Toddler Food Partners is an all volunteer organization organized under the rules for a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
Vicki Staudte, Executive Director
Vicki Staudte is Toddler Food Partners’ Executive Director and Treasurer focusing on the business side of TFP. She has conducted marketing and research projects and chaired committees for commercial and non-profit organizations in the Twin Cities. On a long-term sabbatical from her business career in marketing and advertising, she now teaches sailing and travels around the world. She has volunteered her time in the Seychelles Islands, Costa Rica, Mexico, Argentina, and Thailand, as well as here in the Twin Cities writing marketing plans, doing coral and fish research, monitoring sea turtles, teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) and building houses. She’s a certified sailing, scuba diving, yoga and TEFL instructor.
Larry Carpenter
Larry was Executive Director of TFP 2007 to 2014. He helped secure and install equipment to produce RUTF in Haiti and worked closely with partners in Mumbai to design the layout and define equipment required for production of MNT at Sion Hospital.
His first career started as a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching in Sierra Leone and continued with teaching stints in New York, Micronesia and New Zealand. This involved living and extensive travel in developing countries. He served on the board of Project Minnesota Leone, a sister state organization between Minnesota and Leone, Nicaragua.
During a second career, Larry worked for 20 years as a software engineer designing, implementing and installing software to control servohydraulic testing machines, which were used in the automotive industry and in civil engineering.
He has continued his travels since retirement to include several countries in Latin America and a return to Sierra Leone. He is an avid sailor, has crossed the North Atlantic twice in sailboats, and is also a performing musician.
George Farrell
George Farrell is retired and a lifelong shadetree mechanic specializing in assembly and testing of machines as well as ongoing modification and product improvement. He has made several trips to Haiti to set up equipment that TFP helped procure for the Meds and Foods for Kids manufacturing facility in Cap Haitein.
George did much of the design work for the stainless steel modification of the cast aluminum grinders and worked with the fabricator to get them built and shipped to Haiti. He also worked with the fabricator of the stainless steel Tumble Drum industrial mixers to get them built, Teflon coated and shipped to Haiti. Much of the work on his most recent trips has been to get this equipment installed and working.
Dave Harmann
Dave Harmann retired from General Mills after 33 years of service, eventually becoming Principal Engineer. He grew up on a dairy farm learning animal care, crop management, equipment repair and welding. He learned to get a job done with minimal resources. He has an MS in Agricultural Engineering, has plumbing, electrical, carpentry and auto mechanic skills. He also has extensive experience with volunteer work and non-profit organizations as well as experience in international environments. Dave joined the TFP board in 2010.
Dave has taken a lead in locating and evaluating equipment for Meds and Food for Kids and their RUTF factory in Haiti. He may be making multiple trips to Cap Haitien in the next couple of years.
Dr. Bharat Parekh
Dr. Parekh is a retired consultant of technology and trade projects for select American and Indian companies and NGOs. The technology ventures were primarily in environmental, water, food processing and rural development sectors. Trade was concentrated in textiles and chemicals.
Previously, he was a Physics professor at North Dakota State University, Fargo, and a research scientist for the ND Water Resources Institute. His research focused on hydrologic modeling for managing ND’s complex watersheds.
Currently, he is an active volunteer on boards of United Nations Association of Minnesota and Citizens for Global Solutions where he has been an architect of the Minnesota Millennium Initiative which champions and campaigns for the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Goals.
Dr. Shivram Murty
Dr. Murty retired as a Fellow from General Mills R&D with 31 years experience in process and product development and R&D management. He holds an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technologh, Bombay, and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.
At General Mills, he led operations and technical teams in identifying opportunities, developing technical plans, executing pilot plant and production plant trials and insuring successful commercialization. He has extensive experience in project planning and project leadership.
He has volunteered with non-profit organizations including Compatible Technology International, Spring Valley Education Foundation Inc, G. Alumni, General Mills retiree volunteers organization and Toddler Food Partners for over 25 years. He served on the board at CTI and SVEF Inc. He has made several trips to India and Bangladesh to assist on CTI and TFP projects. His philanthropic interests are to address the issues of malnutrition by helping rural and urban entrepreneurs create sustainable income generating enterprises using appropriate technology in the area of food processing.
Indra Mehrotra
Indra Mehrotra retired as Director of Science and Communications with the General Mills Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition after 25 years of service. She led nutrition science research strategy and programs for various General Mills businesses and was responsible for health and nutrition communication to consumers and health professionals. Prior to General Mills, she managed Nutrition Services at the Pillsbury Company.
She is a registered and licensed dietitian, holds an MS in Nutrition & Food Science from the M.S. University, Baroda, India, and another MS in Nutrition & Dietetics from Northern Illinois University.
She represents nutrition expertise as an active volunteer with General Mills in the Partners in Food Solutions initiative and has served on the board of CTI in St. Paul MN.