Our Mission Statement: CHC trains and inspires leaders who work to end hunger, and advocates public policies that create a food secure world.
Our Vision Statement: CHC is a leader in the movement to ensure access to food as a basic human right for all people. We create and nurture a community of innovative and inspiring leaders who act as change agents, bridging the gap between grassroots efforts and national and international public policy to provide access to nutritious, affordable and culturally appropriate food.
Our Definition of Leadership: CHC believes that the anti-hunger movement must have a community of leaders that fill a variety of leadership roles. CHC leaders—creative, flexible, inspiring and courageous—mobilize their values to foster the skills, knowledge, and experience necessary to create a just, food secure world. CHC leaders collaborate in the shared responsibility of creating a progressive anti-hunger movement, ensuring the right to nutritious, affordable and culturally appropriate food for all people.
Our Approach is focused on:
We believe that one of the most effective ways to end hunger is to develop, train, and mentor a new generation of leaders willing to accept the challenge of ending hunger. Since 1994 CHC has supported the development of more than 500 powerful new anti-hunger leaders through the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellows Program, the Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellows Program, and successor leadership development initiatives.
“The fellowship is a very serious investment in building the political and social will to end hunger in this country.”
— Matt Newell-Ching: 2002 Emerson Hunger Fellow, 8th class
CHC serves as a bridge between the grassroots efforts of local organizations and the enactment of public policies that will expand access to national and international solutions designed to alleviate hunger. Through a unique combination of both field and policy work, the Emerson and Leland Programs bridge the grassroots efforts of local communities and the national/international organizations focused on policy development. This approach offers Hunger Fellows a unique perspective on the necessary connections between national policy and local experience, and allows them to share this perspective with national and international policy experts.
CHC advocates for public policies designed to enhance food security. We frequently work in coalition with allied groups on common legislative and regulatory campaigns. Some of our current coalition work includes policy and advocacy efforts with: