Dan Zauderer

Dan was a middle school teacher at the Bronx's American Dream School until he discovered that one out of every four of his students were living with food insecurity. He left his paying job and started Mott Haven Fridge Network, which has now grown into Grassroots Grocery. His passion is to bring dignified access to healthy food to under-resourced communities that often remain out of reach. Dan is driven by the simple tenet that together, we can #driveouthunger.

Founder

Employees

A loyal volunteer since the beginning, Ruben is the watchog and caretaker of the first-ever Mott Haven Fridge on 141st Street & St. Ann’s Avenue in the Bronx.

Bryon is the everyday face of Grassroots Grocery who makes our weekday deliveries into the community and who represents our neighbors helping neighbors mission with a smile and a helping hand.

Dwayne makes regular deliveries of food throughout the Bronx! If you see him in his van, give him a wave! He’s probably doing something good.

After graduating from Cornell University in May 2023 with a BA in Government, Julia joined the Grassroots Grocery team this past September. Having grown up just outside of New York City, Julia particularly loves that this role allows her to make a meaningful impact in her community—in the true spirit of “neighbors helping neighbors”.

Elizabeth Smoltz has worked in Real Estate for over 20 years in various areas such as development, asset management, leasing, and construction. She is currently in the process of developing a large project in Northern Westchester. As her daughter is at Holy Child and has many service opportunities, she became a passionate volunteer at Grassroots Grocery. She is currently on the board of Aces for Alzheimer’s as well. She lives in Larchmont with her husband and three children and three dogs.

In her early career, she worked at a community center that offered vocational, recreational, and educational services to at-risk youth. She served as Director of the Summer Employment Program and coordinated seminars and workshops for community engagement. She later went on to work in the private sector as a legal secretary in one of NYC’s largest Latino-owned law firms. Upon her employer’s election to the NYS Assembly, she returned to community service-oriented work as the Assembly member’s Constituent Office Manager. She worked for the Unified Court System as a Secretary to Supervising Judges in both the Civil and Supreme Court. She is currently a Court Analyst within the Civil Court’s Citywide Administrative Services. Itza began her volunteer work with the community fridge movement, exclusively with Grassroots Grocery and its network, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. First as a driver, now as a canvasser, she makes use of her well-honed skills of community engagement practices.

Coming Soon!

Adjoa is the Director of Individual Giving at Grassroots Grocery, where she is passionate about advancing the mission of neighbors helping neighbors to combat hunger and food insecurity. With over a decade of experience in fundraising, she previously served as the Leadership Gifts Officer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, playing a pivotal role in building their philanthropic relationships. Adjoa’s nonprofit career also includes work as a Development Associate at two art education organizations that have long enriched the lives of New York City's youth and families. Before transitioning into fundraising, Adjoa began her career as a dedicated public school teacher in Brooklyn, where she taught students with disabilities in grades 6-12. This experience deeply influenced her commitment to community-driven work. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and Political Science from Howard University and a Master’s degree in 6-12 Special Education from Long Island University.

Felix is currently a senior at Fordham University with a double major in Film and Music. He is on track to graduate after the Fall and is ready to dive into a career in the film industry! He has a passion for using film and photo to inspire change in our society and will be joining us for the Fall semester!

Currently a high-school senior at Horace Mann, Henry Greenhut leverages the power of low-code tools and JavaScript automations to develop apps that streamline our volunteering events and automate communications with volunteers and event admins. In addition to his technical prowess, Henry guides and mentors our team of tech interns.

Sonia is an active community leader and a retired civil servant who loves contributing to her Bronx community. Starting as a volunteer, Sonia now works part time caring for the second-ever Mott Haven Community Fridge located on Brook Avenue.

Board of Directors

Alex, a Baltimore native, received her BA from University of Maryland where she combined studies in sociology, nutrition, and sustainability. With this, she has found a place in NYC on the Grassroots Grocery team - following her passion to help feed our neighbors that need it the most

Tia is a senior at Hamilton College. She was born and raised in Dallas, Texas and is passionate about anti-poverty programs and policies. She will be joining us for the Fall semester!

Advisory Board

Clarissa is a Public Health Professional with an interdisciplinary background and entrepreneurial spirit that uses creative relating as a tool for mitigating the effects of intergenerational trauma. With a vast experience in building strong relationships and developing solid community supports, she embraces her passion for creative expression to meet her clients where they are and is skilled in peer advocacy to assist community members facing various health-related disparities. Her educational training in Health Science paired with an interest in Health Education fortify her collective experiences in multiple social service industries. Clarissa’s knack for community-based business building allows her to work with diverse teams and compassionately support organizations in the application of tangible solutions to complicated Public Health issues including the Mental Wellness, Substance Misuse, Sexual and Physical Health, as well as Interpersonal Violence concerns plaguing the underserved populations of New York City.
Clarissa’s involvement with Grassroots Grocery has grown to align with the needs of the organization as it expands to continuously meet the Bronx community’s complex health profile.

Matt Sahn is the Head of Engineering for Aladdin Wealth Tech at BlackRock and is a Tech Fellow there. He has helped develop front-end web applications, APIs, Java application servers, and high-scale portfolio risk calculation engines. Matt has joined our team as a pro-bono tech lead to help manage our tech product, open source projects, and our blossoming tech intern program.

John Barczak is a professionally trained chef, certified health coach, functional nutrition coach, yoga teacher, educator, and consultant. Upon seeking volunteering options to serve his fellow Bronx residents during the pandemic, John discovered Grassroots Grocery (then Mott haven Fridge) on Instagram and has been volunteering and lending his passion and insight ever since.