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

Rhiley Allbee
Leland Fellow

Joel Anderson
Emerson Fellow

Kate Blankinship
Emerson Fellow

Riani Carr
Emerson Fellow

Olivia Chan
Emerson Fellow

Nancy Chang
Emerson Fellow

Cara Claflin
Emerson Fellow

Max De Faria
Emerson Fellow

Tony Eskridge
Emerson Fellow

Ally Hardebeck
Emerson Fellow

Sara Higgins
Leland Fellow

Curtis Hills
Emerson Fellow

Lexie Holden
Emerson Fellow

Jini Kades
Leland Fellow

Sara Maillacheruvu
Emerson Fellow

Janiah Miller
Emerson Fellow

Tiphaine Monroe
Leland Fellow

Dan Myers
Leland Fellow

Navya Nadimpalli
Leland Fellow

Michelle Nikfarjam
Emerson Fellow

Marisa Nowicki
Leland Fellow

Rocio Perez
Emerson Fellow

Bryan Pride
Leland Fellow

Leslie Rios
Emerson Fellow

Xavier Roberts
Emerson Fellow

Jacqueline Shieh
Leland Fellow

Amit Smotrich
Leland Fellow

Jacquelyn Sullivan
Emerson Fellow, Zero Hunger Internship

Niisoja Torto
Emerson Fellow

Isis Blanco Vera
Leland Fellow

Allyson Vertti
Leland Fellow

Michael Wang
Leland Fellow

Maria Wrabel
Leland Fellow
Our Staff

Layla Amarir
Program and Operations Associate

Kristin Anderson
Chief Operating Officer

Zack Bly
Communications and Engagement Manager

Emily Byers
Senior Director, Leland International Hunger Fellowship

Yolanda Fraction
Director, Training and Development

Tony Jackson
Director, Emerson National Hunger Fellowship

Kiana Kelly
Development Coordinator

Shannon Maynard
Executive Director

Sam Stevens
Manager, Strategic Initiatives and Policy

Emma Williamson
Associate, Emerson National Hunger Fellowship
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
Director, Political Affairs at Bayer, 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
Global Head of Human Resources, International Baccalaureate Organization

Gerri Mason Hall
Chief Diversity, Inclusion & Social Responsibility Officer, Sodexo

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
Senior Director of U.S. Government Affairs at Elanco Animal Health

Mary Catherine Toker
Vice President of Government Relations at General Mills, Inc.
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.