Schelli Avant has over 10 years’ experience guiding children toward healthy fitness and nutrition habits, and she’s a firm believer in the need for dairy, especially for youth.  An alumna of the University of Houston, Navarro Junior College and Hardin Simmons University, Schelli holds a Bachelor of Science in human nutrition and foods as well as a Texas Teaching Certification for K-12 physical education.

Shannon Curtis is a clinical dietitian for both Harris Health System and HHS at Cornerstone Hospital in the Houston, TX area. After completing a B.S. in Genetics at Texas A&M University, she received a B.S. in Nutrition at University of Houston, M.S. in Nutrition at Texas Woman's University-Houston, and completed the dietetic internship at Louisiana Tech University. Shannon is passionate about all things nutrition beyond the hospital setting and enjoys cooking and baking.

Dr. Maurice Sholas is the Principal for Sholas Medical Consulting, LLC based in New Orleans, LA.  In this capacity, he solves operational challenges for individual practitioners, hospitals and health care agencies.  In addition, he is a subject matter expert on children with special health care needs.  Dr. Sholas’ pursuit of intellectual achievement is matched only by his pursuit of advocacy.  He embodies the belief that being a good citizen is a prerequisite to being a great physician/executive. 

Birdie is a graduate of UT Austin where she studied government and history. She has been with the Montrose Center for eight years serving the community in different capacities. She currently works as an HIV navigator and community educator focusing on prevention and testing services. Her passions include Trans and Queer liberation, baking and playing games with friends, and reading books on politics and history, sci-fi and fantasy.

Chad is the Vice President of Food Safety and Product Research with responsibilities for coordinating and supporting several food safety activities for the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy.  These activities include food safety training, organizing the Listeria Research Consortium, and coordinating industry food safety best practice teams spanning several relevant topics.  Chad also supports National Dairy Council research programs at major universities to drive dairy innovation and sales for U.S. dairy products and ingredients on behalf of U.S.