The percentage of overweight or obese children has tripled in the U.S. during the past 30 years. Few kids eat enough fruits or vegetables.

Emily Koller, M.S. ’13, is passionate about reversing this trend. The social work graduate is part of FoodCorps, a nationwide team of leaders who connect youth to real food so that they grow up healthy. Koller’s efforts started while at Illinois State University, where she developed a garden-based learning curriculum for preschoolers and raised funds for a community garden at a local YWCA.

She is now leading garden-based learning for children from kindergarten through high school in Chico, California.