Congratulations to the 2024 ANFP award recipients! ANFP celebrates the critical work they are doing across the country to provide innovative leadership and support the value of the CDM, CFPP credential.
Ambassador Award
Marcus Braz
The Ambassador Award is given to an administrator, dietitian, etc., who demonstrated commitment to the CDM, CFPP credential and supports the nutrition and foodservice department leader through mentoring.
Student of the Year Award
Jessie Anderson
The Student of the Year Award recognizes a current student enrolled in an ANFP dietary managers program who exemplifies dedication, hard work, and commitment to earning the credential and pursuing a career in the foodservice industry.
Horizon Award
Maria Alvarado
The Horizon award recognizes a member that has been in the nutrition and foodservice industry for five years or less and is new to management. They have demonstrated a desire for future growth within their facility and community. They also display leadership in fostering equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace as well.
This year’s recipient, Maria Alvarado, implemented wellness goals and challenges that help students learn and appreciate nutrition. She also implemented monthly nutrition connection objectives for parents to practice with their students at home and she ensures that all students receive the same nutritional meals, with the same nutritional value and the same nutrition education as any other student.
Innovation Award
Ambika Senthilvel
The Innovation Award recognizes members who enhance their nutrition and foodservice operations through technology, program development, nutrition, operations and/or creative use of financial management.
Ambika Senthilvel is a true problem solver who can consider issues from both a visionary and a granular perspective. She created her company’s proprietary “Tagger” system, which has become the technology backbone of the company and enabled it to scale its capabilities to serve an increasingly complex matrix of about 30,000 daily meals from many different recipes.
Partnership Award
Amy Wees, MBA, RD, LD
The Partnership Award recognizes an individual or company that has demonstrated a strong commitment to the CDM, CFPP credential and supports the nutrition and foodservice department leader.
Amy Wees, MBA, RD, LD, supports the growth and advancement of the foodservice department by ensuring the CDM, CFPPs within her organization, attend regular professional development events and helps them understand regulatory changes while accommodating client’s food preferences, and honoring physicians recommendations.
Dining Distinction Award
Jaimie Griffiths
The Dining Distinction Award, honors a member that has contributed significantly to the health and well-being of individuals while providing an optimal dining experience, including the nutritional value of food, presentation, the environment in which food is served and interactions with clients.Jaimie Griffiths ensures that each of her students have the required five options of items to choose from each day and gets students excited about nutrition through creative food presentation and decor in cafeterias with themes to celebrate nutrition. From catchy phrases and decorations for national breakfast week, to the theme, “soaring to new nutritional heights” during the national school lunch week, Jaimie makes dining in cafeterias a positive experience each day.
Distinguished Service Award
Sherri Conde
The Distinguished Service award is given to a corporate partners for exhibiting an unwavering commitment to the credential.
This year’s recipient, Sherri Conde, has been a dedicated Corporate Partner of ANFP for many years. She has served ANFP in several ways including Industry Advisory Council Chair, and as a Director at Large – Corporate Partner, on the ANFP Board. She continually strives to support ANFP’s vision and mission by providing education by way of speaking engagements at ACE and Regional Meetings, as well as through her position at Performance Foodservice by supporting the Foundation. Performance Foodservice’s Visionary Level support of NFEF provides funding for up to 12 CDM Exam Preparation grants with additional funds directed towards other NFEF initiatives. Performance Foodservice has supported NFEF via this grant funding for the last 6 years.
Chapter Volunteer of the Year Award
Maggie Rowlands, CDM, CFPP
The Chapter Volunteer of the Year Award recognizes an outstanding chapter volunteer that serves as a positive example to others, and whose dedicated service, time and efforts to the foodservice industry help to advance the mission of the ANFP at the state level.
Maggie Rowlands, CDM, CFPP, has demonstrated excellence in leadership through exemplary service, advocacy of the credential, and dedication to the Indiana chapter. She exhibits qualities of an inspiring leader that has left a lasting impact on a chapter, its members, and the foodservice industry.
Maggie is a long-time, dedicated volunteer for the Indiana chapter. She has held each of the chapter leadership roles throughout the years and is admired by her fellow chapter leaders and members. She ensures the chapter provides stellar education at each of their events and is working to engage and grow a new generation of CDM, CFPPs.
CDM, CFPP Spotlight Award
Michael Kopec, CDM, CFPP
The CDM, CFPP Spotlight recognizes a member that has received their chapter’s CDM, CFPP of Year (or equivalent award), or was named as the ‘CDM, CFPP of the Month’.
Michael Kopec, CDM, CFPP, is passionate about what he does as a CDM, CFPP. He cares deeply about his residents and is dedicated and supportive of his staff and continually seeks out advanced training for his own personal growth and development as a CDM, CFPP, specifically related to leadership. He is well respected and often invited to participate in projects, events, and education sessions in his facility as well as his community.
Legacy Award
Sharon Vermeer, CDM, CFPP
The Legacy award embodies an ANFP member with proven dedication not only to the organization, but the mission and the credential as well.
This year’s recipient, Sharon Vermeer, CDM, CFPP, started her volunteer career by way of presenting at one the local chapter meetings and has continued to serve the chapter throughout the years in various capacities, starting with the secretary role and eventually working her way up the chapter president. More recently, Sharon has also been active in helping struggling chapters by reaching out to ANFP dropped members to help figure out how we can keep them in our profession. She’s quick to jump in and lend a hand wherever needed, including training new chapter board members as well as mentoring many individuals through their educational pursuits. She generously shares and seeks out new ideas from fellow CDM, CFPP’s to help navigate the changing healthcare environment.
Sharon has also been active at the national level for many years starting as a member of the government affairs committee. In 2012, Sharon was appointed to her first role on the National level as a director at large. From that point on, she was appointed to Board positions including treasurer and was eventually appointed to the role of National chair in 2018. She is currently serving on the Leadership Development Committee as a past chair.
She has a passion for helping others both within the industry as well as her community. Sharon, and her employer, are currently helping refugees find training and employment within our healthcare systems to help fill the staffing shortages.
Her continuous work with ANFP at both the National and chapter level is the definition of leadership and what it means to be Legacy award winner!