Welcome Ambassadors!
August 8, 2016
Four Nutrition Ambassadors were competitively selected to provide practical solutions to common barriers of proper nutrition including cost, access to fruits and vegetables, and basic knowledge of healthy foods. Ambassadors will develop a tailored work plan based on their specific state needs to help prioritize in-person nutrition education events and creative partnerships.
Erin Gildner, BA
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville
Partners for Inclusive Communities, Little Rock, AR
Erin Gildner currently works at the University of Arkansas' Partners for Inclusive Communities. She has worked on the CDC-funded Disability and Health project since February of 2014 and has specifically worked in public health since 2012. Before Partners, her most recent position was with the Arkansas Department of Health. She has been involved in the creation of two support/advocacy organizations; the United Spinal Arkansas, and the Arkansas Leaders in Action, a cross disability, self-advocacy organization. Ensuring that people with disabilities are included in mainstream public health programs is very personal for her because she has lived with a spinal cord injury since 2002 and is also the mother of a son who is visually impaired from retinopathy of prematurity. Erin wants to improve the health of the Arkansans with disabilities by improving access to healthy foods and nutrition education. Contact Erin at [email protected] for more detail or to join the efforts in Arkansas.
Lauren Griffiths, MPH, CHES
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
Human Development Center, New Orleans, LA
Lauren works on improving nutrition and health outcomes for diverse populations. She currently works as a research associate for clinical pediatric obesity study at LSU. She was recently a coordinator and instructor for a series of nutrition and food justice workshops hosted by Growing Roots for Our Wellness in Nutrition (GROWN) and the Backyard Gardeners Network. She looks forward to combining her skills in nutrition education and her work with persons with disabilities to create a state project plan that brings nutrition education and awareness to people with disabilities and their families. Contact Lauren at [email protected] for more details or to join the efforts in Louisiana.
Lee Shelley Wallace, EdD, RDN, LDN, FADA, FAND
University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities, Memphis, TN
Dr. Wallace has over 25 years of experience working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She received her M.S. in Public Health Nutrition from a Maternal and Child Health funded Leadership Education in Nutrition Program. Dr. Wallace is currently the Chief of Nutrition and the Coordinator of the Inborn Errors of Metabolism Team at the Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. She has not only taught people with disabilities about nutrition, food choices, and food preparation, but she has also taught extensively, both informally and formally, about nutritional needs for people with disabilities to other health care professionals in training and practitioners in the field. Contact Lee at [email protected] for more details or to join the efforts in Tennessee.
Megan Krampe, RDN, MA, MS
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Center for Learning and Leadership, Oklahoma City, OK
Megan has experience in pediatric and adult nutrition, nutrition assessment, education, counseling, medical-nutrition therapy, and scientific nutritional research. She completed the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, and became a LEND Fellow in 2015. She has an interest in providing nutrition education, counseling and nutrition therapy to individuals with developmental disabilities and special health care needs, as well as their families. Contact Megan at [email protected] for more details or to join the efforts in Oklahoma.
AUCD Welcomes these "Nutrition is for Everyone" Nutrition Ambassadors!
