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.
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.
Peiyao Guo, Board Member
Bill Holmes, Board Member
Roxie Cash, Board Member
Dean Ogan, Board Member
Dean Ogan discovered his passion for hospitality at just 14 years old while working as a dishwasher at The Rumson Country Club in his home state of New Jersey. Since opening his first restaurant, Michael Dean’s, in 1998, Dean has become one of the Triangle’s most respected leaders in the restaurant and hospitality industry.
Over the course of his career, Dean has launched more than a dozen restaurants, three catering companies, and two special event venues, helping shape the region’s culinary landscape along the way. Most recently, he owned and operated Rocky Top Catering, one of the Triangle’s premier catering companies for weddings, corporate events, and special occasions, where he now serves as founder and senior advisor.
Deeply committed to philanthropy and community impact, Dean has dedicated much of his career to giving back through initiatives such as Cooking for the Kids, Overflowing Hands, and Oak City Cares, helping provide meals and support to thousands throughout the community. His contributions have earned numerous honors, including the Triangle NACE Lifetime Achievement Award, Triangle Business Journal Corporate Philanthropy and Top NC Corporate Philanthropist Awards, and the NCRLA Ken Conrad Award for Community Service and Restaurateur of the Year Award.
Chef Dean’s belief in the power of nutritious food, hospitality, and service continues to drive his mission to create meaningful change and strengthen the community he proudly serves.
Mia Kendricks, Program Coordinator
Mia brings a wide range of experience and a strong foundation in nutrition, education, and community outreach to her role as Program Coordinator. From working in the school system, she is deeply committed to improving the way children experience food every day. Mia believes that nourishing meals are powerful in supporting learning, behavior, emotional health, and long-term well-being. She is passionate about creating meaningful change in school food environments and helping students and families build healthy relationships with food that last a lifetime. Her work also centers on the use of anti-inflammatory foods to support common ailments impacting the Black community.
Originally from Atlanta, GA, Mia now lives in Durham, NC, with her husband, retired mom, and their fur baby. She enjoys cooking, exploring new recipes, spending time outdoors, traveling, and making memories with loved ones. Sweet Potatoes are hands down her favorite vegetable. Her favorite green vegetable changes often, but right now she’s loving the versatility of Brussels sprouts.
Mia earned her Master of Science in Nutrition and FAME (Food as Medicine) certification from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon, where she focused on real-food nutrition, public health, and community wellness.
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.