CLEVELAND – September 7, 2021 – Vitamix® announces Natalie Haynes as its new Executive Director of the Vitamix Foundation, tapping over 20 years of experience in nutrition and healthcare to advance the plant-based whole-foods mission of the Foundation.
The Vitamix Foundation focuses its grant making on three key areas:
- Addressing the unique nutritional needs during preconception, pregnancy and lactation, and furthering the knowledge about how those needs impact the lifelong health of the mother, baby and future generations.
- Supporting innovative programs that promote and establish healthy eating habits during the child’s first 2,000 days of life.
- Advancing evidence-based research to educate and close the knowledge gap on the benefits of a plant-based whole food dietary pattern in the prevention and reversal of chronic diseases.
“Natalie brings together passion and science, two great ingredients that help feed the mission of Vitamix and the focus of the Vitamix Foundation,” said Vitamix president and CEO, Dr. Jodi Berg. “I envision a world where we see the decline of food-related diseases because people look at food differently – and Natalie and her leadership are important parts of that vision.”
Prior to joining Vitamix, Natalie was with the Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals in Cleveland. As part of the Institute’s founding team, she developed and managed their global grant funding programs and partnerships designed to fund and advance the most promising discoveries by academic scientists into cures. Prior to Harrington Discovery Institute, Natalie had roles with the Cleveland Clinic, Boehringer Ingelheim, Baxter, and Mead Johnson. Natalie started her healthcare career as a WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) program dietitian.
“I’m pleased to join the Vitamix team and lead the Foundation in its efforts to shape a nation where diet-related disease does not exist,” Natalie said. “It is with urgency and purpose that the Vitamix Foundation collaborates with partners and other mission-aligned organizations to leverage the scientific evidence, support programs, and foster policy change that will improve the health and wellbeing of our society’s most vulnerable – mothers and children.”
Natalie holds both a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Science degree in Nutrition from Case Western Reserve University.