Our Team

Diane is a Bauman College nutrition consultant and has a B.A. in anthropology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She has been a Bauman College faculty member since 2005 and an online program instructor since 2007. In that time, she has successfully ushered many enthusiastic students through the Nutrition Consultant Program. She has also taught nutrition at Northern California Functional Restoration Program, a pain management clinic. Diane has a lifelong interest in health and wellness with an emphasis on stress reduction and cardiovascular health.

Board-certified in Holistic Nutrition, Carrie Bonfitto, NC, BCHN is a Los Angeles-based cooking instructor & health coach. Along with a Nutrition Counseling degree from Bauman College, and a Digestive Mastery Certificate from the Institute of Nutritional Endocrinology, she did her culinary training at the New School of Cooking in Culver City, CA. Chef Carrie published her first cookbook, What to Cook, Why to Eat It, in late 2021. Her recipes and healthy eating advice have been published in Parade, Better Nutrition, First Time Parent, Pasadena Magazine, Thrive Global, Authority Magazine and SheFinds.

What are you most excited about/looking forward to in working at Bauman College?
I’m extremely excited to be interacting and learning from a diverse group of students. Food is so much more than nutrition. It’s enjoyment, love, celebration, and history. When we are able to share our stories and our food with each other we grow and connect. This connection with the students is what I’m looking forward to the most.

What do you plan to contribute?
I plan to share my real-world experience of how I used my culinary skills and nutrition training to build my business and heal my clients.

How has culinary arts and/or holistic nutrition impacted your life?
After years of working in the television industry and developing an undiagnosable chronic condition, I felt lost. I decided to take my health into my own hands. Wanting to know more about how what I ate impacted me I was drawn first to culinary school, then to get my board certification in holistic nutrition, and finally to a career change into wellness education and cooking instruction. These disciplines have completely changed my life for the better. I now love what I do and know what it means to feel good.

What do you love to do in your “free time”?
In my free time, I enjoy hiking with my dogs and coaching my son’s little league team.

Porsche is a chef, instructor, and entrepreneur. She specializes in production cooking, sustainable packaging, and nutrient-dense product development. Porsche’s love for food began to develop when she trained as a pastry chef at age 16. She has worked as a wedding coordinator, caterer, chef, and garde manger. In 2001, she studied at the Natural Gourmet Institute to become a culinary instructor. She interned at Findhorn in Scotland and Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland. In 2006, Porsche co-founded Three Stone Hearth, a worker-owned co-op, in Berkeley, CA. She now teaches culinary arts, develops cancer-supportive recipes and meal plans, and continually studies ways to help others retain or regain optimal health.

Lizette is a certified nutrition consultant, chef, baker, certified culinary nutrition instructor, cookbook author and professional recipe developer. She has taught and coached aspiring holistic chefs at Bauman College since 2005, co-authored The Flavors of Health Cookbook with founder and president, Ed Bauman Ph.D. and developed many supplemental health and wellness programs produced by the school including Nutrition Essentials for Everyone as well as a series of culinary workshops for nutrition consultants. In addition to her work with Bauman College, Lizette coaches and guides students training to be Culinary Nutrition Experts at the Academy of Culinary Nutrition.

As a passionate chef and baker for more than 30 years, Lizette endeavors to share her knowledge of cooking healthfully with others. She developed a series of plant-rich cooking demos and classes for doctors in the Physicians Wellness program at Kaiser Permanente, which is now available for the nursing and administrative staff as well with much success. Lizette regularly offers healthy cooking demonstrations and classes to corporations, health and wellness organizations and private groups and has recently shifted to teaching all of her classes and workshops online through her business Marx Culinary.

Laura holds a B.S. in chemistry from Florida Atlantic University and was a Senior Research Associate in the Lipoprotein Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Laura worked as an electron microscopist from 1982 until 2000. She is a Bauman College Certified Nutrition Consultant, a member of the National Association of Nutrition Professionals, and is Board Certified in Holistic Nutrition®. Laura has been an instructor at Bauman College since 2000. She is the author of Veggiewoman’s Guide to Health; Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free Eating and The Whole Food Guide to Overcoming Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Laura has a private practice at the Labrys Healthcare Circle in Oakland, CA.

