Food Systems Strategy & Sustainable Financing
Clarify program goals, connect food and health partners, and explore financing approaches that support lasting work.
Strategy & Technical Assistance
Food systems expertise from people who build and operate food systems.
We combine strategic thinking, practical experience, and interdisciplinary expertise to help organizations design, finance, operate, and sustain programs that connect good food, good health, and thriving communities.
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Our Services
From an early idea to day-to-day operations, we help connect the pieces.
Training & Workforce Development
Develop practical training for teams working in food, health, and community settings, grounded in the work they do every day.
Systems Thinking, Participatory Planning & Facilitation
Facilitate participatory budgeting and community-led decision-making about priorities, resources, and investments. Use systems thinking and simulation to explore how decisions and relationships shape programs.
Research & Evaluation
Shape useful research questions, plan evaluation, and turn learning into decisions that strengthen programs.
Organizational Development & Implementation Support
Help teams move plans into practice with clear roles, workable processes, and support for implementation.
Our Team
Different disciplines, connected by practical work in food and health.
Sonya Jones, PhD
Strategy, financing, systems design, and education.
Christina Schnabel
Food is Medicine accounting, operations, and workflows.
Rene Uribe
Restaurant operations, procurement, inventory management, and business coaching.
Dennis Lanigan
Farming, procurement, and local food systems.
Strategy & leadership
Sonya Jones, PhD, brings expertise in strategy, financing, systems design, and education. Her professional experience includes facilitating participatory budgeting processes that put community members at the center of decisions.
Selected Experience
Our perspective draws on both Caja’s organizational work and the professional experience our team members bring to it.
Caja Solidaria’s organizational work
- Healthy Opportunities Pilot Food is Medicine services
- Local food procurement and distribution
- Shared-use kitchens and food business development
- Ripple Effects financing simulation — in development
Individual professional experience
- Trauma-informed care and nutrition education training
- NC Food is Medicine Coalition sustainable financing work
These areas reflect team members’ professional experience, rather than separate Caja programs.
Work With Us
What are you working toward? We welcome conversations with organizations about consulting, training, facilitation, and technical assistance. Tell us about your goals, your questions, and the work ahead.
Contact Sonya