisconsin, with a degree in anthropology and Spanish, she moved to NE Iowa to serve as an AmeriCorps service member with FFI.  Now in her second year with FFI, she serves as a FoodCorps member.  In her free time Elizabeth enjoys all the hobbies one might suspect from someone working to promote local food in public schools (gardening, cooking, baking, etc.), though she many times combines these activities with bicycling.  Read more.

Erika Randall - AmeriCorps

Luther College - rander01(at)luther.edu
Resource Contact for Decorah, North Winn, South Winn schools.
Erika is originally from the Twin Cities, but after graduating from Luther College in 2009 she spent a year volunteering as a teacher in Malaysia.  Erika moved back to Decorah where she has worked a variety of jobs in the community including Decorah Park and Rec, nutrition coach at Curves fitness center and assistant softball coach at Luther College.  She is passionate about wellness and excited about the opportunity to serve children, parents and school districts throughout Northeast Iowa.  Read more.

Melanie Stewart - FoodCorps

Luther College - stewme01(at)luther.edu - (515) 975-4880
Resource Contact for New Hampton, St. Joseph's and Turkey Valley schools.
An Iowa native, Melanie was born in Des Moines, raised in Ankeny, and am a recent graduate of Grinnell College where she studied Biology with a concentration in Environmental Studies.  She sees her service with FoodCorps as an opportunity to fuse her two passions, education and the environment.  Read her bio.

Maren Stumme-Diers - Food Sustainability Coordinator

Luther College - stumma01(at)luther.edu - (563) 387-1722
Resource contact for school gardens and institutional food buyers.
Maren Stumme-Diers works with the Food and Fitness Initiative and Luther College as a Sustainable Foods Educator.  At Luther Maren works on edible landscaping, campus gardens, community gardens and the facilitation of education opportunities related to food. On behalf of Food and Fitness provides support to school gardens and food service directors throughout the region as they work to incorporate more local food into the menu.  Maren graduated from Luther College with degrees in Environmental Studies and Spanish.

Nick McCann, Food Aggregation Hub Business Development

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach — nemccann@iastate.edu — (563) 382-2949
Nick McCann joined Iowa State University Extension and Outreach as a regional Food System Value Chain Coordinator.  McCann will help farmers develop new products, lead discussions on product aggregation and distribution, and identify new partners and urban markets for those products in the Driftless Region.  McCann was previously a Sustainable Agriculture Business Specialist at the Des Moines office for the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT).  McCann has master's degrees in business administration and sustainable agriculture from ISU where he focused on efficiencies at small meat plants in Iowa.