FoodWhat Staff
Doron Comerchero
FoodWhat Founder and Co-Executive Director of Strategy. Doron (he/him) spent his 20s in the South Bronx as a community organizer for GreenThumb, NYC’s community gardening program, supporting community efforts to protect local gardens that the Guiliani administration sought to destroy.
Rich soil called, and he transitioned from city life to living in a tent on a beautiful piece of farmland in Santa Cruz as an apprentice at the UCSC Farm and Garden. Back East for one season farming full time at a 50-acre Food Bank Farm, he returned to Cali in 2007 to launch FoodWhat.
Doron is also in long-time service on the council that nourishes Rooted in Community, a national grassroots network of programs like FoodWhat that empowers young people from historically excluded communities to take leadership through food, justice, and local economic development.
Over a decade and a half later, Doron is driven to create safe spaces for youth to grow and cultivate their power and resiliency to co-lead the organization with heart, laughter, and intention.
Email: doron@foodwhat.org
Kellee Matsushita-Tseng
Land Stewardship Manager. Kellee (she/they) joined the FoodWhat?! Team in 2023 with over a decade of both farming and education experience, with a special love for connecting people to seed stewardship. Kellee is a fourth generation Japanese-Chinese American, born and raised in Los Angeles.
Kellee received a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History/Photography from University of Southern California, and went on to work with youth as a mentor and educator through media arts/community storytelling programs in Los Angeles, before starting their journey in farming. Kellee leads community and education programming for Second Generation Seeds and is a co-founder of Bitter Cotyledons.
Kellee’s work has focused on building possibilities for community health and self-determination through tending the land, growing food, and uplifting ancestral knowledge and the cultural brilliance of our traditions and foodways.
They are passionate about the magic that can happen when young people have the opportunity to build their own connection to this work and are honored to be part of that process.
Email: kellee@foodwhat.org
Puiyee Tse
Finance Manager. Puiyee (she/her) comes to FoodWhat with over 20 years of experience in profit and nonprofit sector in Santa Cruz County. She oversees the accounting function from accounts payable to year end audit.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Puiyee earned a degree in Liberal Art at the National Taiwan University, and an Associate of Science degree in Accounting at Mission College, Santa Clara.
When she’s not crunching numbers, she likes to travel around the world. Puiyee enjoys her work and often shares how honored she is to be with what she considers such an amazing organization.
Email: finance@foodwhat.org
Irene Juarez O’Connell
Co-Executive Director of Programs. Irene (she/they) is a mentor, educator, and advocate for youth and young people in Santa Cruz County.
Originally from Los Angeles, Irene came to Santa Cruz to study Public Art and Latin American & Latino Studies at UCSC.
Having previously served the community in mentorship roles in local high schools and in the Santa Cruz Juvenile Detention Center, Irene joined FoodWhat in 2016 with experience in community organizing around youth violence prevention.
She is passionate about the intersections where youth expression and creativity can meet empowerment for lasting, impactful change for their lives and their communities. Irene is excited to work with young leaders and have her hands in the soil! Irene has received the NEXTie for Artist of the Year 2017 Award and the Eduardo Carrillo Healing the Community with Art Award that same year.
Email: irene@foodwhat.org
Sergio Garcia
Culinary Education Manager. Sergio (he/him) has over 15 years of experience in the culinary arts. He was raised between Watsonville and Michoacan, and then went out in the world and earned a business degree, gained extensive culinary experiences and education, and created his own project and style of cuisine - “Chicano Soul Food”.
Sergio has been a community leader in plant-based Mexican-inspired food, cultivating ancestral foods and holistic nutrition to create healthy and delicious food that is accessible and celebrates cultural traditions. For Sergio, food is medicine and an act of community nurture.
Sergio is proud to be returning to his community in a role where he can offer learning opportunities to youth and support their health and well-being through connections to food, culture, and the land.
Email: sergio@foodwhat.org
Sara French
Development Manager. Sara (she/her) brings a decade of non-profit fundraising experience to FoodWhat. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sara studied Environmental Studies and Anthropology as an undergraduate at UC Santa Cruz, and studied Range Management as a Masters student at UC Berkeley.
She is passionate about work that connects people to the land in ways that are healthy, harmonious, and rooted in community traditions.
Sara developed much of her experience as a fundraiser working alongside the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band as they developed the Amah Mutsun Land Trust.
Sara is excited about fundraising because it is a powerful way to build relationships to help realize community goals.
Email: sara@foodwhat.org
Kayla Kumar
Development and Communications Director. The purpose of Kayla’s (they/them) work is to organize people around the integrity, care, and possibility found within communities. Much of their career has focused on working with youth in environments ranging from music classrooms, basketball courts, and juvenile halls.
They are a non-traditional resource mobilizer who centers rigorous ethics, narrative reclamation, systems change, and honest relationships in their work. During their 10 years of fundraising, they have played a key role in raising over $41 million for nonprofit organizations.
In 2022, Kayla joined the team of local leaders who saved the Watsonville Community Hospital by raising the funds necessary to bring the hospital into public ownership.
They are a Board Member of the low-income healthcare clinic, Salud Para La Gente.
Email: kayla@foodwhat.org
Reyna Peralta
Programs Manager. Reyna (she/her) is a first-generation immigrant originally from Oaxaca, Mexico. She recently joined the FoodWhat fam as Youth Programs Manager!
She graduated from the University of California, Merced in 2019 with a degree in Sociocultural Anthropology. She loves learning and studying culture, traditions, and history.
Reyna is committed to working alongside young people, reconnecting them with food and land to discover autonomy and collectivism.
Email: reyna@foodwhat.org