Our Founders
Ilyse Wassermann Petter
Ilyse received a Bachelor of Science from Syracuse University and a Master of Science from New York University with a dietetic internship at Tulane University School of Health and Tropical Medicine. Ilyse has been a practicing clinical nutritionist for over twenty five years. Her practice has evolved to focus mainly on plant based nutrition. Ilyse founded O Baby Bar as a means to educate parents on the benefits of a plant based diet. Ilyse founded Lettuce B Organic which does small scale plant based catering, private nutrition counseling, and Nutritionist/Chef led cooking demonstrations. As the Director of Nutrition for the Adapted Co. Ilyse creates educational content and collaborates with Chefs creating nutrient dense vegan menu options for restaurant partners.
Kris Malone Grossman
Kris holds a BA from UC Berkeley and an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, and is an advanced doctoral student of Philosophy and Religion with a concentration in Women’s Spirituality at CIIS in San Francisco.
Our Team
Miles Wassermann
Natural Chef/Organic Farmer
Miles Wassermann is a certified Natural Chef that received his culinary degree from Bauman College of Holistic Nutrition and Natural Chef studies. Miles has worked in the food industry for 15 years promoting small farms and ecologically sound food production in California and Vermont . He is the Co Founder and Executive Chef of Lettuce B Organic where he develops garden to plate recipes, curates relationships between local farmers and restaurants, and designs gardens for local schools and lunch programs.
Miles received a Bachelor of Arts, with a major in agroecology, from Sterling College. He is skilled in restaurant and farm management, production, and permaculture design and uses these skills for the betterment of our whole food system.
Miles brings his expertise as a Chef and Farmer to Seed Releaf where he will focus on creating vegan recipes with both our restaurant partners and our farm partners. Miles will aim to foster relationships between local farmers, restaurants, and the public for these hard times and for a healthy future.
Marlene Saritzky
Creative/Program Consultant
Marlene has deep experience in strategic communications, content strategy, philanthropy, public affairs and high-profile event and conference planning and production. In organizations ranging from Time Inc. to Lucasfilm Ltd., she’s played key roles in creating compelling communications programs and live events and in launching major businesses, charitable and public affairs initiatives. Her skills as a strategic planner of internal and external communications and other programs have helped increase the visibility, performance and profitability of clients and represented companies. She currently heads MSS Associates, providing consulting in content development, media and creative/production and strategy. Current and recent clients and select projects include: FORTUNE, CommonSense.org, AllRaise.org, COAL + ICE, TheWrap.com, Pivotal Software, FuturesWithoutViolence.org, Goldman Environmental Prize, Planned Parenthood, Center for Investigative Reporting, Chez Panisse Foundation, and others. She is a member of the Board of Directors of The Kitchen Sisters, and past president and member of the San Francisco Film Commission. She lives with her family in Marin County.
Dr Dean Ornish
Medical Advisor
Dr Ornish is a leading cardiovascular physician, researcher and author. He is the president and founder of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. The author of Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease, Eat More, Weigh Less and The Spectrum, he is a well-known advocate for using diet and lifestyle changes to treat and prevent heart disease. He lives with his wife Annie (who co-authored his latest book Undo It!) and their daughter in Sausalito.
Josh Love
Intern
Josh is an invaluable member of our team – he picks up the food from our restaurant partners and delivers to it to where it is needed. Josh is also responsible for all of our social marketing imagery and videos.