Luka Tessitore, Mscn, Cn, Chw Email & Phone Number

Multnomah County, Oregon, United States

• Community organizing and advocacy for social justice initiatives, particularly for the LGBTQIA2S+ and intersecting BIPOC, veteran and/or disabled communities, removing barriers to receiving culturally responsive, high quality healthcare and social services, and closing gaps in health disparities such as vaccination rates among marginalized communities.• Develops, manages and facilitates culturally responsive health promotion programs such as Community Supported Agriculture Partnerships For Health (CSAP4H), grocery store tours, walking groups, cooking classes, and diabetes nutrition education.• Holds an LGBTQ+ KSA (knowledge, skills and ability), serving this community by providing cultural competency education to staff members, developing LGBTQIA2S+ specific healthcare initiatives and providing patients with LGBTQIA2S+ specific and gender affirming healthcare navigation.• Researches and interprets local, state and federal programs, assessing eligibility for services, developing comprehensive community care plans, providing health coaching and connecting patients with culturally appropriate resources.• Collaborates with healthcare providers and supervisory teams to cross-reference and integrate care plans and provide comprehensive support for patients with complex healthcare and social needs.• Manages a busy caseload independently, maintaining excellent electronic health records, community resource directories and spreadsheets collecting relevant employee data.

Portland, Oregon Metropolitan Area

• Processed Veteran disability compensation claims into Veterans Benefits Administration's (VBA) electronic recordkeeping system, ensuring completeness of application, verifying service details and medical records, ordering medical exams, and gathering evidence to complete disability claims for rating. • Reviewed Veteran service treatment records (STRs), VA Medical Center (VAMC) records, personal medical records (PMRs), medical opinions (MOs) and competent lay evidence to verify in-service event or injuries, diagnosed conditions and an association of their diagnoses with the in-service event or injury.• Conducted outreach and interviews with Veterans, Veteran dependents and Veteran Service Organizations to obtain or clarify missing or ambiguous information essential for claim development and to determine eligibility for various programs, services and benefits.• Completed exam reviews for all disabilities, conditions or injuries being claimed by Veterans, utilizing extensive knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology and pathophysiology.• Research and referencing of federal military policy including USC title 38 and the expanded benefits, presumptive conditions and locations under the PACT act. • Managed caseload independently and in accordance with VBA procedures and production standards, maintaining outstanding performance reviews.

Portland, Oregon, United States

• Developed and implemented an intentional and responsive marketing strategy to elevate the visibility and support of the coalition's mission, vision and values.• Conducted research and maintained up-to-date knowledge of current policies and key issues affecting food systems, organics and the agricultural sector in the Pacific Northwest, particularly in Oregon.• Collaborated with coalition and board members to gather intentional media strategy insights, news, reports, statistics, advocacy and member updates for utilization in social media, website and email applications.• Created and managed content for yearly impact reports, print materials, websites, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, utilizing engagement analytics to evaluate and inform assessment materials and future strategy directions.• Organized and maintained time-tracking reports and spreadsheets, ensuring alignment with coalition objectives, goals and activities.

Portland, Oregon, United States

• Co-creation and facilitation of organizational and educational programming for elementary, junior high school, undergraduate, graduate and community learners.• Creation and management of promotional and educational materials to support programming.• Creation and management of digital media content including photos, videos, graphic design, recipe development, and written materials with a focus on sustainable food systems, food justice, garden education and relevant to our local and academic communities.• Creation and management of quarterly newsletters that feature LGL's programs, events, recipes, and updates.• Creation and management of eventbrite listings, emails and social media posts for LGL's weekly community Harvest Share produce box program.• Stewardship of land through regenerative agricultural practices such as no-till soil management and amendment, irrigation installation and maintenance, growing plants from seed or starts, harvesting, and washing and packing produce, herbs and flowers for the Harvest Share program.

