Our Team

Executive Director and Board Member

Bonnie Moore

Bonnie Moore is a strategic planner, professional chef, and culinary educator focused on healthy eating, connecting farms with communities, and developing projects that have a positive impact on underserved communities around the world. When her son began elementary school in 2010, she was concerned at the nutritionally-void food served in school cafeterias and alarmed to learn that many students at her son’s Title 1 school depended on school meals for most or all of their caloric intake. She became a founding board member of Real Food for Kids, where she promotes nutrition security for all children and their families across the National Capital region. When schools shut down in March of 2020, she co-founded Real Food for Kids’ Chefs Feeding Families program to provide children and their families with nourishing, plant-forward meals while employing DC area cooks and complementing emergency school feeding programs that many children had challenges accessing when not in school buildings. Two months later, she became the Executive Director of Real Food for Kids.

Prior to leading Real Food for Kids, Moore was on the development team at Willowsford, the groundbreaking ‘agrihood’ and nationally recognized Community of the Year, for an unprecedented five consecutive years. As part of a USDA Team Nutrition Training grant, she is the chef advisor for Virginia Department of Education School Nutrition Services, successfully implementing strategies for increasing scratch cooking and participation in school food programs. Her work in underdeveloped areas across the globe links food baskets with local diets to increase access to nourishing, sustainable foods. She was formerly the Sous Chef at Michelin 3-Star Inn at Little Washington.

After graduating from Boston University with a BS in Mathematics and Statistics, Bonnie found her true calling in the kitchen and soon exchanged her calculator for a whisk. She earned degrees in culinary arts and foodservice management from Johnson & Wales University. She is a past president of the national nonprofit Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, where she promoted role models to inspire future generations of culinarians.

Program Director

Rick Barnard

Program Manager

Laura Jayne

Prior to joining Real Food for Kids, Laura Jayne engaged with food systems transformation across multiple sectors through a wealth of direct community engagement roles including community gardens, teaching kitchens, and farmers’ markets. As a Zero Hunger Intern with the Congressional Hunger Center, she developed educational resources demonstrating national trends in food insecurity and urged representatives on Capitol Hill to act against food waste. Before graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Food Studies and Sustainability Policy from Syracuse University, Laura was president of the student-run Food Recovery Network where she aligned the resources of school administrators, student volunteers, and community partners to redirect over 6,000 pounds of nutritious food from university dining halls to feeding hungry neighbors. Building on these experiences, Laura’s work with Real Food for Kids is focused on reducing nutrition insecurity and supporting health outcomes through nutrition education and connecting community members with SNAP benefits.

Board Member

JoAnne Hammermaster

Executive Director and Board Member

Bonnie Moore

Bonnie Moore is a strategic planner, professional chef, and culinary educator focused on healthy eating, connecting farms with communities, and developing projects that have a positive impact on underserved communities around the world. When her son began elementary school in 2010, she was concerned at the nutritionally-void food served in school cafeterias and alarmed to learn that many students at her son’s Title 1 school depended on school meals for most or all of their caloric intake. She became a founding board member of Real Food for Kids, where she promotes nutrition security for all children and their families across the National Capital region. When schools shut down in March of 2020, she co-founded Real Food for Kids’ Chefs Feeding Families program to provide children and their families with nourishing, plant-forward meals while employing DC area cooks and complementing emergency school feeding programs that many children had challenges accessing when not in school buildings. Two months later, she became the Executive Director of Real Food for Kids.

Prior to leading Real Food for Kids, Moore was on the development team at Willowsford, the groundbreaking ‘agrihood’ and nationally recognized Community of the Year, for an unprecedented five consecutive years. As part of a USDA Team Nutrition Training grant, she is the chef advisor for Virginia Department of Education School Nutrition Services, successfully implementing strategies for increasing scratch cooking and participation in school food programs. Her work in underdeveloped areas across the globe links food baskets with local diets to increase access to nourishing, sustainable foods. She was formerly the Sous Chef at Michelin 3-Star Inn at Little Washington.

