Hi, we’re Core Matter.
We’re all about getting to the core of causes of food waste. In apples, the seed is stored in the core—the part of the apple that’s often thrown in the trash. There is great potential in the resources our society often discards.
OUR VISION
A world without food waste.
When we look at the core causes of climate change, food waste is responsible for 8% of our global emissions according to Project Drawdown. We envision a world where food waste is designed out of our systems—to reduce the impact of related emissions and increase the sustainability of our planet.
OUR MISSION
We codesign effective communications to drive behavior change around composting and food waste.
OUR PROCESS
We use a human-centered design process. This is a collaborative process that is driven by human needs. We talk to community members about their lived experiences, and experts like scientists, psychologists, engineers, and designers contribute perspectives and research.
OUR VALUES
Creativity and play
The best ideas come when we have space to think outside the box.
Human-centered
We start projects by understanding people’s needs.
Driven by the community/equity
The climate crisis is a social justice issue. We believe solutions should engage and include all citizens.
Climate-focus
All of our projects start with where we can have the greatest impact on reducing GHG emissions.
Meet our team
Shannon McGill
Founder, Co-Executive Director | Design and Strategy
Shannon has over 12 years of design experience working with Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, startups, and governments. As an interdisciplinary designer, she brings experience in areas like graphic design, digital design, and user-centered research and design, as well as years of environmental activism. Shannon loves how design thinking provides a clear process to imagine and create an equitable, sustainable world collaboratively.
She holds a BFA in Visual Communication and a BS in Community Health from the University of Kansas.
Collaborators
Kimberley D.C. Schroder
Sustainability and Systems Design
Caitlin Quarrington
Co-Executive Director | Development and Research
Caitlin brings experience across nonprofits, education, and global organizations, including culture and employee experience work at Amazon Web Services and Autodesk. She focuses on helping people navigate change, strengthen connection, and build more collaborative ways of working.
Caitlin’s areas of expertise include leadership development, facilitation, and human-centered design. She has also contributed to sustainability research on food loss and food waste. Caitlin holds a BSc Honors, BEd, and MA in Critical & Creative Thinking from UMass Boston.
Join our team
Right now, we're looking for a volunteer strategic writer, grant writer, behavioral psychologist, finance manager and community partners to lend their skills to our team. If this is you, or you have other skills you want to lend, reach out—we’d love to hear from you.