Our Team

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.

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.

Melissa is herself a graduate of the Bauman College Holistic Chef program and also holds a B.A. in psychology from Whitman College. Through her business My Singing Vegetables, she provides plant-focused personal chef services in the San Francisco Bay Area, along with virtual and in-person cooking classes for corporate teams, families, and communities.

Melissa has a passion for all things vegetables and finds joy in her experiments with dairy-free and gluten-free recipe testing. She also has a particular passion for fermentation and loves to empower students to adopt a growth mindset and attitude of curiosity when harnessing the power of beneficial bacteria. She loves her work at Bauman and finds great satisfaction in nurturing enthusiasm for cooking and holistic wellness in the students she works with. It is an inspiration to hear about their goals, dreams, and the incredible impact they hope to make in their communities.

When not in the kitchen, Melissa enjoys time in nature, seeing theatre, playing ping pong, and dog-spotting.

Get a taste for Melissa’s cooking style by checking out her Instagram @mysingingvegetables

Cooking has always been a great passion for Martina, and with parents who taught and encouraged her to explore her love of cuisine, she began her culinary education at a young age. Making pies and ravioli with her father and rolling dolmades and Swedish meatballs with her mother encouraged her to explore her love of cooking for and with others.

After attending Le Cordon Bleu in Portland, Oregon. Martina began working in kitchens in Oregon, Pennsylvania, and for over a decade she’s been cultivating her skills in North Carolina as first a Pastry Chef and then Executive Chef.

She’s developed relationships with local charities by participating in events such as Sweet Night Out with the Duke Cancer Center, A Tasteful Affair with the Ronald McDonald House, Farm to Fork with The Center for Environmental Farming Systems, and Pepperfest with Abundance NC. She has also been featured in Chapel Hill Magazine and Taste for the desserts and menus she created.

Michele is a National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC), an ADAPT Certified Functional Health Coach (A-CFHC), and a certified Holistic Chef. While the early part of her career focused on driving strategy and vision on a business marketing level for companies, her current focus is helping individuals define their own vision for personal health and well-being and helping them achieve it. She founded her own business at NutrivoreLife.com where she books 1:1 coaching sessions and shares recipes and nutrition knowledge.

Michele is also a collaborator on Dr. Sarah Ballantyne’s health and nutrition website called Nutrivore. Chef Chele, as her family likes to call her, has experience in meal planning and cooking for clients, ad hoc catering events, and recipe development. She is thrilled to bring her passion for coaching people and culinary experience together to help students achieve their dreams and land a job they will love.

Charissa is a Bauman College certified Holistic Chef with a passion for sharing her love of food with others, including the younger generation. She resides with her family in Charlotte, North Carolina. Along with the fulfilling work she does at Bauman College, she teaches her children and has a recently started a business teaching culinary classes to other Homeschool families. When she is not in the kitchen, she can be seen on stage performing with her family; from choreographing stage combat, singing in musicals, or working backstage at her children’s shows. Charissa desires to support and encourage students to achieve their culinary goals, and is grateful to be a part of such a nurturing community here at Bauman College.

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.

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.

Anita is a Bauman College certified nutrition consultant and has a masters in Health & Nutrition Education from Hawthorn University. She also holds a bachelors degree in electronic engineering and a masters in business administration. Her personal journey brought her to the nutrition program at Bauman College, from which she graduated in 2019. She is a member of, and is board certified by the National Association of Nutrition Professionals (NANP). She is passionate about creating an awareness in people around her about nutrition & well being. Anita has a private practice in Duvall, WA.

Suzanne is a graduate of the Bauman College Nutrition Consultant program, has teaching certifications in NIA and Music Together, has a Bachelors of Music in performance as a horn player from the Oberlin Conservatory and a Masters of Music from the Cincinnati Conservatory. She started exploring holistic health in the 1980s, discovering the healing power of food, movement, stress reduction, and community, to heal her digestive issues and other health conditions, and also to help her feel her best on stage as a performer. Suzanne waited many years to do the Bauman NC program, and finally, during the 2020 shutdown, had open time and enthusiastically jumped in. Her message is that it’s never too late to follow a passion! She has a private practice both online and in person, seeing clients individually and leading workshops in nutrition and self-care, at nourishingvibrance.com.

Mira Dessy is The Ingredient Guru. A holistic nutrition professional, author, and a popular public speaker, she knows that it’s not just what you eat, but what’s in what you eat. Mira is a Holistic Health Practitioner with almost 20 years of experience in the industry. She mentors clinical clients to be more efficient and to help them grow their practice.

Mira is a professional member of the National Association of Nutrition Professionals, the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior, and the American Association of Drugless Practitioners.

Nicolay Jonsson is a graduate of the Bauman College Nutrition Consultant program (2022) and holds certifications as a postpartum doula, pre/postnatal yoga teacher, Ayurvedic practitioner and mama of four young kids. Her personal journey through a cancer diagnosis and postpartum complications deeply influenced her path, igniting a passion for holistic healing and a commitment to supporting mothers and children during transformative stages of life.

Specializing in pregnant and postpartum nutrition, children’s holistic nutrition, and Ayurvedic practices, Nicolay combines her expertise with compassion and lived experience. She integrates nourishing foods, mindful movement, and intentional self-care to help clients find balance, strength, and healing during pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond.

Nicolay offers private sessions, workshops, and group classes, fostering community and empowering families to embrace wellness with confidence and grace. Her work is rooted in the belief that with the right tools and support, every mother and child can thrive. Visit her at www.nicolayjonsson.com.