Tina Tyler-O’Shea is the Executive Director of Blue Zones Project® – Mendocino County. Community well-being has been the mission of her last 19 years of work in public health, serving youth, children, and families in partnership with community organizations and leaders to improve health conditions for low-income and vulnerable populations. Tina holds a Bachelor of Arts, Liberal Studies from Sonoma State University, which she attained in her mid-forties. She has a lived experience with marginalized and under-resourced communities and the impact that policies, systems, and the environment have on personal choice.

Tina is an athlete, a mother, grandmother, wife, sister, aunt, great aunt, and mentor, and loves the outdoors, fishing, gardening, cooking, and adventures.

My Power 9

If I had to choose just one Power 9®, it would be Purpose.

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Ryan Veness is the Organization Lead for Blue Zones Project® – Mendocino County. His passion for health and wellness started at a very young age. When the kids in his elementary school class were walking the mile, he was out running it, trying to break the 5-minute mark. One day, Ryan’s dad invited him to go for a 6-mile run with no training. He was 10 years old and ran the whole way.

Ryan’s strong passion for serving his community and those who may be struggling opened the doors to attend his first mission trip. He traveled domestically and internationally, ranging from Mississippi and Alabama to Mexico, Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Micronesian Islands. With this calling and purpose, Ryan attended Union College in Nebraska to pursue a degree in International Rescue and Relief to focus on nonprofit project development and management. He quickly developed a strong passion for health and wellness coaching.  

As soon as Ryan graduated, he began working for Adventist Health in their Lifestyle Medicine Institute’s TakeTEN and Live Well programs, serving, supporting, and inspiring clients to rekindle their passion for health and pursue healthier and happier lives. To challenge himself during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ryan quickly pursued and completed his MBA in Project Management in one year, all while working full-time. He constantly pursues activities that encourage movement and surround him with nature. Running, biking, swimming, golfing, skiing, backpacking, boating—anything that provides an opportunity to shift gears, refocus, and ultimately connects him with family and friends through movement. A journey and career that has been geared towards the pursuit of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, and self-control, all because of the promises of his loving Savior, Jesus, has led him to this role with the Blue Zones Project team to help improve the well-being of his community. 

My Power 9

Right Tribe. The importance of having support, encouragement, hope, and love from those around you is so important. With the right tribe, you can find that and so much more! 

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Azucena Chavez-Huerta is the Engagement Lead at Blue Zones Project® – Mendocino County. Azucena’s background is working with Mendocino County Health and Human Services in the Community Wellness Program. Azucena has worked on the CalFresh Healthy Living Program, the Tobacco Control Program, Tobacco Retail License Program, and the Oral Health Program. For the past five years, she has dedicated her time building relationships with schools, social organizations, tribal communities, policymakers, and health organizations in Mendocino County. As a mother of three children, she understands the importance of nutrition and obesity prevention. Her work has focused on developing nutrition classes at schools, family resource centers, and after-school programs. Her passion is working with youth and families on living a healthy life with a focus on eating foods that nourish your body and being active. She has also worked to promote and help develop tobacco cessation programs by collaborating with social and health organizations in Mendocino County. 

My Power 9

My Power 9® is Family First.

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Lucy Bartholomew’s passion for community enrichment and food sovereignty brought her to Mendocino County, briefly in 2013 and then permanently in 2015. Lucy believes that all people deserve access to safe, healthy, and fun spaces to play, appropriate places to live, and desirable, healthy, and culturally appropriate food that was grown or produced in a way that didn’t make anyone’s life worse.  

Lucy’s career has been dedicated to food justice, land access, placemaking, and health equity. She has worked as an Environmental Justice Educator, Farmer, Naturalist, Coordinator of a network of 60 community and school gardens, Manager of a county-wide farm-to-school program, Manager of a COVID-19 education and grant program, and Coordinator of a walk and bike accessibility program, among other roles. She holds a degree in Environmental Studies from the University of the Pacific and is an MPA Candidate at Sonoma State University.

Lucy lives in an intentional community devoted to self-sufficiency that inspires her to model the sustainable lifestyle she hopes will become commonplace. 

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Michelle Duarte serves as the Senior Event & Office Specialist for Blue Zones Project® – Mendocino County. Raised here in Mendocino County, Michelle is excited to give back to her community by creating an environment where making the healthy choice is also the easy choice. 

Prior to joining Blue Zones Project, Michelle served as the Community Engagement and Coalition Coordinator for the Tobacco Prevention Program, supporting local tobacco prevention initiatives. She has also worked for Children and Family Services in Ventura County, and Northern Circle Indian Housing Authority managing the Rental and Emergency Assistance Programs for Native communities. For the past 10 years, Michelle has continued her journey by following her purpose of helping people to become happy, healthy individuals through a balanced lifestyle. 

My Power 9

My favorite of the Power 9® are Moving Naturally and Purpose. In my free time I enjoy hiking, painting, soccer, basketball, Zumba, cooking, and outdoor adventures with loved ones.

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