RECIPE4HEALTH
RECIPE4HEALTH
Our Staff
Steven Chen, MD, Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Steven Chen is Chief Medical Officer of Alameda County Recipe4Health, an award winning “food as medicine” model that intentionally brings together health care, food systems, and agriculture to improve food/nutrition insecurity, chronic conditions, and health/racial equity. While leading the scale and spread of Recipe4Health (R4H), Dr. Chen and his team successfully implemented one of California’s first Medically Supportive Food and Nutrition services as a covered Medi-Cal (Medicaid) service in California.
His experiences as a son of immigrants and a 2nd generation Taiwanese American have informed his commitments to better serve vulnerable populations. He developed integrative medicine services to offer acupuncture and osteopathic manipulative medicine services in Federally Qualified Health Centers. As a former Medical Director at Alameda Health System trained in LEAN process improvement, he led the design of a state-of-the-art clinic replete with a teaching kitchen, group rooms to support group medical visits, and pod based care teams.
Dr. Chen serves on the Board of Integrative Medicine for the Underserved (IM4US), is active on California’s Medically Supportive Food and Nutrition Steering Committee, has helped craft two bills for the California legislature, and has given testimony to the U.S. Congressional House Rules Committee Roundtable on Food as Medicine.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Stanford University and Stanford School of Medicine, Dr. Chen is a board-certified family medicine physician who completed his residency training at UCSF-San Francisco General Hospital. He completed additional fellowship training at the University of Arizona’s Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, leadership training through the California Health Care Foundation’s Leadership Program, acupuncture training through the UCLA-HMI Physicians’ Medical Acupuncture program, and advanced training in osteopathic manipulative medicine.
Anna Clayton, Health Care Program Manager
Anna Clayton, MPH serves as the Health Care Program Manager for Recipe4Health Alameda County. She has over 10 years of experience working in healthcare and public health and is committed to improving health and racial equity.
Prior to joining Alameda County, Anna coordinated Health Programs in San Francisco County and the California Department of Public Health. Her areas of focus have included nutrition, oral health, maternal, child and adolescent health, infectious disease and immunization. She has experience with community assessment, Trauma Informed Systems (TIS), Quality Improvement (QI)/LEAN principles, data analysis and public health program planning and evaluation. Anna also has trained in organic agriculture and ecological horticulture and has a passion for gardening and nutrition and its intersections with health and well-being.
Anna received her BA in Community Studies from UC Santa Cruz and a Master’s in Public Health, Community Health Education from San Francisco State University.
Cari Jarbouai - Program Specialist
Cari Jarbouai has over fifteen years of experience developing strategic initiatives within provider groups, hospitals and health plans to improve health outcomes for patients. She brings big picture thinking, strong collaborative skills, and a passion for integrated care models to support operational transformation within health systems.
Earlier in her career, she supported non-profit organizations in bringing grant funding for services which address social determinants of health for vulnerable populations. More recently, Cari has developed initiatives within provider organizations, which utilize innovative technologies, data integration, and vendor partnerships.
Cari is a music lover, and an avid wellness enthusiast. In her spare time, she supports a non-profit organization dedicated to the holistic wellness of musicians.
She has a Master’s in Health Policy and Management from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Master’s in Social Work from California State University, Long Beach.
Corey Brown, Financial Services Specialist
Corey is the Financial Services Specialist for Recipe4Health and as such, prepares our annual MOE budget, tracks our grant funds, assembles contracts, and navigates the County systems to get our work completed. Corey also provides behind-the-scenes support for the staff and lends his detail-oriented organization and design skills to the team. Corey received his B.A. from the University of Florida in 2010 and relocated to the Bay Area shortly thereafter. His previous experience includes roles in CBOs serving homeless, underserved, and/or LGBTQ+ youth in the Bay Area. When not working, Corey can often be found reading a fantasy novel, tending to one of his many houseplants, or working on an art project.
Joey Gallo, Senior Program Specialist
Joey Gallo is the Senior Program Specialist for Recipe4Health Alameda County. Joey has over 7 years of experience in non-technical project and program management. He received a B.S. in Justice Studies from San Jose State University and joins the Recipe4Health team with a background in both non-profits and tech. He has worked with youth impacted by the juvenile justice system and helped support homelessness prevention work.
Joey prides himself on his ability to build genuine connections with the community and stakeholders he serves as well as his attention to detail with reporting and data analysis. He works closely with Recipe4Health’s various partners to ensure that all program operations are supported.
In his free time he enjoys hiking, playing with his dog, and exploring new restaurants.