Portland, Oregon Metropolitan Area

• Consulted on, developed and implemented several health promotion programs for healthcare facilities and treatment programs specific to nutritional therapy such as the “Restore Protocol,” a 30-day program for Club Psora designed to eliminate psoriasis-exacerbating food and lifestyle triggers, promote optimal digestive function and increase positive health outcomes, and a whole foods menu and cooking class program for a youth behavioral health treatment center called Compass Behavioral Health with a focus on optimizing brain health and engaging youth in food and nutrition education initiatives. • Developed health promotion, community organizing and nutrition education materials for the business’ website and social media presence, with a focus on food sovereignty and social justice initiatives to help uplift LGBTQIA2S+, BIPOC, Veteran, neurodivergent and/or disabled communities.• Conducted nutritional health history interviews through a trauma-informed lens, assessing for nutritional deficiencies, dietary and lifestyle patterns, and the myriad social, political, environmental and economic factors involved in the etiology of their overall health status. • Developed personalized nutrition and lifestyle plans and coached clients using motivational interviewing, strengths-based techniques and simplifying complex plans into accessible steps that help clients build self-confidence and meet their goals.

Portland, Oregon, United States

• Developed a program plan for a coffee subscription service that aligns with the principles of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), benefits marginalized coffee growers in the global south, and educated consumers on inequities in food supply chains and sustainable coffee consumption.• Directed project from initiation to completion, managing grant work plan and ensuring adherence to timelines, budgets, deliverables, and quality standards, fostering cross-industry collaboration and relationship building. • Conducted surveys with customers and coffee farmers to evaluate the efficacy of Community Funded Coffee project on small coffee farmers and food systems literacy.• Developed and shared a Community Funded Coffee guidebook, a template to help other coffee businesses facilitate their own version of the project, increasing the potential impact on inequities among the coffee supply stream.

Portland, Oregon Metropolitan Area

• Connected adolescent youth—particularly immigrants, refugees, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and from low-income families in the Portland metro area—with enriching employment opportunities in the Portland metro area.• Managed payroll, engaged in troubleshooting online programming or payroll issues, coordinated youth-worksite schedules, and acted as a liaison between employers and youth.

Lair Hill Health Clinic, Portland, Oregon

• Prepared herbal tinctures, Chinese medicine formulas and bulk herb, decoction and tea orders.• Organized, stocked and shipped inventory of bulk herbs, granules, tinctures and supplements.• Maintained an organized and safe workspace.

Greater New York City Area And Remote

• Created high-quality digital imagery for top advertising and fashion industry clientele. • Designed color schematics for seasonal brand campaigns.• Implemented work-flow organizational strategies to improve team proficiency.• Trained interns and junior retouchers in photoshop and color technique.• Coordinated campaign retouching strategy within team.• Provided on-set retouching management during commercial photoshoots.Clients included Splash Worldwide, Scholastic, RFM Clothing, Velvet Robot, Dtouch NYC, Sous Les Etoiles, TAG worldwide, Skin Digital, Vision On, Dippin' Sauce, Lipman Agency, Ogilvy & Mather, Pistol Studios and Splashlight Studios.

Greater New York City Area

• Developed and implemented a meditation program for employees through Plus One Health Management, Inc.• Led guided meditations at LinkedIn wellness events.• Facilitated meditation and yoga education classes 4 days a week.

Graduate Certificate, Sustainable Food Systems, 4.0 Gpa

Global, regional and local food systems are complex, intersecting with politics, economics and societal and environmental factors. Having.

Master Of Science - Ms, Clinical Nutrition/Nutritionist, 4.0 Gpa

Integrative approach to healthcare emphasizing the importance of diet and lifestyle in the health of individuals, communities.

Recipient Of A Bfa, Fine Arts - Sculpture

Recipient of a BFA in Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design. Concentration in sculpture and focus on gender studies.

Advanced Meditation Intructor Certificate, Meditation

Studied one on one with renowned meditation teacher, Yogi Charu. Learned classical yoga meditation, breathing and yoga nidra techniques.

500 Hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training, Yoga Teacher Training/Yoga Therapy

Advanced level vinyasa teacher training focusing on alignment, intelligent sequencing, class preparation and theme, in depth philosophy .