Who We Are
Founded in 1993 by a bipartisan group of Members of Congress, we are a global nonprofit organization dedicated to the principle that access to nutritious, affordable, and culturally appropriate food is a basic human right. We develop, inspire, and connect leaders in the movement to end hunger, and advocate for public policies that will create a food secure world.
Our Mission
We develop, inspire, and connect leaders in the movement to end hunger, and advocate for public policies to create a food-secure world.
Leader In Action
Emerson Fellow De’Sean Weber gives an interview to local media on his work for the Health Corners initiative in Jersey City, N.J.

Our Fellows & Interns

Bailey Adams
Leland Fellow

Farah Ahmad
Leland Fellow

Onyịnye Alheri
Leland Fellow

Jalen Banks
Emerson Fellow

Julie Noreene Bautista
Emerson Fellow

Mary Kate Cartmill
Leland Fellow

Sofia Charlot
Emerson Fellow

Paige Clay
Emerson Fellow

Felipe Cook
Leland Fellow

Tenzin Dhakong
Emerson Fellow

Robert Economou
Emerson Fellow

Michelle Fausto
Emerson Fellow

Fleurian Filkins
Emerson Fellow

Nathan Garcia
Emerson Fellow

Breanna Gomillion
Leland Fellow

Amira Iwuala
Emerson Fellow

Lexi Kirton
Leland Fellow

Liz Margolis
Leland Fellow

Morgan McKinney
Emerson Fellow

Doug Nagie
Leland Fellow

Maria Omulubi
Leland Fellow

Natalie Petrulla
Leland Fellow

Alyx Ruzevich
Leland Fellow

Tazkia Shah
Emerson Fellow

Nitan Shanas
Emerson Fellow

Isabelle Sohn
Emerson Fellow

Casey Tokeshi
Leland Fellow

Artis Trice
Emerson Fellow

Blake Turpin
Emerson Fellow

Natalie Volin
Leland Fellow

Alexandrea Wilson
Emerson Fellow

Elaine Zhang
Emerson Fellow
Our Staff

Kristin Anderson
Chief Operating Officer

Zack Bly
Senior Manager, Communications and Engagement

Laura Henderson
Director, Leland International Hunger Fellowship

Tony Jackson
Director, Emerson National Hunger Fellowship

Shannon Maynard
Executive Director

Tochi Okeke
Associate, Leland International Hunger Fellowship

Liz Pearce
Specialist, Partnership & Outreach

Megan Rossiter
Associate

Sam Stevens
Manager, Strategic Initiatives and Policy

Emely Umaña
Learning Manager

Emma Williamson
Alum Engagement Coordinator
Our Alum Council

Joel Anderson
Master of Public Administration Candidate, Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, University of Washington

Max De Faria
Food Justice Researcher & Policy Advocate

Michelle DeFreese
Senior Officer, Global Green Growth Institute

Mercy Erhiawarien
Program Coordinator, Halcyon

Yesenia Garcia

Eduardo Hernandez

Yesenia Jimenez
Policy Associate, GRACE/End Child Poverty in California

Azad Oommen
Co-Founder, Global School Leaders

Jane Schmitz
Advisor, From Now On Fund

Shanique Streete

Ayanna Williams
Public Health Analyst, Health Resources and Services Administration

Maria Wrabel
Power of Nutrition Research Project Coordinator, Action Against Hunger USA
Our Board

Representative James P. McGovern
Member of Congress, Hunger Center Board Chair

Representative Sheila Jackson Lee
Member of Congress

Karen Coble Edwards
Principal at KCE Public Affairs Associates, Hunger Center Board Vice Chair

Katharine Emerson
Chief of Staff, World Food Program USA, Hunger Center Board Secretary

Brian Folkerts

Lou Gerber
Senior Fellow at the Food Research & Action Center

Dennis Hertel
Member of Congress (Retired), Distinguished Professor at National Defense University

Kate Houston

Alfonso Martinez

Gerri Mason Hall
VP Global Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, NetApp

Kimberly Perry
Executive Director, DC Action for Children

Leslie Sarasin
President and CEO at Food Marketing Institute

Jim Scheibel
Professor of Practice, Hamline University

Ria Shah
Principal at Athira Solutions, Hunger Center Board Treasurer

Eric Silva
Founding Principal at North South Government Strategies

Eric J. Steiner
Vice President of Government Affairs for the American Forest & Paper Association

Mary Catherine Toker
Our HisTory

Mickey Leland and Bill Emerson. Photo credit: Marty LaVor
In 1983, U.S. Representatives Benjamin Gilman (R-N.Y.), Mickey Leland (D-Texas) and Tony Hall (D-Ohio) formed the House Select Committee on Hunger to find sustainable solutions to national and international hunger and poverty. Rep. Leland chaired the committee until his death during a famine relief mission to the Horn of Africa in 1989.
In 1993, the House allowed a number of select committees to expire including the House Select Committee on Hunger. The committee’s chairman, Rep. Hall, responded by embarking on a 22-day fast, an act that garnered bipartisan support to form the Congressional Hunger Center as a nonprofit organization to help ensure Congress continued to address hunger. Representative Bill Emerson (R-Mo.) joined Rep. Hall as the first co-chairs of the Congressional Hunger Center's Board of Directors.