Samantha Stevens

Originally from Lawrenceville, Georgia, Samantha graduated from Emory University with a degree in Latin American history. While at Emory, Samantha interned at Tapestri, Inc, an organization that supports immigrant survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking. She also founded a volunteer interpreting organization that assisted Atlanta elementary schools with high Spanish speaking populations and was active in a group that successfully challenged and changed Emory’s exclusionary admission policies towards undocumented students. After graduating from Emory, Samantha worked as a case manager for the Center for Pan Asian Community Services and interned at the Carter Center’s Global Access to Information Program.

Field placement: Second Harvest of Silicon Valley

San Jose, California

Samantha conducted a community assessment to identify barriers, best practices, and areas of improvement for the implementation of summer meal programs in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. She collected information from participating summer meal sites, including schools, libraries, and other community partners in Second Harvest Food Bank’s area of service to write a report on best practices and lessons learned. She also worked on a campaign in local elementary schools to increase student participation in school breakfast programs.

Policy placement: Congressional Hunger Center

Washington, D.C.

Samantha worked with the Executive Director at the Congressional Hunger Center (CHC) to develop relationships with members of Congress and their staffs. She also assisted with the planning and development of CHC’s annual awards ceremony. In addition, Samantha created a twitter campaign countering myths about safety net programs, participated in a Joint Famines working group, tracked policy on hunger issues, and facilitated a racial equity training for CHC staff and interns.

Publications & Blog Posts