Tom Neuhaus, PhD

Founder Emeritus*

Tom Neuhaus established Project Hope & Fairness, Inc. in 2006 to study the inequity between the cocoa farmer and the cocoa consumer. Tom has worked as a chef and baker in France, Austria, and the U.S.  With his family he moved to San Luis Obispo where he taught in Food Science and Nutrition until his retirement in 2015. From 2003 onward Tom traveled to Africa where it became apparent that one way of bringing more money into cocoa-growing villages would be to provide tools for increasing farmers’ production efficiencies. Prject Hope and Fairness continues his work on making Ivoirian villages sites of chocolate production.

Tom now lives in France and has a chocolaterie business that uses exclusively chocolate from Chocolat des Villages. 

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*"Founder Emeritus" is an honorary title for someone who started an organization but has retired, meaning they retain their prestigious title as a mark of honor and respect for their massive contributions. 

Monty Rice, MBA

Treasurer

Treasure of PHF since 2018. Monty and his wife Julia founded America’s Classic Foods in 1994. They export food and ingredients to countries worldwide. Monty has extensive experience in food concept and product development as a corporate executive for large international franchise operators.  He has  years of managing church missions and writing humanitarian grants for Rotary International.  Monty has an Executive MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management.

Patricia Slate-Bauer

Fundraising

Born in Philadelphia to a family of German bakers and educated at the University of Pennsylvania in English Literature, Patricia moved to Austin, Texas where she met her husband, Professor Joseph Slate. In 1972, they spent a year in Vienna, and that is where they met Tom Neuhaus, who had trained in French restaurants and had an interest in food chemistry. Patricia and Tom started a restaurant/bakery, Sweetish Hill, in 1974. 

Patricia has worked with nutritionist Kelly Barnhill on Patricia's Lunchbox, a company that has expanded to feeding 400 students in four schools daily. Her goal is to offer great tasting, nutritious, and affordable food which, as Chef Ann Cooper says, "is only as important as saving the planet!"

Peggy Papathakis, PhD, RD

Board Chair

Dr. Papathakis has been a long-time colleague of Tom’s and supporter of PHF since 2007.She joined the PHF board in 2021 and brings her organizational, educational, and African nutrition research experience to Project Hope and Fairness. She is an Emerita Professor of Nutrition in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at California Polytechnic, San Luis Obispo.

Peggy combines a drive to improve quality of life in low-resource, agricultural areas with a focus on African women and children. This makes her especially sensitive to the needs of West Africa's cocoa farmers.

Peggie Bates

Communications

Peggie Bates joined Project Hope and Fairness in March 2022. In Côte d’Ivoire she has worked with the villages to standardize the production processes and help establish quality assurance of all products.Her US based work includes organizing fundraisers for the group.

Peggie began her culinary career as an apprentice to Patricia Bauer Slate in 1980 at Sweetish Hill Bakery and Restaurant in Austin Texas. Sweetish Hill was originally established by Tom Neuhaus and Patricia Bauer Slate in 1976. She continued working as a chef for 10 years. During that time she completed her degree in Nutrition at University of Texas, Austin. Her career then shifted to Nutrition research at University of Texas and then at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle Washington.

Currently Peggie lives in Bellevue Washington. In addition to working with the board of Project Hope and Fairness she works with Upaya Nepal Nomad Clinic. She has traveled extensively in Nepal, Tibet and Mongolia working in remote areas to provision trips, train cooks and learn about the intersection of food, nutrition, and culture.

Don Maruska, MBA, JD

Strategy & Organizational Development

Don is a long-time donor to PH&F  and joined the Board in 2019. He’s also pleased to be a founding partner and continuing donor to Project Redwood, a Stanford Business School alumni fund to alleviate poverty. He serves as PH&F’s sponsor for Project Redwood grants.

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Don recalls the challenges and rewards of working at the village level in Africa from a college summer experience in West Africa with Operation Crossroads Africa. Following graduation from Harvard with a degree in government (the first generation in his family to go to college), Don worked in the U.S. Senate. Thereafter, he earned an MBA and JD at Stanford University.  Don served as VP of Marketing for the startup that became E*Trade. Subsequently, he was recruited to be CEO of a healthcare startup applying new technologies to healthcare delivery and created a boutique venture fund that succeeded in bringing startups to public companies.

In 1993 Don's family made a big shift and moved to Morro Bay on the Central Coast of California. From there Don has been serving as a business coach and consultant helping leaders and businesses around the world to be successful with their careers and organizations. He published "How Great Decisions Get Made," "Take Charge of Your Talent," and "Grow and Enjoy Your Business: Proven Tools for Success." See www.DonMaruska.com.

Don now focuses much of his attention on key social issues like climate action and service to the poor and dispossessed. His most recent book is “Solve Climate Change Now: Do What You Love for a Healthy Planet.” 

Lisa Nicholson, PhD, RD

Secretary

Lisa Nicholson, Professor Emeritus,  California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. At Cal Poly her teaching and research centered on theory-based nutrition communications for increased effectiveness within diverse audiences.  Lisa has held leadership positions in the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics at the local, regional and state level. In retirement, Lisa enjoys the beauty of central California and working with causes she supports, including PH&F.