Arnali Ray brings over 14 years of experience in non-profit social services and healthcare, and a passion for helping marginalized communities. Her career and volunteer service have focused on helping the most vulnerable populations access basic needs and vital services.
Previously as the Chief of Strategy and Programs Officer at Saban Community Clinic (SCC), Arnali led the organization’s cross-cutting initiatives, strategic plan implementation, and advocacy efforts. During her tenure at SCC, Arnali was committed to finding solutions to help individuals experiencing homelessness and she was able to dramatically expand services in collaboration with key partners. These services include the addition of field-based street medicine providers,opening a satellite clinic at the Center in Hollywood, and launching a mobile van clinic that provides medical and dental services to temporary and long term housing sites in L.A. County.Arnali believes that building relationships and collaboration are critical to the work and lead to impactful programs.
As an advocate and leader in the community, Arnali served as a board member on the Mid-City West Neighborhood Council and the chair of the Homelessness, Refugees, and Renters’ Rights Committee. She was actively involved in the Midtown Los Angeles Homeless Coalition and helped organize volunteers to conduct the count when L.A. County canceled the 2021 annual homeless count due to the pandemic. Arnali is a founding board member of Hollywood 4WRD, a coalition driven to create systemic change to effectively address homelessness in Hollywood through advocacy, education, service coordination, and innovation.
Arnali is a licensed marriage and family therapist and holds a Master of Arts from Phillips Graduate institute, and Master of Sciences in Holistic Health from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Asher Landau
Director of Development and Community Engagement
Asher Landau is Director of Development and Community Engagement for Hollywood Food Coalition. He helps guide HoFoCo’s strategy for sustainable growth to meet challenges related to food insecurity, homelessness, and resource inequality. He builds and maintains relationships with a variety of stakeholders, including board members, philanthropic individuals, elected officials, government agencies, foundations, fellow nonprofits and business leaders. Previously, he served as Vice President for HoFoCo’s board of directors and an Associate Director of Development at UCLA.
Bryan Pauquette
Community Exchange Director
Bryan has been working with startups since he was old enough to move a lawn mower around his neighborhood. From his early days of convincing adults to trust him with their lawn care to his work in production, fantasy sports, and nonprofits, his work has always reflected a passion for building and growing operations. He’s grateful for the opportunity to bring that same focus to The Community Exchange and The Hollywood Food Coalition, the best 34-year-old startup around. The most exciting part of his work is helping to centralize, organize, and grow food rescue efforts across LA County and create equitable solutions for all Angelenos.
Linda Pianigiani
Senior Lead, Strategic Partnerships & Content Development
Linda Pianigiani is an award-winning filmmaker and photographer as well as an organ builder and woodworker. She hails from Italy, and after more than a decade in film development and production, working on all kinds of films, from blockbusters to Emmy Award-nominated documentaries, she transitioned to managing programs and partnerships in the nonprofit sector. Her introduction to the Hollywood Food Coalition started back in 2015, when she began as a volunteer on the line and eventually moved to the kitchen shifts, putting her love for food to work for a great cause. She joined the board of directors in 2017 and, in 2022, stepped down to enthusiastically join HoFoCo’s development staff, concentrating her efforts on communication, corporate partnerships, and events.
Tracy Jarvis
Finance Manager
Erin Lovelace
Community Dinner
Manager
Erin Lovelace works as the Community Dinner Manager at Hollywood Food Coalition. Erin’s job works directly with staff, volunteers, and over 100 nightly guests the kitchen serves at the coalition’s community dinner. During the pandemic, Erin stumbled into the coalition as a temporary dishwasher and never left.
Collin Leaver
Head Chef
Collin Leaver serves as the Head Chef for Hollywood Food Coalition (HoFoCo). Collin has had over 15 years of experience working in senior management positions in the culinary arts industry both in hotels and restaurants. In his capacity as Head Chef for HoFoCo, he bridges his
knowledge of food and his dedication to serve his community to ensure that HoFoCo meets its standards to provide both healthy and nutritious meals for food-insecure and low-income persons.
Prior to joining HoFoCo, Collin worked as the Chef de Cuisine for L’Auberge Del Mar in San Diego and a Corporate Chef overseeing eight restaurant locations throughout Los Angeles. Before moving to Southern California, he was the Chef de Cuisine for A16 Restaurant in San
Francisco, which received several James Beard awards and nominations and was featured in Food and Wine Magazine. Collin also spent time working with Chef Matthew Accarino at SPQR; a restaurant that was awarded its first Michelin Star during Collin’s time there. Collin was born in Los Angeles and grew up in San Diego. He attended college in New York before moving back to California to pursue his career as a Chef.
