Our Team
Chef Tyler
Founder & Executive Director
Tyler is a chef, entrepreneur, and community leader with over 14 years in the food industry. As the founder of Box Eats, a thriving meal prep business in Huntsville, AL, and co founder of Burnt Knuckle Kitchens, a commisary kitchen for a vast community of foodservice workers, he understands both the power of food and the systems behind it. He had a vision to launch Behind You & Beside You with his closest friends to bridge the gap between food waste and food insecurity. Guided by a Christ-centered mission to steward resources, build relationships, and share hope. Whether leading a nonprofit or running a kitchen in full swing, Chef Tyler brings urgency, system D, and compassion to the table.
Addison Christner
Vice President
Addison serves as Vice President and Treasurer of Behind You & Beside You, where a love for people meets a sharp eye for systems. With a strong background in entrepreneurship and community-focused work, Addison helps ensure the organization runs smoothly—behind the scenes and beyond the numbers. Addison is driven by the belief that practical solutions, when rooted in care, can create lasting change.
When not crunching numbers or creating systems that serve, Addison can be found cooking up ideas (and meals) that connect people in meaningful ways—always behind you, and beside you.
Nate Bailey
Executive Admin
Nate has dedicated most of his life to seeking out and helping those in need. As a young adult, he cut his teeth as an Emergency Medical Technician, serving in a metropolitan region with a high population of unhoused and food-insecure families. After college, he carried that deep-rooted passion for service into U.S. Special Operations, where his drive to meet people where they are was ultimately realized. Drawing on years of experience in emergency response and dynamic military operations, Nate now helps lead local initiatives to combat food insecurity across southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. Whether through strategic logistics or simply showing up when it matters, he believes every act of service, big or small, can restore dignity and hope to those the world has left behind.
Christian Lake
Faith and Values Advisor
Christian Lake serves as a Teaching Pastor at The Rock Family Worship Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where he has been on staff since 2013. With a lifelong passion for biblical teaching and community impact, Christian is committed to equipping others through the local church. He has also been deeply involved in outreach efforts, including longstanding partnerships with local food banks and hunger relief initiatives.