Board of Advisors

Stephen Ritz is a vetted principal, licensed K-12 bilingual - Spanish - special education teacher. Last year, he was named one of the top fifty teachers in America and his program is cited as one of five national exemplars by Principal Leadership: National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Stephen has won the Green Difference Award, and prior Latin Trends Award, Chevrolet-General Motors National Green Educator Award, ABC Above and Beyond Award, United States EPA Award, USS Intrepid Hometown Hero Award, Chancellor's Award and others. His work has been featured in major media, film, print, TV, documentary and journals around the country. He also has a very popular TED talk. Known as the Pied Piper of Peas and Pied Piper of Green Schools, Stephen has himself, eaten his way to good health and lost over 100 pounds simply by eating what he grows with kids in school. Stephen's goal is to utilize his talents and instructional abilities and leadership to edu-tain American youth into new paradigms of health, wellness and opportunities; to grow something greater!

Dr. Parris Kidd is life scientist with a PhD from the University of Berkeley and more than 26 years of experience in the nutrition field. Dr. Kidd is considered a specialist in the field of nutritional biomedicine, focusing on brain nutrition. He has helped introduce the nutrients PhosphatidylSerine (PS), GlyceroPhosphoCholine (GPC) and krill omega-3 phospholipids.

Kristin Ritter is a Registered Yoga Instructor, founder of Nourishing Storm Wellness Company and Business & Juice Bar Nutrition Coach for Performance Food Centers (PFC). She leads nutritional workshops at her yoga studio and around the country with a focus on making healthy eating and living accessible, joyful and nourishing for all! When she is not on her mat, playing with her two beautiful children, exploring a new trail or cooking up a storm with new smoothies and meals in the kitchen (with ingredients so wonderful provided by Mother Nature), she is reading and writing about living well through awareness, nutrition and movement.

William M. Stankiewicz is passionate about helping parents teach their children healthy eating habits through correct portion size, and an advocate in the fight against childhood obesity. Five years ago Will left his architecture and design career to become co-owner and VP of Yum Yum Dishes, a system of portion control plates and bowls that take the guesswork out of how much you’re eating. The company’s products teach healthy eating habits at a young age that can be carried into adult life. www.YumYumDishes.com.

Maggie Rose McGurk - Healthy Kids Concepts Staff Photographer, an artist since childhood, trained at The Fashion Institute in New York City and graduated from Sacramento State University, Sacramento with a Degree in Art and Photography. She has work for Sacramento Magazine, Comstock Magazine and many other publications. Also, was the photographer for Sacramento Kings. Has created images for Andy Warhol. Clint Eastwood, Bob Hope, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Hillary Clinton, Kenny Rogers, Gov. Gray Davis [His Personal Photographer] and other notables.

Maggie is associated with the Blue Line Gallery, American Visions Art Gallery and Placer Arts.

Christine Begovich, Corporate Secretary & Director, has been involved in as an executive officer of corporate finance for over 20 years with international and community banks in Sacramento and San Francisco. She also has served as president of a number of community nonprofit organizations.

David Wechsler-Azen is an award-winning Writer, Actor, Rabbi and Producer. Champion NY tri-state area junior golf champion, Princeton graduate, and ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion with awards in Academic Excellence, Creative Biblical Interpretation, Philosophy and Chaplaincy, Rabbi David has worked outside the box for most of his rabbinical career. He conceived, produced and originated the role of Adam in a musical theater production about the start of the environmental crisis in Eden. “Guarding the Garden” toured universities, congregations and community centers from Chicago to New York, Toronto to Miami, for over four years. A fellowship in film from Temple University led to an award from the National Educational Media Network for writing, producing and directing teacher training videotapes as well as development of pieces on interfaith friendships for the Hallmark Channel. Rabbi David also is creator of “The Super in the Natural,” greeting cards that have been sold at the National Institutes of Health gift shops.

For the last six years Rabbi David has been building Fresh Producers as a replicable model for empowering youth as agents of constructive change. With funding from The California Endowment, the Silicon Valley Foundation, Sutter, Kaiser Permanente, the Sierra Health Foundation, Wells Fargo, Rabo Bank and others, Fresh Producers has trained over 500 youth to become nutrition educators and advocates, and enabled them to develop workforce skills, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. This model of combining entrepreneurial and health education has been demonstrated to lead to healthier choices and workforce readiness, along with a sense of professionalism and greater self-efficacy.