Ahmad headshot

Leland Fellow

Farah Ahmad

11th Class, 2021-2023

Farah Ahmad graduated from The Friedman School at Tufts University and Tufts University School of Medicine in 2020 with an MS/ MPH in Public Health Nutrition. For her Master’s of Science Internship, Farah joined the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) as a Tisch International Nutrition Fellow. While at the USDA Farah, collaborated with McGovern-Dole analysts and the FAS nutrition team to review Local and Regional Food Aid Procurement Program (LRP) proposals. Prior to attending graduate school, Farah worked at Rise Against Hunger New England as a Community Engagement Coordinator. At Rise Against Hunger Farah trained and coached volunteers to package over 250,000 meals for international and emergency hunger relief. Prior to becoming a Leland Fellow, Farah volunteered as an AmeriCorps VISTA and worked with domestic non-profits that prioritize nutrition quality over caloric intake and Food is Medicine initiatives. Farah holds a BS in Environmental Science from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Host Organization: Mercy Corps

First Year Placement
Washington, D.C.

For her first year, Farah supported Mercy Corps’ US Policy and Advocacy team in bringing education, technical program understanding, and policy awareness to internal and external audiences in the food security space. Farah represented Mercy Corps with InterAction, the largest consortia in D.C. of humanitarian and development actors, on specific food security policy, program, and funding priorities in-conjunction with two specific working groups: Food Security, Nutrition, and Agriculture and the Food Aid Reform Sub-working group. Additionally, Farah contributed to the organization’s food security-related policy, advocacy, and external engagement work by supporting legislation such as the Global Food Security Act, the Farm Bill, and other pieces of legislation relevant to Mercy Corps’ work. She also helped steer Mercy Corps’ internal Food Security Strategy development.

Second Year Placement
Tashkent, Uzbekistan

For her second year, Farah is working closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) and Program teams on the McGovern-Dole Food Education and Child Nutrition Program in Uzbekistan. Farah supports projects related to social behavior change and qualitative data collection, donor reporting, nutrition, and health activities.