Douglas Walker
Community Wellness
Program Manager
Douglas has been a resident and stakeholder in the Hollywood area for the last 10 years since moving here from Chicago. For many years, he worked for The Center in Hollywood, one of Hollywood Food Coalition’s most important partners. As part of the Wellness program, CES and the E6 Outreach program there, he built a reputation for himself as a committed advocate for our unhoused neighbors and someone who would never hesitate to go above and beyond for the most vulnerable members of our community.
After moving to a position with the County nearly a year ago, he felt called back to the community he knows best and is excited to have found a role with HoFoCo.
Sherry Bonanno
Special Projects Advisor
Sherry began volunteering with the Coalition over 20 years ago. Over this time, Sherry has worn nearly every hat possible with HoFoCo, from cooking meals to taking clients to doctor appointments to serving multiple terms as Board President. Sherry brings to HoFoCo a profound concern for the welfare of those struggling, along with the tools needed to help make improvements in their lives.
Sherry has always believed that the strength of HoFoCo lies in its ability to function as a coalition, where everyone feels welcome and accepted. She has a BS and MA in Occupational Therapy from USC and over 40 years of experience working with people struggling with significant life changes due to physical and mental health challenges. As HoFoCo’s first-ever salaried Executive Director, she envisioned HoFoCo creating a community hub where service providers can work together efficiently and effectively to help people in crisis access services and support for their immediate needs as well as for their personal growth. She is excited to continue contributing to HoFoCo as its Special Projects Advisor.
Patrick Hudnut
Project Manager and Organization Administrator
Patrick is the Project Manager & Organization Administrator at HoFoCo. As Project Manager, Patrick leads a special soon-to-be-announced project. As Organization Administrator, Patrick does most of the HR work for the organization, along with completing other administrative duties. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Patrick first started volunteering with HoFoCo when he was 9 years old and joined the staff in 2020.
Kaila Moore Jones
Development Coordinator
Kaila Moore-Jones works as the Development Coordinator for Hollywood Food Coalition. Kaila is a Southern California native and grew up in the South Central area. She has worked with community outreach programs since she was 7 years old volunteering primarily with her family’s church as well as other partner organizations. She graduated from California State University Northridge with a B.A. in Africana Studies and a minor in Political Science. During her undergraduate career, she held many leadership positions and worked closely alongside campus administrators to provide life-affirming resources and tackle the issue of increasing retention rates for students of color. She is a proud member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, where she has led many community service and outreach projects which gave her necessary experience working in the non-profit sector. She is excited to be a part of the HoFoCo team and looks forward to making a difference. You can reach her at
Roland Montgomery
Finance Coordinator
Roland is the Finance Coordinator for the Hollywood Food Coalition. As the Finance Coordinator, Roland works to create smart administrative systems and coordinates with all HoFoCo departments to ensure the bills are paid on time. He grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from Carleton College with a degree in Political Science. Since graduating, he has worked at a literary magazine, and as a high school math tutor. In his free time, he enjoys playing chess, tennis, and rock climbing.
Marike Gangon-Lapare
Community Dinner
Support
Marike started volunteering at the Hollywood Food Coalition in August 2020 and recently started working as a kitchen assistant, helping with meal preparation and nightly services. Marike is currently studying sports nutrition at UCLA extension and used to be a flight attendant based in Montreal, Canada.
Julio Lane
Community Dinner
Kitchen Support
Dougald Park
Community Dinner
Weekend Driver & Kitchen Support
Dougald was born, raised, and educated in Oregon. He has lived and worked throughout the west, spending years in San Francisco, Denver, Minneapolis, and Seattle, before landing in Los Angeles 25 years ago. He is so happy to be part of Hollywood Food Coalition, where he started as a volunteer with his friends. Dougald lives in Glassell Park with his daughter, Ruby.
Casey Arner
Community Dinner
Kitchen Support
Casey attended George Mason University with a focus in Finance. After graduation, he worked in Finance for 6 years. Casey started volunteering at the coalition with friends and felt instantly connected. So far he loves the comradery between staff and volunteers and getting to serve alongside the “best kind of people”. Casey is from Pennsylvania and he is a Philadelphia Eagles fan. He enjoys the outdoors, exploring national parks, and traveling. So far Iceland is his favorite destination, with Spain being a very close second. ">
Jill Klein
Volunteer Coordinator | Community Dinner
As HoFoCo’s Volunteer Coordinator, Jill focuses on volunteer coordination for the Community Dinner and office management, including reminding volunteers that it’s their day to help, thanking donors for their generous donations, picking up mail, maintaining stats (meals, clients, donations, etc.), and coordinating projects. Jill began with HoFoCo as a Food Runner and has been with the organization ever since. With a background in theater and the performing arts, copy editing, teaching and tutoring, Jill has done it all – you name it, she’s done it. She could also be found, before the pandemic, leading visits at the Getty Villa as an Arts Education Docent.