Tiffany is a Certified Nutrition Consultant and holds an M.B.A. in Business Management and a B.S. in Finance both from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University. After 10 years as the owner and CEO of Opulence Group, an accounting business that helped companies to grow through better management of their finances, Tiffany decided to pursue her passion for health and nutrition by enrolling at Bauman College. After graduating from Bauman College with honors, she transitioned full time into the health and nutrition field. Prior to returning to Bauman College as an instructor, Tiffany served as the Regional Director of Community Health for the YMCA of the East Bay, where she managed healthy lifestyle programs, including the National Diabetes Prevention Program and programs focused on childhood/family obesity intervention. Tiffany also hired Bauman alumni to work as Lifestyle Coaches in the YMCA’s National Diabetes Prevention Program. Tiffany enjoys helping others to reach their health goals and often facilitates workshops and small groups in nutrition, with an emphasis on blood sugar regulation and healthy lifestyle management. Tiffany resides in Concord, CA with her husband and daughter and is a native of Milwaukee, WI.

Susan has a B.A. in psychology from Sacramento State University and has been teaching and counseling in the field of holistic health and nutrition since 1989. She is a certified nutrition consultant from Bauman College and has been an instructor at Bauman since 2006. Her studies in psychology included an emphasis on nutrition and behavior modification. In her nutrition practice, she emphasizes the whole person, working on all aspects of their life experience to encourage lasting change and well-being. Susan has provided hundreds of clients from diverse backgrounds with individualized nutritional support.

Beverley is a Bauman College certified nutrition consultant and has a PhD in Microbiology & Immunology from UWO, Canada. After completing her PhD, she worked as a biotech scientist for over 10 years until her daughter started having strange reactions that doctors (and all of her immunology training) couldn’t figure out, prompting her to leave biotech and pursue nutrition. Since then, she helps others to understand their reactions. Bev has a lifelong interest in everything health and wellness but specializes in histamine intolerance. She started her own holistic nutrition business, Rider Health, 10 years ago and published a histamine intolerance book called, Hives, headache and heartburn: Heal your histamine hangover. She currently lives in San Jose, California. When she’s not nutrition-ing, she can be found wrangling foster kittens or hiking her favorite trails with her daughter and pup.

Danielle is a Board-Certified Nutrition Specialist and a Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist. She holds a M.S. in Human Nutrition from the University of Bridgeport and a B.A. in Anthropology from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Her fascination with nutrition began in Hanoi, Vietnam during a study abroad program titled “Food Anthropology” during her undergraduate career. In Vietnam, she was exposed to the interplay of food, culture, politics, and economics. Since then, Danielle has worked privately with nutrition clients of various ages and demographics to better their health and find balance in their diets. Danielle also works as an independent writer for naturopathic doctors and supplement companies to educate audiences on general nutrition.

Tamra graduated from the Bauman College Holistic Chef Program in 2016. Fueled by a passion for helping people and creating memorable experiences both in and out of the kitchen, they love the way education empowers others to realize their dreams and make the world a better place.

What are you most excited about/looking forward to in working at Bauman College?
I am most excited about helping the students navigate the curriculum. I loved my experience in the program and being part of sharing the incredible knowledge with others feels extraordinary!

What do you plan to contribute?
I plan to show up for my co-workers and students in a passionate and efficient manner. I feel that my wealth of experience in the field is a valuable contribution. By applying the knowledge I’ve learned throughout the course and relating to students’ needs, I hope to make a difference in their education.

How has culinary arts and/or holistic nutrition impacted your life?
Culinary arts and holistic nutrition have impacted my life in every way. From helping my family and others who I cook for find better health to understanding how what I eat affects how I feel as a whole. I have the information I need to make impactful decisions about our food system on a personal level and as a greater whole.

What do you love to do in your “free time”?
I love to adventure around, discover hidden local gems, hike, and skateboard. I love to see live music, camp, and cook for my friends and family. If I had more time I would love to journal and maintain a blog. The best feeling is getting out of town to travel. Learning new things is what keeps me going!

Melissa is a Bauman College certified Holistic Chef and holds a B.A. in psychology from Whitman College. Since graduating from Bauman in 2019, she has since founded her business, My Singing Vegetables, providing plant-based personal chef services in the San Francisco Bay Area, along with virtual cooking classes for corporate teams and communities, and recipe development for her local farmers’ market. She has a passion for all things vegetables and finds joy in her experiments with fermentation. She loves to nurture enthusiasm for cooking and holistic wellness in the students she works with.