Our Board & Key Staff Members

KRISTEN COX

Executive Director

Kristen Cox has been a lifelong activist, with a masters in Clinical Psychology, and has led many large and successful volunteer organizations. Her interest

in social justice has had her traveling most of the country, trying to help people in difficult predicaments, like survivors of two separate hurricanes, and indigenous people fighting oil pipelines. Her concern for the community has always been apparent in her actions, whether on the frontline or behind the scenes. Through her activism, she determined that alternative systems of supporting the community, especially in disadvantaged demographics, were becoming necessary. In 2017, she began to work toward creating a worker's cooperative that would benefit any and all in need and that has become Long Beach Community Table. She is grateful to have connected with so many incredible people, which have created a very successful team that truly cares about the dignity and sustainability of the community.

JAMIES SHUFORD

Board Member

Jamies Shuford, a native of Chicago, has been living in Los Angeles County since 1976. He began his advocacy work with the homeless at Lamp

Community in Skid Row in 1992. As a graduate of Illinois State University, his personal mission statement is to eradicate homelessness and poverty in a humane way. In recent years he has worked with Skidrow Advocacy Group Inc., the AIDS Food Store, and currently leads operations for Long Beach Community Table’s Home Food Delivery program, bringing weekly groceries to seniors and shut-ins.

OFELIA RIVERA

Outreach Coordinator

Since moving to Long Beach in 1994, Ofelia has been self-employed and engaged in the community as a food activist. In 2002, she started her own

community garden, then volunteered with SoCal Harvest and Harvest Partners, gleaning produce and fruit from backyard gardens. Ofelia built relationships with farmers’ markets to collect recovered produce for the local Food Not Bombs group and Christian Outreach Appeal (in downtown Long Beach), to feed vegan meals to homeless residents several times a week. Ofelia joined Long Beach Fresh as food advocacy liaison and grower, supporting policy changes regarding food access. She is an active Board member for the Maye Center and with LBCT as Outreach Coordinator. She continues to collect vegetables and other necessities from local farmers’ markets and other locations.

SANDRA HILL

Treasurer

Sandra Hill is the Treasurer for Long Beach Community Table. She owns, and operates her own company, Keep Track Business & Financial Services. We, at

LBCT, are privileged to have Sandra on our team. She has provided invaluable resources and expertise, allowing us to simplify our back-office paperwork and organization structure, and to have a better understanding of our finances through virtual bookkeeping using QuickBooks Online. She is a member of the Kiwanis-Long Beach and Treasurer of Love Beyond Limits, a non-profit organization that provides exceptional enrichment and leadership development opportunities for youth. She also founded her own non-profit: Keep Track Global Community Development Corporation. This Non-Profit serves with community program services and eventually will provide affordable housing.

MARIA SHAFER

Secretary

Originally from Cuba, Maria has called Long Beach, California, home for most of her life. Raised by a strong single mother, she values hard work,

community, and compassion. She graduated from Cal State University Dominguez Hills with a degree in Small Business Administration, also as a single mother with two sons. Now retired, Maria manages her small business and has the time to volunteer for Long Beach Community Table—an organization that works hard, values community, and practices compassion. Helping to coordinate community events such as monthly crop swaps, garden-building teams and classes, and distribution of fresh food to those in need on behalf of LBCT has been the perfect outlet for Maria.

SHANNON NAKAMURA

Garden Team Coordinator

A lifelong seeker of connection to the natural living earth, Shannon created the first produce exchange cooperative in Long Beach, known as Garden Angels

Produce Cooperative. After running and growing that exchange for about five years, she eventually partnered with Long Beach Fresh, who started their first Crop Swaps as a result. Now, Long Beach has many Crop Swaps and she led the first one for the Long Beach Community Table. Shannon recently became LBCT’s Garden Program Coordinator and looks forward to participating in something much bigger for the community by empowering sustainability.