Krys Grant-Ray
Community Exchange
Community & Recipient Specialist
Krys Grant-Ray relocated from New York, leaving the medical field shortly after making a decision to focus her efforts on building strong community ties. She was eager to build a bridge between organizations, to meet different organizational goals and participants’ needs. By 2014, Krys found herself working in the space of community engagement and food security. In 2019, Krys shifted her efforts from solely food-focused engagement to include volunteers.
Krys recently joined the Hollywood Food Coalition team in a role of Community Exchange Program Coordinator. As a New York native, Krys brings her ability to hustle, catch the vision, and connect others to it in an authentic way. With over a decade of experience, she continues to strive to meet the food needs of communities.
Miles Daniels
Community Exchange Supervisor
Miles Daniels graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara in 2013 with a degree in History. After moving to Los Angeles later that same year, he worked in the retail industry before entering the non-profit workforce with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in 2020. After two years of Market Research and Data Analysis, he jumped at the opportunity to join the team at Hollywood Food Coalition in June 2022. As Community Exchange Program Supervisor, Miles balances growing and managing his team and learning as much as possible about the food recovery space. Having lived in the Hollywood area for the last ten years, Miles has seen firsthand the incredible work Hollywood Food Coalition has done and continues to do day after day. He’s excited to be a HoFoCo team member and to continue helping those in need.
Phil Meister
Community Exchange Food Sharing Lead
Phil was born in Houston and grew up in Detroit. After graduating from the University of Michigan, he moved to Chicago and spent nearly a decade performing, writing and directing theater. He then moved to New York, where he worked as a post-production producer at an animation studio. His work in commercial post-production brought him to Los Angeles, which easily ranks in the Top 5 places he’s lived. In 2021, he pivoted to the nonprofit world and joined HoFoCo to make nightly dinners for the unhoused community. In 2022 he joined HoFoCo’s Exchange program as Food Sharing Coordinator. In his Food Sharing Lead role, Phil handles the daily distribution of rescued food to dozens of charity organizations throughout LA and manages the California Climate Action Corps fellows. He’s thrilled to be part of the HoFoCo team. It’s a true joy to spend each day getting food to those who need it most, alongside a crew of inspiring coworkers and volunteers.
Crystal Lipps
Community Exchange Food Rescue Coordinator
Crystal Lipps graduated from the University of California San Diego with a degree in International Political Science. She has a passion for aiding those who have been displaced due to disasters or conflicts. Hoping to work in the field of Humanitarian aid, she began working with Hollywood Food Coalition to help her local community and gain experience mitigating food insecurity. In her role as Food Rescue Coordinator, she’s in charge of planning route logistics for the Exchange drivers and keeping in communication with new and current donors to recover food and keep it out of landfills!
Jeff Kaley
Community Exchange
Transportation & Warehouse Support
A native of Detroit, graduate of the Los Angeles Film School, and huge baseball fan, Jeff joined HoFoCo’s Community Exchange in the summer of 2021, where he is excited to work with wonderful people on one common goal: serving the community! Before HoFoCo, Jeff worked for the LA Dodgers and on various films and TV shows. Jeff is very proud of his two kids, Danielle (18) and Travis (6). When not working, you can find Jeff hanging out with his son at the park, catching a move, going to a baseball game, enjoying college football (GO BLUE!), catching a Morrissey show, or taking a nap!
Nick Murray
Community Exchange
Transportation & Warehouse Support
Nick has been working with HoFoCo since 2018 and helps plan the routes to the donors and vendors all over Los Angeles County, as well as physically transporting/loading in and out thousands of pounds of food everyday.
After delivering them for redistribution to the HoFoCo kitchen and other organizations, he works within the Exchange program, helping with inventory, as well as communicating to volunteers and organizing the kitchen throughout the day.
Nick is originally from Minneapolis, MN and is also a working recording/touring musician.
Sam Sobeh
Community Exchange
Transportation & Warehouse Support
Born and raised in Cameroon, Sam has been with the Hollywood Food Coalition for more than 15 years. He first came to the US to attend the University of Oklahoma. Upon graduation, Sam made his way to LA to be a musician and worked as a French-English translator. Sam currently anchors our weekend Meal Service and is part of our transportation team at the Community Exchange. You can find his music under the name Pi Life in Hell.