Megan Gottlieb
she/her
Title: NYC Program Specialist
As the NYC Program Specialist, Megan Gottlieb helps to oversee the Classroom to Cafeteria program partnership with the NYC Department of Education, working with a yearly cohort of teachers to bring Food Education to life in their classrooms! She develops materials, spearheads professional development opportunities, and most importantly works one-on-one to support incredible teachers. Megan first learned about Pilot Light by participating as a Food Education Fellow for the 2021-2022 school year and has stayed connected to Pilot Light ever since. She is passionate about Food Education as a pathway to connection and firmly believes in the power of children to advocate for change.
Megan grew up in Seattle, and currently lives in northern New Jersey. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Trinity College (Hartford, CT). After graduating from college, Megan was a Teach for America corps member in Chicago. Additionally, she earned her Master of Education with a concentration in Curriculum and Instruction from National-Louis University in Chicago. She then moved to NYC and has since taught in several independent schools. Megan has been a classroom teacher for 24 years, teaching science, sustainability, and health for ages 3-12, and is honored to contribute to Pilot Light’s mission.
Favorite Food Education Standard: FES #1 – Food connects us to each other.
In my work with kids and with teachers, food brings people together. Food allows us to see joy and humanity in each other; food allows us to see commonalities and connections we wouldn’t see otherwise. Everyone has favorite foods, foods they grew up eating, foods with a backstory, foods they dislike – I believe that we all need all the chances we can get to connect, spread love, and simply SEE each other. I don’t think there’s anything more important.
A favorite food memory or recipe:
I have three children (ages 14, 11 and 7), and it’s always been a priority, a joy, and an adventure for me to bring them into the kitchen with me! During the pandemic, we all got really into a podcast by America’s Test Kitchen called “Mystery Recipe” which further inspired our love of trying/making new things together. My daughter and I particularly love to bake together. It’s something we’ve done since she was very small. One of our favorite things to make over the weekend is a big batch of muffins so that we are fueled up with something delicious for breakfast on busy school mornings during the week ahead! This is a recipe that we love a lot: https://cookieandkate.com/healthy-pumpkin-bread-recipe/
Reach me: megan@pilotlightchefs.org or connect with me on LinkedIn!