Marie Lawrence

Marie graduated from Duke University in 2010 with a degree in public policy studies. She served as a soup kitchen volunteer, the moderator of Duke’s Presbyterian campus ministry, and a member of United in Praise gospel choir. She interned in the education and health care departments at United Way of New York City and with the Food Policy Coordinator in the New York City Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services. She completed an honors thesis on the relationship between access to food stores and chain retail pharmacies in New York City.

Field placement: Wildfire

Phoenix, Arizona

Marie worked to improve SNAP outreach to Latino communities in Arizona by designing a plan to increase community input in outreach design and implementation efforts.  She analyzed statewide data to identify neighborhoods for increased outreach; sought input from Latino non-profit and community leaders on barriers to SNAP participation; and synthesized interviewee recommendations for changes to future outreach.

Policy placement: National Conference of State Legislatures

Washington, D.C.

Marie worked with the NCSL Hunger Partnership connecting state legislators with corporate and non-profit partners to raise the visibility of hunger and offer innovative solutions. She created a toolkit for convening public-private partnerships and compiling state policy options available to legislators interested in reducing hunger in their states. She also performed legislative research and analysis on state immigration policy issues.

Publications