Paula Daniels is Co-founder and Chair of the Center for Good Food Purchasing, a social enterprise non-profit founded in July of 2015 as a national spin-off from the Los Angeles Food Policy Council, which Paula founded in 2011. The Center for Good Food Purchasing uses the power of procurement to create a transparent and equitable food system that prioritizes the health and well-being of people, ani- mals, and the environment, through the nationally- networked adoption and implementation of the Good Food Purchasing Program by large institu- tions. There are numerous institutions in cities across the US enrolled in this Program.
She is a lawyer and public policy leader in environmental food and water policy, with extensive experience in developing and leading local, state and national environmental initiatives that include government, civil society, and private sector partners. Her most notable work is in urban forestry, green infrastructure (for stormwater management) and food system policy (all award-winning initiatives); she has also had key roles in other aspects of public policy and municipal infrastructure.
Much of her work is based on her extensive experience in government, having served as Senior Advisor on Food Policy to Mayor Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, as a Los Ange- les Public Works Commissioner (a full-time executive position), a commissioner with the California Coastal Commission, on the governing board of the California Bay-Delta Au- thority (overseeing the California State Water Project), and as a commissioner with the California Water Commission.
She has received recognition through academic appointments and other awards, includ- ing the Ashoka Fellowship (2018), the Resident Fellowship at the Bellagio Center of the Rockefeller Foundation (2016), the Stanton Fellowship of the Durfee Foundation (2012- 2013), the Pritzker Environment and Sustainability Education Fellow at the UCLA Insti- tute of the Environment and Sustainability (2015); the Lee Chair in Real Estate Law and Urban Planning at UC Berkeley (2013).