After graduating from Boston University with a BS in Mathematics and Statistics, Bonnie found her true calling in the kitchen and soon exchanged her calculator for a whisk. She earned degrees in culinary arts and foodservice management from Johnson & Wales University. She is a past president of the national nonprofit Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, where she promoted role models to inspire future generations of culinarians.

Board Member

LaTonya Henderson

LaTonya Henderson is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cedar Tree Academy Public Charter School located in Washington DC. She leads 500 students and 95 staff in an early childhood setting. LaTonya is a former school principal and elementary school teacher. She has held numerous leadership positions in the education field where she started partnerships with local community organizations to help the students and families she serves.

LaTonya did her undergraduate work at Arkansas State University where she received a Bachelor of Science in Education. She obtained a master’s degree of Education in Administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She earned a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

LaTonya is a strong educational advocate for students in the District of Columbia.

Board Member

Tim Ma

Tim Ma is a critically-acclaimed chef and food & beverage entrepreneur. Growing up in a family of restauranteurs, Tim’s family pushed him towards an engineering career as he earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Masters of Science from Johns Hopkins University. After a successful 8-year engineering career, Tim decided to pursue his passion for restaurants and left it all behind – selling everything he owned and moving to New York City – to attend the French Culinary Institute, now the International Culinary Center.

Following an externship at a 2-Michelin Star Momofuku Ko, and cooking at the highly regarded Momofuku Ssam, Tim moved to St. Thomas, USVI to cook and formulate the plan for what would be his first restaurant. In 2009, Tim purchased a restaurant found on Craigslist with his last remaining credit card, remodeled it with dear friends and family, and opened Maple Ave Restaurant on August 15, 2009.

Fast forward to 2013, Tim opened his second restaurant, Water & Wall, to rave reviews and Maple Ave was ranked the #1 restaurant in Northern Virginia. Always on the lookout for a sandwich, Chase the Submarine – Tim’s dream vision for a craft sandwich shop – was brought to life in November 2015. March 2016 saw the opening of Tim’s first DC restaurant, Kyirisan, which offered creative Chinese-French cooking in a modern, home-like setting, winning awards such as Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand, and an annual recurring spot in Washington Post’s Best Restaurants Dining Guide. Tim also joined as Culinary Director of healthy school meal delivery service Box’d Eats in 2017.

In April 2017, Tim was hand selected by Katherine Lo to partner with her to bring to life Eaton Workshop’s first and flagship hotel in Washington DC. Eaton Workshop is a global purpose-driven company from founder Katherine Lo at the intersection of culture, content, hospitality, wellness, and progressive social change. Chef Ma developed and opened seven food and beverage outlets within Eaton DC, including Wild Days Rooftop Club, Kintsugi Café, Allegory Cocktail Speakeasy, and American Son, the all-day restaurant that received rave reviews and a Michelin Bib Gourmand in its first year of operation.
In November 2019, Tim joined as Culinary Director for Laoban Dumplings, attaching his Chinese heritage and unique culinary perspective to the humble dumpling shop. Today, Laoban Dumplings counts almost 1500 grocery stores, including national brands such as Whole Foods Market and Sprouts, selling its unique dumplings in addition to its brick and mortar.
In the same month in 2019, his family was honored by the Smithsonian Museum of American History by including himself, his Uncle Paul, and their family heirlooms from their history of restaurants into the new “FOOD: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000” exhibit.

In November 2020, in the middle the pandemic, Tim founded Lucky Danger, an updated take on American Chinese take-out by a Chinese American. The concept received rave reviews by critics and guests alike, leading to 5-months of complete sell-outs every night, the cover of the Washington Post, New York Times Food section, the Wall Street Journal, among many publications. Lucky Danger currently has two locations in Arlington, VA, and Washington, DC.

