Everyone Deserves Good Food: the 2025 Hunger Leadership Awards

Above, left to right: Nancy Dalton, Riani Carr, Shannon Maynard, Amanda Rives, and Derek Smith at the 2025 Hunger Leadership Awards in Washington, D.C. 📸: Christine Halsey

On Wednesday, June 4, leaders from the business, nonprofit, and public sectors gathered in Washington, D.C., for the 2025 Hunger Leadership Awards. The event honored individuals and organizations for their exceptional contributions to the fight against hunger in the U.S. and internationally.

Shannon Maynard, the Congressional Hunger Center’s executive director, opened the evening by emphasizing the collective responsibility to address hunger. “Food is not a privilege,” said Maynard, “it’s a right. Hunger is not inevitable. It’s a consequence of broken systems that we have the power to fix.”

The evening’s first award recipients were Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Rep. Tracey Mann (R-Kan.), who were presented with the Bill Emerson and Mickey Leland Hunger Leadership Award. The award honors Members of Congress who champion anti-hunger policies and demonstrate a practical, bipartisan approach to their work, echoing the award’s namesakes, Rep. Bill Emerson (R-Mo.) and Rep. Mickey Leland (D-Texas). The awardees were introduced by Erika Baum, manager of federal affairs at General Mills.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar

Sen. Klobuchar was recognized for her longstanding commitment to building bipartisan support for agriculture and nutrition policy. Her leadership in expanding access to food assistance and securing funding for food banks has been instrumental in addressing hunger at both national and community levels. Her remarks emphasized the importance of civic participation in advancing anti-hunger efforts. “We continue to urge people, no matter what side of the aisle you’re on, for the sake of our country, to continue to be involved,” she said, “especially when it comes to an issue that’s hard, like hunger. When it comes to food and agriculture, we shouldn’t see everything by party lines.”

Rep. Tracey Mann

Rep. Mann was recognized for his leadership as co-chair of the House Hunger Caucus and for championing international food aid and domestic agriculture. Rep. Mann underscored the essential role of food producers and the broader food economy in global food security. “I believe with all my being that combating global hunger is morally right, strategically smart, and fiscally conservative,” he said. “At the core of this fight, we must have a strong, robust production, agriculture industry, and economy.”

Sportscaster James “JB” Brown

Sportscaster James “JB” Brown received the Trailblazer Hunger Leadership Award for using his public platform to bring attention to food insecurity among children and underserved communities. Brown’s advocacy also focuses on the critical role that nutrition plays in youth development, particularly in sports and education. He urged attendees to see food not just as sustenance but as a foundation for success. “Fueling potential and empowering play among our nation’s youth must begin with access to nutritious food,” he said in pre-recorded remarks.

Panel Discussion. From left: Derek Smith, Amanda Rives, Deriece Harrington. Seated, far right: Nancy Dalton.

The program concluded with a panel discussion highlighting our four remaining award recipients’ diverse approaches and vision for hunger relief. The panel was moderated by Nancy Dalton, director of Amazon Access, external affairs, marketing, and social impact.

Derek Smith accepted the Community Champion Award on behalf of the Franklin Food Bank in Somerset, New Jersey, where he serves as executive director. Under Smith’s leadership, the food bank has transformed its service model to better meet the dignity and agency of its clients, notably through a client choice food pantry that mirrors the feel of a neighborhood store. Reflecting on the food bank’s five-decade history, Smith lamented the continued need for emergency food services in the U.S. “It’s really sad that we’ve been around for 50 years having to address food insecurity,” said Smith. “In the wealthiest country on earth, we should not be food insecure. We have more than enough money. We have more than enough food.”

PepsiCo received the Corporate Partner Hunger Leadership Award for its long-term investment in community nutrition through the “Food for Good” initiative. Working in collaboration with nonprofits and local organizations, PepsiCo has expanded access to healthy food while leveraging its logistics and operations capacity to support emergency food response. Representing PepsiCo was Deriece Harrington, director of government affairs and corporate citizenship. “We’re moving past the idea of corporate philanthropy as just writing checks,” she said. “We are in the trenches with the community, for the community.”

Amanda Rives, a 2007 alum of the Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellowship, was honored with the Outstanding Alum Hunger Leadership Award. Now serving as senior director of external engagement and resource development in disaster management at World Vision International, Rives has dedicated her career to global humanitarian response and food security. “What does it mean that everyone deserves good food?” asked Rives. “It means honoring the promises we’ve made to the most vulnerable populations, upholding rights—the right to food for sure—and getting people back on their feet, rather than watching them fall off a cliff.”

Riani Carr and Nancy Dalton

Riani Carr, a Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow alum and policy advisor at the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program (FSP), received this year’s Rising Star Hunger Leadership Award. Carr manages FSP’s Community Advisory Group, a group of six leaders with lived experience of financial insecurity whose insights and expertise inform FSP’s research and recommendations. “They inform our research and strategic direction,” Carr explained, “from public benefits to thinking about what are some innovative approaches to building wealth in communities. They are our partners in spreading the gospel of why we do this work.”

The Hunger Leadership Awards brings together leaders from government, philanthropy, the private sector, and the wider anti-hunger community to recognize distinguished leaders whose vision and commitment are building the momentum to achieve zero hunger in the U.S. and around the world.