Mary Tran

COMMUNICATIONS PROJECT MANAGER | WHOLE KIDS FOUNDATION

I was the first American-born child in my Vietnamese family, born just a few months after they left Vietnam due to the war. As refugees, we had to learn a new language, find work and start a new life. But food and family were intertwined and always at the forefront. We frequently joined my aunts, uncles and cousins around the kitchen table, grateful and lucky to be healthy and together. Eating my grandmother’s cherished recipes (even with American ingredient substitutions) became an important way of honoring our Vietnamese culture. It gave us an opportunity to gather and pass along stories and traditions. We also worked together to carefully tend our family’s bountiful backyard vegetable and herb garden and fruit trees. Today, this unbreakable connection between food and family continues as an important tradition to me with my husband and kids linking us to our heritage and to one another.

Most of my career has centered around food too. After 13 years in marketing roles at Whole Foods Market, I joined Whole Kids Foundation in 2019 where I oversee day-to-day traffic and project management of communication initiatives, marketing programs and fundraising campaigns.

As a mom of two curious and constantly hungry boys, the Foundation’s mission to improve children’s nutrition and wellness truly resonates with me, and I’m honored to help inspire families to celebrate healthy food traditions from seed to table.