Biography

Arnell J. Hinkle, RD, MPH is the founding Executive Director of Community Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness (CANFIT) a national, non-profit organization that provides training, technical assistance and strategic consultation on nutrition, physical activity and policy development for after school providers and community based organizations. Ms. Hinkle has experience working directly with African American, Latino, Southeast Asian, Filipino, and American Indian low-income communities throughout the nation. She has served as a technical assistance provider for a variety of foundation initiatives including, The California Endowment's Healthy Eating Active Communities (HEAC) Program, and the WK Kellogg Food and Fitness Initiative. Her efforts to produce culturally appropriate nutrition and physical activity education training and policy resources emphasizing youth leadership are nationally recognized, and she has provided training, technical assistance and consultation to community and after school organizations, and numerous local, 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. She is a recipient of the 2003 Robert Woods Johnson Community Health Leader Award. As a Eureka Communities Leadership Fellow in 2004, Ms. Hinkle worked with the Washington, DC-based policy group, Forum for Youth Investment, to examine how the youth development field can incorporate nutrition and physical activity standards into after-school programs. In 2005, Ms. Hinkle received the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio, Italy Study Center Fellowship in recognition of her experiences designing and implementing nutrition and physical activity programs for Asian American, Pacific Islander, Latino, and African American adolescents. Ms. Hinkle was a 2008-2010 Food and Society Policy Fellow and has served on the California Department of Education's After School Healthy Snacks, Physical Activity, and Physical Activity Expert Panel Steering Committees. In 2010, Ms. Hinkle was selected as an Ian Axford Public Policy Fellow, examining Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Programs in Māori and Pasifika Communities for the New Zealand government. Prior to her work at CANFIT, Ms. Hinkle was a professional chef, clinical dietitian, and organic farmer.