RHIANNON MENN
FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD
Rhiannon Menn is a mama, chef, and adventurer. She loves decaf coffee, traveling, and super fuzzy sweaters – which she, unfortunately, can no longer wear since she left New England.
After the birth of her second child, she had an epiphany: When she took good care of herself, she was much better at taking care of those around her. She founded Good to Mama as a way of changing the narrative about what it means to be a mom.
In 2020, prompted by the COVID-related struggles of families in her community and her own feeling of helplessness, she founded Lasagna Love. A platform that connects neighbors for home-cooked meal delivery, Lasagna Love has transformed into an international movement of kindness, impacting thousands of volunteers and recipient families each week.
Rhiannon has been written about in Forbes, Women’s Day Magazine, and the Washington Post and has appeared on the Today Show, Kelly Clarkson, and Good Morning America. Rhiannon is a graduate of Berkshire Community College, Brown University, and MIT Sloan, and is a StartingBloc fellow and Siebel Scholar. She lives in Kihei, HI with her husband, three children, and is still relentlessly petitioning for a cat.
MEET OUR BOARD MEMBERS
Annica Blake is the Managing Director of Business Development at ThinkLabs. She has worked with senior executives across all verticals and brings a wealth of experience in qualitative and quantitative research tied to strategic decision-making.
Before joining ThinkLabs, Annica was the COO of Dropwise Technology corp and before that the Global Head of Research Services with Integreon.
In addition, Annica has designed and led numerous corporate research and strategy engagements involving capital investment in foreign markets, corporate, regional, and business unit level strategies.
Jason Chen is a senior NPI Operations Program Manager for Amazon Robotics. He holds his Bachelors from the US Naval Academy, his Masters of Philosophy from the University of Oxford, and his MBA from MIT Sloan. After spending 6 years as a nuclear submarine officer, he moved on to work at the Pentagon. After the Pentagon, he worked as a Supply Chain Project Manager for Philips Healthcare.
Alyssa Jefferies brings twelve years of experience in nonprofit management, marketing and fundraising. She currently works for Meyer Partners as a Fundraising Account Director. Prior to this role, she served as Director of Donor Relations for JDRF International; as Development Manager for PAWS Chicago; and as Development Associate for The Anti-Cruelty Society.
In her role with Meyer Partners, she provides expert marketing and fundraising solutions to advance the missions of an array of nonprofit client organizations.
When she’s not fundraising or cooking lasagnas for Lasagna Love families in Chicago, she can be found playing dress-up or dinosaurs with her son and daughter!
Bruce Palmieri, CFP®, CLU®, ChFC® is a founding partner of Palmieri & Shannahan, a wealth management and financial planning firm in central Maryland. Palmieri & Shannahan serves clients around the country and abroad. Bruce started his career with Northwestern Mutual in December of 1990.
Bruce is an active board member, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) – Maryland, Catholic Charities of Baltimore’s Planned Giving Committee where he and his wife Tracy have started a Donor Advised Fund, The Bruce and Tracy Palmieri Educational Fund supporting inner city children in the head start program.
Wendi Taylor Nations is EVP and Partner at Hawthorne Strategy Group, one of the Midwest’s leading marketing and communications firms. She previously held the position of Chief Marketing Officer at both global executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles (H&S) and World Business Chicago. After H&S, Nations joined Fleishman & Hilliard where she led the team that won the $37 million Affordable Care Act “Get Covered Illinois” business. She is also a Trustee of the DuSable Museum of Black History and Education Center, the DePauw University Board of Visitors and a member of Kellogg’s Pete Henderson Society.
Wendi has a strong background in marketing and communications, she has consistently demonstrated her commitment to making a positive impact across a variety of industries. Throughout Wendi’s career, she has been involved in various philanthropic and charitable initiatives—including providing access to nutritious meals for underserved communities with Lasagna Love.