Neighbor Council Best Practices

Food banks across the nation, especially those affiliated with Feeding America, have made a concerted effort to involve people with lived experience. By creating councils or boards of those with lived experience, they aim to involve “neighbors,” or their clients, in helping set advocacy and organization priorities. This report summarizes the findings from informational interviews with several food banks on their efforts to involve neighbors in advocacy for food security. The report provides recommendations and best practices for creating such boards at the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.