Tamearra Dyson

She/Her

Founder, Souley Vegan
Recipe: TBD
Time: TBD

Tamearra Dyson is a second-generation Bay Area native with roots tracing back to Louisiana. Growing up as the youngest of three children in a single-parent household, she experienced firsthand the hardships of food insecurity and the impact of limited financial resources on a family. Due to these circumstances, she found herself in an abusive environment when left with her father. Despite these challenges, Tamearra was driven to succeed and forge her own path. She garnered an impressive reputation at Marin General Hospital, where she dedicated nearly ten years to the surgery center’s Endoscopy unit. Her exceptional work ethic and dedication earned her the respect and commendation of the physicians she closely worked with. They wholeheartedly supported her pursuit of nursing school, providing glowing letters of recommendation.

Balancing the responsibilities of a single mother day shifts, school, and being on call for emergencies during weekends, Tamearra made the courageous decision to chase her long-held dream of becoming a successful entrepreneur. This meant leaving behind the security she had worked tirelessly to build, in order to embark on her journey with Souley Vegan.

Maria Gonzalez 

She/Her

Chef, Cultiva
Recipe: Mushroom Tinga Tostada
Time: TBD

Maria, a native of Watsonville, CA, cultivated her passion for culinary arts at a young age under the guidance of her mother and grandmother. Her dedication to the craft led her to pursue formal training, culminating in her graduation from the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu program as a certified chef in 2012. An astute entrepreneur, Maria has successfully ventured into multiple business endeavors. In 2024, she established Cultiva, a brick and mortar location where she focuses on serving a farm to table experience utilizing fresh produce from Green Thumb Farms. You might remember her from past business a renowned vegan food enterprise celebrated for its award-winning vegan hot dogs.

Complementing her culinary pursuits, Maria is the visionary behind Flower Amor, a plant-based soap business committed to using only natural ingredients. Serving as the Operations Manager of Green Thumb Farms, a local agricultural gem in San Juan Bautista, Maria plays a pivotal role in the farm’s operations. Collaborating with her partner Rudy, the founder of Green Thumb Farms, they both actively engage in food justice education for youth and spearheads the distribution of fresh produce to thousands of individuals monthly through farmers markets and a CSA program. To learn more about Maria’s impactful initiatives and show your support, please visit www.greenthumbgardenfarms.com.

Beth Love

She/Her

Founder, Eat for the Earth
Recipe: TBD
Time: TBD

Rev. Beth Love is the founder of Eat for the Earth and the author of the Tastes Like Love book series. She has been creating luscious, vibrant foods that deeply nourish on all levels—palate, body, planet, heart, and soul—for over four decades. A gifted speaker, facilitator, teacher, and ordained New Thought minister, Beth has motivated and educated people in diverse contexts such as nonprofit organizations, schools, churches, businesses, and the California State Prison system. She has inspired large and small audiences, in-person and virtually, including an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Vrinda Quintero

She/Her

Chef, Arepia 831
Recipe: Jamaica Carnitas
Time: TBD

Vrinda Quintero was born is Caracas, Venezuela. A Hare Krishna child, she was raised in a family and community that believed in ahimsa and not causing harm to any living entity. We were raised to know that the cows were sacred and represented the earth and our mother. Thus they were worshipable. To know that all sentient beings have a soul and therefore divinity. Vrinda went to school for political science and got a mayor in international affairs but decided upon graduation that that life was not for me. So she then went traveling and ended up living in India at the Seva Ashram for three years were she learned that service to others is the meditation path that best suited her.