Speaker Spotlight

Sheryl Allen is the founder of Nudge to Nourish, built on a simple but powerful idea: when we redesign the places where food choices happen, healthier choices become easier. Her approach is grounded in choice architecture: the idea that what is visible, convenient, appealing, and socially normal quietly shapes behavior. She believes healthier food environments support individual health and a more sustainable food system.

For years, Sheryl has explored why people make the food choices they do, and how those choices shift when the environment changes. Her work sits at the intersection of nutrition, behavioral science, and sustainability, showing that healthy eating is a matter of design, not just willpower.

From Google’s workplace dining program to K–12 school cafeterias, Sheryl has translated complex science into practical strategies that shape food choices at scale: what’s placed at eye level, what’s easiest to grab, what feels abundant and normal. Through this work she’s arrived at a simple truth: food environments shape choices, choices shape health, and health unlocks human potential.

What began as systems-level work has grown into a broader mission: bringing food choice architecture beyond large-scale dining and into everyday life. Today, Sheryl helps organizations redesign food environments that serve many, while helping families shape the home environments where daily habits form. Her work invites us to see healthy eating not as a personal struggle, but as a design opportunity — one that can reshape health at home, at school, at work, and across generations.

Sheryl holds a PhD and is a Registered Dietitian.