Vision
We help children transcend their quality of life by revolutionizing school lunches and providing education about real food.
Mission
Food Paradigm builds and implements a collaborative, real-food school lunch program. This tailored program is rooted in functional, evidence-based principles, for an immediate positive impact on learning, as well as teaching children and caregivers that adopting healthy food habits will support a lifetime of physical, mental, and social health.
Purpose
The founders of Food Paradigm are parents who have seen the transformative impact that solid nutrition has on a child’s life. Children deserve our best efforts to ensure their greatest quality of life is met now and forever.
- Food Paradigm aims to reach children who are receiving free and reduced school meals and/or experiencing food insecurity and is dedicated to supporting the development of strong, healthy, joyful children through functional nutrition.
- Food Paradigm addresses the chronic illness epidemic in children which impacts learning now, will continue to degrade quality of life, and limit lifespan.
- Food Paradigm collaborates with schools directly to implement real-food school lunch programs.
- Food Paradigm introduces real food and healthy eating habits, while working within school budgets and resources, relieving the future healthcare costs of chronic illness and the societal burden of aging.
Our Team
Thursall Cellé, Co-Executive Director and Board President
As a former engineer and current Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Thursall is in a unique position to lead the team as Co-Executive Director of Food Paradigm. Her experience working with complex software systems naturally shaped how she would later dig into understanding the body systems. Thursall brings a wealth of holistic nutrition knowledge to Food Paradigm which has deeply influenced her desire to help children experience real food and improved health impacts. School lunches have been a complex problem for decades and are in desperate need of practical and nutritional solutions. Powered by love and a caring nature, Thursall intends to use her love of learning, project management and relationship building skills to lead Food Paradigm towards a brighter future for the children.
Thursall lives in the Raleigh area with her husband, two kids, and dog. They love spending time in France every year to be with her husband’s family. Thursall loves chocolate, learning new things, helping people, collaborating, reading romance novels, and playing solitaire games and puzzles.
Thursall graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering from NC State University and later earned her FNTP certification from the Nutritional Therapy Association.
Karla Wilson, Co-Executive Director and Board Secretary
Karla brings a wide range of experience to her full-time role as Co-Executive Director through a background in education and accounting, as well as event and organizational management. She is deeply committed to providing solutions in the area of food insecurity. Understanding the connection between access to food and chronic illness, Karla believes that all children are precious and deserve real food to nourish their bodies. She knows that collaboration and creativity are instrumental to this effort. Through her integrity and problem-solving skills, she creates spaces where individuals can connect, collaborate, and change the world together.
Karla lives in Raleigh, NC with her husband, three teenagers, and two dogs. She loves concert season, warm weather, hiking in the mountains, lounging at the beach, spending time with family, and binging shows. She is on her own personal wellness and health journey and wants to help others feel better too.
Karla graduated with a BA in Spanish Language and Literature from NC State University and then went on to earn her MBA from East Carolina University.
Beth Espitia, Board Treasurer
Beth has worked in multiple industries including utilities, pharmaceutical, and environmental consulting. She currently works for the USDA BioPreferred Program which helps companies certify that their products are made from plants and biobased raw materials rather than derived from petroleum.
A diagnosis with an autoimmune disease forced Beth to challenge the way she thought about food. She struggled firsthand with a standard American diet and doesn’t want another generation to suffer when there are resources to help them. She is thrilled to be a part of Food Paradigm’s mission to bring change to the way children think about food.
Beth lives in Raleigh with her husband, 2 kids and 2 cats. She enjoys reading, watching movies, and taking trips with her family. In her free time, she volunteers at her kids’ school, meal plans or tries new recipes. Beth graduated with a BS in Environmental Engineering and a BA in Spanish Language and Literature. She also served as alumni advisor to the engineering sorority, Alpha Omega Epsilon, at NC State for three years.
Randall Tomblin, Board Member
Randall Tomblin is a seasoned operations executive with over a decade of leadership in the hospitality sector, recognized for transforming complex food service environments into high-performing, people-centered ecosystems. Growing up in Wayne County, West Virginia, Randall witnessed firsthand how the lack of healthy food options affects underserved communities—an experience that laid the foundation for his commitment to food equity and community wellbeing.
