Arnell Hinkle, Executive Director

Arnell Hinkle is the founding Executive Director of CANFIT. Arnell’s efforts to produce culturally appropriate nutrition and physical activity education training resources emphasizing youth leadership are nationally recognized, and she has provided consultation to numerous private, state and national agencies including the 100 Black Men of America, Inc., South Dakota Lakota Sioux Diabetes Education Project, the Region 10, U.S. Bureau of Maternal and Child Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Arnell has experience working directly with residents of over 100 African-American, Latino, Southeast Asian, Filipino, and American Indian, low income communities throughout the country. In addition to her work in the United States, she has also been involved in international development projects in India, Ecuador and Scotland.

Prior to her work at CANFIT, Arnell was Project Coordinator of the Hunger and Chronic Disease Prevention Program of the Contra Costa County Health Services Department, a professional chef, and organic farmer. Arnell has a BA degree in Geology from Princeton University, and both a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Clinical Dietetics and a Master in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Health Education Specialist.

In 2010, Arnell worked with the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs in Wellington, New Zealand as an Ian Axford Public Policy Fellow.

Lloyd Nadal, Program Director

Lloyd directs and manages the physical activity and youth engagement divisions of CANFIT. He also heads CANFIT’s website and online web presence as well as CANFIT’s internship program. Lloyd has worked with youth and youth-serving agencies across the country providing technical assistance, consultation and conducting various nutrition, physical activity, communications and youth advocacy trainings & workshops . He is currently CANFIT’s lead for the National Kellogg Food & Community Program providing youth engagement support for nine community initiatives across the country.

Lloyd also directs CANFIT’s MO Project – a youth intervention designed to engage lower income youth of color who want MO (e.g., more) access to healthy food and physical activity opportunities in their school and community through the use of media as a form of social action. He led and managed a team that delivered eight MO Project youth convenings across the state of California where 350+ youth were trained in using media (video and spoken word) to advocate for healthier community environments. MO Project videos were used in school board and city council meetings; shared with legislators and funders; became part of healthy corner store and joint use campaigns; and delighted and informed audiences at state and national conferences. Several MO Project-trained youth went on to work with other community health initiatives, become peer teachers at schools and present at national forums.

Prior to CANFIT, Lloyd served as Program Director for Health Fitness Corporation and has over 10 years of sales and management experience in the corporate health, fitness and wellness industry. He has also coached youth sports for over 10+ years and most recently at an after school program in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco. Lloyd received his Bachelor of Arts in Exercise Science, Pre-Physical Therapy as well as his Master of Arts in Sport & Fitness Management from the University of San Francisco.

Ruth Manzano, Program Manager

Ruth Manzano has nearly 30 years of experience in community-based education in the Latino/Hispanic community. As Program Manager for CANFIT, she manages the Latino/Hispanic services where she is responsible for developing culturally appropriate materials in Spanish/English and provides nutrition, physical activity, communication and advocacy trainings. Mrs. Manzano assists in staff training, strategic planning, grant development and technical assistance and support to state and national community-based youth organizations, community leaders and after school programs.
During her tenure at the Neighborhood Healthcare, she served in various roles as a Community Specialist, Project Coordinator, Community Connection Director and Community Health Promotion Director. Mrs. Manzano served as a Volunteer Regional Coordinator for the statewide Promotora Program, Vision y Compromiso, in Southern California for five years. She has experience creating and conducting parent education and community training workshops, developing volunteer programs and creating curriculum (e.g., Dental Program How-to manual, nutrition education materials for the Pauma Indian tribe, Promotora training manuals, and an obesity prevention training program). Ruth is a Women’s Health Leadership alumni and has received numerous awards for her community service to the Latino community of San Diego and has a BS in Sociology and Human Resources-HR. She is a native of Tijuana, Mexico.