Meet the Team

Ana is a Physician Associate student at Keck School of Medicine at USC. Ana has a strong passion for advocating and working for underserved populations. She has been doing service work since she was 13 years old. She started volunteering on Native American Reservations around the USA doing community/home beautification projects each summer for 5 years and eventually ended up in Nicaragua to help build a primary school in Villa Japon.

After graduating from San Jose State University with her degree in Health Science and Biology, she lived and worked abroad in both Kenya and Peru serving in healthcare clinics as an Emergency Medical Technician. 

She has been involved with the homeless community in her hometown, San Pedro, for about 3 years and decided to start Hungry to Help Organization after noticing the lack of food-relief and health education resources in the South Bay Area. Ana hopes to bring lasting change upon the community that raised her with the many programs Hungry to Help will provide! 

 Melissa is a mid-twenties Latina ready and motivated to make a difference to low-income and homeless communities. She speaks 3 languages (English, Spanish and Portuguese) and is currently a senior at Cal Poly Pomona studying Nutrition and Dietetics, minoring in Plant Based Nutrition. 

Melissa has been practicing a plant-based diet for 7 years! Her specialization is in plant based nutrition and weight loss however she has a multitude of experience with omnivore diets. 

Her career goal is to become a Registered Dietician and start her own practice in the greater Los Angeles area. She understands the value of helping underprivileged communities as she grew up in that environment as well. She also has a nutrition Instagram with nutrition tips and informational posts. Be sure to follow her @nutritionsavvy_ 

Her focus as our Nutrition Specialist is to educate and provide nutritious food relief to those who are in need and she can’t wait to see how Hungry to Help will grow!

Jeff’s hometown is San Pedro, CA. He got his Bachelor’s in Nursing from Cal State University Fullerton and he is currently working as an RN in a public health setting doing case management for the underserved in Los Angeles.

He has a passion for healing and preventative healthcare and focuses on that with his patients. Jeff is also very passionate about fitness, nutrition, and harm reduction. On his free time he enjoys playing video games, hiking and going to the beach. He places a strong emphasis on self-care. 

Jeff’s experience in volunteering and involvement with the homeless community in past donations drives shows his earnest will to make a difference in the community. His work ethic and critical thinking skills make him an outstanding board member and we are certain that he will help our organization be the best it can be! 

 Melissa is a health reporter in Santa Cruz, California who has seen the injustices of the inequitable health care system since before the COVID-19 pandemic began. She believes that community charities like Hungry to Help are the backbone of society as its leaders seek better services for everyone. 

She earned her Bachelor’s in journalism at San Jose State University, where she enjoyed fundraising and advocating for nearby and national philanthropies. 

Melissa is excited to support work that founder Ana Ahmad has been doing for years in the San Pedro area to make sure that the homeless and low-income feel remembered and respected! 

Stephanye is an aspiring Physician. She has a passion to serve the underserved with a particular interest in women’s health. In 2020 “Most of the new homeless women were women of color: 24.1% were African-American and 35.4% were Latinas.”  

Being a Latina coming from a low income underserved area, she has always been drawn to make a difference in her community. She sees that there is a huge health disparity amongst low income areas, people of color, LBGTQ, and the homeless population. 

Stephanye has worked in low income areas in different aspects in the OC, LA, LB, as well as, abroad in Mexico and Nicaragua and now she is excited to serve the South Bay! .

“To be a board member of this organization is an honor and to be a part of a mission I’m passionate about all while being able to support my friend makes it 100 times more rewarding”.

Martha is passionate about mental health & serving her community with knowledge, compassion, and sensitivity to cultural and ethnic diversity. She has volunteered and served underprivileged communities throughout Southern California and Mexico for the past ten years. 

Martha received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology & minor in Women’s Studies from California State University Dominguez Hills. She looks forward to applying to a graduate school program soon for her Ph.D. in Social Psychology or M.A. in Social Work. Martha currently works with an organization that provides emotional, mental, and behavioral assistance to children and families. 

A word from Martha: “I feel honored to have been invited to join such an incredible team and organization! I genuinely believe that we can “be the change [we] wish to see in the world.” -Gandhi