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.

In the course of providing training and consultation to CANFIT grantees, Arnell has experience working directly with residents of over 80 African-American, Latino, Southeast Asian, Filipino, and American Indian, low income communities throughout California. 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 will be working with the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs in Wellington, New Zealand from February-September as an Ian Axford Public Policy Fellow.

Lloyd Nadal, Program Director

Lloyd Nadal directs and manages the physical activity and youth engagement divisions of CANFIT.  He has worked with youth and youth-serving agencies across the country providing technical support and conducting various nutrition, physical activity, communications and youth advocacy trainings and workshops. His main topics include how to improve physical activity opportunities for youth in community-based after school programs, the truth about junk and fast food marketing and how to use hip-hop culture to improve the health of youth in communities of color. Lloyd also led the development of CANFIT’s new website and online web presence and heads CANFIT’s internship program.

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. 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 (USF). In his spare time, Lloyd enjoys coaching youth basketball and volunteers at two youth programs in the Tenderloin District in San Francisco. He also likes to run, hike, play basketball, weightlift, listen to music and play the piano.

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.

Betty Geishirt Cantrell, Program Administrator

Betty Geishirt Cantrell has over 25 years experience in all phases of the nonprofit world. She worked as director of a rape crisis program and suicide hotline in Louisiana after earning her Master of Science in Social Work degree from the University of Wisconsin. She also earned her Master of Business Administration degree from Memphis State University and later moved to New York where she was director of a sex offender treatment program and a small adoption program. 

She finally moved to California where she joined CANFIT and has worked in research on health related issues especially among Native American population. She also has several published articles on this research including one in the American Journal of Public Health. She is currently President of the Pleasant Hill Community Foundation and is very involved in her community. She enjoys doing Japanese folk dance and volunteering with high school sports.

Esmeralda Martin, Project Coordinator

Esmeralda Martin recently completed the Polanco Fellowship where she had the opportunity to work in the California Department of Public Health and for State Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes. Prior to her work as a fellow she worked for Fox Television Studios and Pinole Community Television. Additionally, she has served as a resident assistant to the Migrant Student Leadership Institute at UCLA. In Los Angeles she worked closely with the Day Laborer community through IDEPSCA (Institute of Popular Education in Southern California) and Proyecto de Journaleros (Project Day Labor) as a student organizer and teacher. Esmeralda received the Pinole Student of the Year award in 2002 for her commitment to community service. Esmeralda has a BA degree in Political Science from UCLA and is a native of Pinole, CA. She practices yoga weekly.

Misty Avila, Program Assistant

Misty Avila came to CANFIT during summer 2008 as part of the internship program to learn and develop culturally relevant, age appropriate nutrition and physical activity policy and practice. With support from a CANFIT scholarship, Misty graduated in June 2009 from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Food and Nutrition with a concentration in Nutrition Science.

During college, she volunteered with youth in the classroom at Whitney Avenue Elementary School in Sacramento and as a girl’s camp counselor at CAMPENDOLA. Misty created and led the nutrition component for a San Luis Obispo community resident weight loss program where she devoted time to promoting nutrition education, healthy alternatives to traditional foods, and physical activity sessions. She has worked in her family’s restaurant and other food services for 10 years and continues to love cooking, grocery shopping, and serving food.