In May 2021, he co-founded the Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate non-profit that was able to expand into 4 cities (NYC, DC, SF, Detroit) and raise over $200,000 in the fight against Anti-Asian hate. The non-profit was featured on the Today Show and Good Morning America, as well as culminated in Tim and his co-founder Kevin Tien speaking at the Solidarity Against Asian Hate Rally on the National Mall. In May 2022, Tim and Kevin were honored with the GMA Inspiration Award for the work with Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate.

In November 2021, Tim developed and assisted in opening Bar Chinois, a French cocktail dim-sum bar, which replaced Prather’s on the Alley and the original pop-up location of Lucky Danger. Even in its short time open so far, It has seen incredible success and blown the doors wide open for Asian-themed bars.

Upcoming for 2022, Tim has expanded once again serving as COO for Ex-Pat Ventures, which will open 2 sports bars with integrated sports gambling in Western Market at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC.

Board Member

Rahul Vinod

Rahul Vinod co-founded Washington, D.C.’s emerging fast-casual Indian restaurant brand, RASA. A former Wall Street Investment Banker at BNP Paribas turned restaurateur, Rahul grew up in the industry as the son of one of the nation’s prominent Indian chefs. As a child, Rahul continuously saw a number of barriers to trying Indian food for most Americans. This unique upbringing led him to partner with his childhood best friend to fulfill a lifelong dream of sharing the Indian flavors he grew up loving in a more approachable way.

RASA has received critical acclaim, including recognition as the Best Concept Mid-Atlantic by Starchefs in 2022, and was named Best New Restaurant and Best Fast Casual by Washington City Paper in 2018, among others. Rahul was named an Eater Young Gun in 2018 and received the 2021 Rising Terp Award from his alma mater, the University of Maryland. Rahul’s support of the community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic led him to be recognized as a Thrillist Local Hero and a Local Changemaker by the Washington City Paper.

Culinary and Program Advisor

Bonnie S. Benwick

Bonnie produces recipe materials for Real Food for Kids and participates in its Culinary Challenge. Now a freelance editor involved in cookbooks, she worked as a journalist in the Washington, D.C., area for more than four decades, retiring as deputy editor of The Washington Post’s Food section in 2019. She edited The Washington Post Cookbook: Readers’ Favorite Recipes (2013).

Culinary Challenge Event Chair & RFFK Industry Advisor

Chef Kevin Tien

Chef Kevin Tien (a 2024 James Beard Foundation Finalist- his 5th nomination), 2023 RAMW Chef of the Year, Food and Wine Best New Chef 2018, Esquire’s Best Restaurant of the Year 2021) is the Executive Chef/Owner of nationally celebrated Moon Rabbit .

He is the co-founder of Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate, an organization bringing together the culinary world to support AAPI and social justice causes. It originated in the spring of 2021 as a way to raise money and awareness of the increase in violence against Asian Americans in the United States. It has since brought together more than 50 chefs from across the country, hosting dinners and take-out meals, and funneling $500,000-plus to various like-minded organizations, regionally, nationally, and globally. It was recognized in Washingtonian’s list of “100 Reasons to Love our Fierce Food Scene.”

A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, much of his modern Vietnamese cuisine is influenced by his experiences there, as well as the diverse regional dishes from Vietnam.

Tien’s menu strives to move the culture forward while maintaining and preserving integrity and tradition by reinventing recipes that have been passed down through multiple generations.

Moon Rabbit is a personal journey and exploration of Chef Kevin’s journey as a first-generation Vietnamese chef. His modern cooking philosophy and dishes are non-traditional Vietnamese cuisine but feature the true essence of Vietnamese flavor.

RFFK Culinary Challenge Mentor

Ype Von Hengst

With over 40 years of culinary experience in Europe and the United States, Chef Ype Von Hengst has built a reputation for flavorful, yet simple dishes crafted with the freshest ingredients. As the driving force behind Silver Diner’s 23 locations across Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C., he has been recognized for his innovative menus featuring fresh, local, and plant-based offerings — including an award-winning healthier kids’ menu.

Advisor

Ryan McElveen

Advisor

Mike Curtin

Advisor

Jessica Donze Black