About Us
Heather Bois Bruskin (Director, she/her/hers) leads the operational and strategic initiatives of the OFSR team in collaboration with agency and community partners toward our collective food system goals. Heather spent the first decade of her career in higher education as an educator and program director, before moving into the community-based nonprofit sector in Montgomery County. She first served as president of multiple volunteer-driven early childhood organizations and then spent almost nine years as the Executive Director of a food systems advocacy and collaboration building nonprofit. Heather serves as the elected Co-Chair of the Maryland Food System Resiliency Council and is a current and founding member of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments FARM Committee. Heather holds a Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University and a Master of Education from the University of Virginia. A Montgomery County resident and MCPS parent, Heather is an active leader and volunteer in her community and local schools and spends her free time exploring the numerous and diverse farms, historic sites, tasting opportunities, and hiking trails in our area with her family and two rescue dogs.
Juan Cruz (he/him) is a Performance Management and Data Analyst in the Office of Food Systems Resilience, where he focuses on the intersection of data governance, business intelligence, and data analysis. In this role, Juan leads efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of government programs and policies, ensuring data-driven decision-making across the board. His favorite projects involve collaborating with residents, practitioners, and researchers to make information accessible to all intended audiences.
Before joining the OFSR, Juan spent four years at the DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), where he led a team that provided data solutions and managed large-scale evaluations and strategic research initiatives. Prior to his tenure at MPD, he worked in the non-profit sector at CASA, leading program evaluations and policy assessments at local, state, and federal levels. His work spanned critical areas such as food assistance, workforce development, health access, education, and policies affecting immigrant and underserved communities.
Juan earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Science in Geography from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is also a proud graduate of Montgomery College's Scholars Program. Recently, Juan was a fellow for the Center for Innovations in Community Safety at Georgetown University Law School. Born in Lima, Peru, and raised in the DMV area, Juan’s upbringing has fostered a deep connection to the community he now proudly serves. Outside of work, Juan enjoys traveling, cycling, and refining his culinary skills to delight friends and family.
Catherine Nardi (Program Manager I) is a passionate, solutions-oriented leader with 6+ years of experience in the local food system. Catherine’s background includes leadership positions centered around community engagement, nutrition and food access program oversight, and health equity-focused policy work with the Montgomery County Food Council, DC Central Kitchen, and Alliance for a Healthier Generation. Her work is informed by her engagement with local, national, and international professional learning communities, including as a Global Health Corps Fellow and a US Delegate to the Slow Food Terra Madre Salone del Gusto. Catherine received a bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a master's degree in Nutrition Education from American University.
Diana (Program Manager I, she/her) joined OFSR in July 2024 after serving for 5 years as program manager for the Montgomery County Food Security Plan at the Department of Health and Human Services. In this capacity, she collaborated with non-profit partners and County agencies to reduce barriers to access, increase food security and improve, strengthen and expand food assistance and food recovery programs in the County. Diana monitors OFSR’s contracts and has decades of experience developing and implementing human services initiatives in Montgomery County. Diana holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Maryland, and she enjoys gardening, pottery and sewing. Diana lives in Montgomery Village with her furry friends Lucy, Luna, Blueberry and Peaches.
Ciara O’Brien (Program Administrator II, she/her) supports outreach efforts and community partnership building for the Office of Food Systems Resilience. A passionate advocate for a more equitable and sustainable food system, she loves connecting with farmers, food assistance providers, and advocacy groups to offer support for communities seeking to administer food system programs. She also enjoys writing about ag, and her work has been published in local, national, and international publications. Ciara received her Bachelor of Arts from McDaniel College, where she studied Writing & Publishing. Outside of work, she enjoys gardening, practicing yoga, and taking walks with her chocolate lab, Hershey. She is also the founder of a local seed library, where she volunteers to promote community access to sustainable gardening resources.
Yetunde Oreagba (Program Administrator II, she/her) is a marketing operations professional with a passion for customer service, operations improvement, and standardization to keep things running smoothly. Yetunde’s work for the Office of Food Systems Resilience is focused on engaging public and private sector partners to communicate information and coordinating the administrative elements of the OFSR day to day operations. She received a bachelor's degree in psychology with a concentration in community health from the University of Baltimore, and a master's degree in health science with a focus on health administration from Towson University. Born in Hackney, England, Yetunde has spent most of her life in the DMV area. Outside work, Yetunde enjoys cooking, singing, and reading!
Elizabeth (Beth) Pletsch (Program Administrator V, she/her/hers) supports retail food access program efforts for the Office of Food Systems Resilience. Before joining OFSR, Beth held food and nutrition research and product development roles within the federal and private sectors. She loves learning new ways of bridging gaps between the many moving parts of the food system and making a nutritious food supply accessible to the community. Beth received her Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and PhD from Purdue University in Food Science. She spent most of her life in the Midwest before relocating to Montgomery County. Outside of work, she enjoys climbing, traveling, and exploring all of the food and landscapes that the DMV area has to offer!