He currently oversees a diverse portfolio of regional restaurant brands, leading the implementation of scalable systems that marry operational excellence with community impact. His approach emphasizes “healthy, diverse, culturally relevant” menus, underpinned by meaningful partnerships with local farmers and producers.
With deep expertise in systems thinking, workforce development, food safety, and project management, Randall excels at building cross-functional teams and leadership pipelines that uplift the dignity of hospitality work. His leadership champions innovation while remaining grounded in care for both people and the planet.
Randall lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife, Shelbi, and two dogs, Ollie and Duke. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Marshall University and is deeply passionate about community-driven leadership. His life and career reflect a steadfast commitment to reimagining food systems that are equitable, resilient, and rooted in shared responsibility.
Chef Lauren Williams, Board Member
Chef Lauren Williams is a culinary entrepreneur and seasoned hospitality leader with a deep background in restaurant operations, catering, and private chef services. Raised on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, he discovered his love of food in his grandmother’s kitchen—a passion that would later shape a dynamic career grounded in service and flavor.
Lauren earned a Communications degree from Liberty University, where he played football before signing with the Oakland Raiders and playing for the Rhein Fire in NFL Europa. After a short professional football career, he returned to the kitchen full-time.
He began his culinary path in contract catering, later managing both front and back of house at a Dolce Group restaurant and serving as Production and Senior Executive Chef with Compass Group USA. There, he led a staff of 400, overseeing the production of 25,000 meals a day for nearly 100 sites in D.C.
What draws Chef Lauren to Food Paradigm is our shared belief that real, nourishing food should be a right—not a privilege—for every child. While he’s not based in North Carolina, Lauren is already contributing in meaningful ways, offering operational insight, national perspective, and a deep understanding of what it takes to shift school food systems from the inside out.
Through every role, Chef Lauren’s passion for food and people has remained at the heart of his work—reflected not just in his leadership, but in every plate he touches.
Founders' Stories
The genesis of Food Paradigm comes from the culmination of a lifetime of observations about food. Thursall’s and Karla’s stories stem from their curiosity about how food affects one’s body, mind, and behavior. As young children, their experience with food was completely different. Thursall was raised with a strong foundation that food is for nourishment and vegetables are good. As her family struggled to make ends meet, in a single parent household, her mother instilled the importance of real food over junk food. However, food changed in their house when her mom went back to work leaving less time and energy for cooking. Karla’s parents had the means to provide and while the pantry always seemed to be full, most of it was processed junk food and full of sugar. It wasn’t until they were both older and connecting the dots to their own health issues that they realized how much food matters.
Thursall suffered through endometriosis for most of her young adult life. She experienced the overwhelming heartbreak of infertility for what felt like an eternity of failed IVF treatments. Unwilling to give up, she found alternative methods for healthcare. She worked with several functional practitioners and discovered a gluten sensitivity which severely aggravated her endometriosis. She changed her eating habits and focused on nutrient dense whole foods while also removing gluten. Within a year, she was able to conceive her first child naturally. Three years later, she conceived her second child. Her passion for nutrition grew from this experience, which led her to become a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner.
In addition to witnessing and supporting her friend through such a trying time, Karla endured stomach issues for most of her life. Regardless of how “healthy” the meal was, eating would feel like a chore because it always ended in discomfort. She experimented with different diets, but nothing worked. The best she ever felt was during an elimination diet when she started to learn more about how food combinations affect our bodies. Her new eating routine, along with exercise, brought clarity of mind, making it easier to get out of bed in the morning. This realization sparked an ongoing interest in nutrition and wellness and ignited a desire to educate children about healthy eating habits to avoid future issues.
That brings us to today, two college suitemates and long-time friends whose kids are making their way through school right now. They see an immediate need to reach all children with real food options to nourish their body and fuel their mind, especially those whose only meal for the day might be at school. Our hope is that through community collaboration, all children will build a strong nutritional foundation to thrive.