State Senator Jarrett Coleman
Pennsylvania Senate. Met to support Elijah’s Law while it awaited Senate action.
In personAdvocacy
One cause, argued at every level. From a classroom to global health platforms.
About 33 million Americans live with food allergies. Whether they eat safely depends on what students are taught, what schools serve, what lawmakers pass, and what the apps families use actually flag. I’ve worked at each of those levels.
Classroom
Reach: students and families
Teaching other students how to eat safely.
I shared my own allergy journey and practical strategies for inclusive eating on a middle-school nutrition podcast. For the Penn State Youth Advisory Council, run by Penn State PRO Wellness at the Penn State College of Medicine, I designed and led a nutrition training for more than 20 students.
Middle-school nutrition podcast
Guest on a podcast for middle-school students, talking about living with food allergies and how to make meals inclusive.
Guest speaker
Penn State Youth Advisory Council
Presented a nutrition training and led the discussion that followed. The council sent my presentation to all of its members.
20+students trained
Thank you again for the wonderful presentation and discussion you led yesterday evening.
District
Reach: every school in Southern Lehigh School District
Safer school meals at Southern Lehigh.
I provided firsthand guidance on allergy-inclusive menus, recipes, and cross-contamination safeguards to the district’s Director of Food Services.
- Outcome
- Brought multi-allergy awareness to the forefront and influenced menu planning across all schools in the district.
- Coverage
- Featured in The Morning Call, June 2026, and syndicated nationally on MSN.
This is great! Thank you for taking the time to compile this list. I appreciate your dedication to helping other students.
State legislature
Reach: Pennsylvania General Assembly
Supporting Elijah’s Law.
Elijah’s Law is legislation to protect children with food allergies. I met with Pennsylvania State Senator Jarrett Coleman and State Representative Milou Mackenzie to support it; during these meetings we learned the bill had already passed the House and was simply awaiting Senate action.
State Representative Milou Mackenzie
Pennsylvania House. Met to support Elijah’s Law, which had already passed the House.
In personIndustry
Reach: apps used by millions of people
Allergen transparency in the apps families trust.
Families rely on ingredient-scanning apps to decide what’s safe to eat or use. I wrote to the teams behind five of them with specific suggestions for flagging allergens more clearly.
| Organization | What it is | Response |
|---|---|---|
| Think Dirty | Ingredient-safety app for beauty and personal care | Will consider it for the product roadmap |
| INCI Beauty | Cosmetic ingredient app based in France | Replied in French, explaining how EU-listed allergens are flagged |
| EWG | Environmental Working Group consumer-safety databases | Replied with database resources |
| Yuka | Food and cosmetics scanner app | Suggestions sent |
| CodeCheck | Product ingredient scanner app | Suggestions sent |
That’s an amazing suggestion! We will keep this in mind in our next product roadmap and keep you posted.
International
Reach: global health organizations
A youth voice in global health conversations.
Food safety doesn’t stop at borders, and neither does the way health information gets lost in translation. I’ve brought a student’s perspective to organizations working on both.
UNICEF
Contributed youth perspectives on allergy safety and equitable public-health communication.
FARE Teen Advisory Group
Selected for FARE’s teen advisory group. Created allergy-safety training and helped redesign food-prep safety systems.
Cross-cultural interviews
Interviewed experts from India’s National Institute of Health and the U.S. CDC about gaps in public-health communication across cultures.