WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today the Congressional Hunger Center announces three bold commitments to expand our work of developing, inspiring, and connecting leaders in the movement to end hunger. We make these pledges in response to the Administration’s call for stakeholders’ commitments to collectively achieve the goal of ending hunger in the U.S. by 2030, in conjunction with the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health on Wednesday, September 28.
By 2025, the Hunger Center will:
- Develop 150 new anti-hunger leaders through the Bill Emerson and Mickey Leland Hunger Fellowships and Zero Hunger Internship.
We believe that any lasting solution must be led by people with first-hand experience of hunger and poverty. Recent data indicates that Generation Z adults are experiencing food insecurity at more than twice the rate of the average American1. Our leadership development programs prioritize investing in BIPOC leaders, and young people who have personally experienced food insecurity and poverty themselves. - Double participation in Zero Hunger Academy, our online learning hub.
To solve a problem like hunger you must first understand it. Our Zero Hunger Academy resources teach people what food insecurity is, where it is most prevalent in the U.S., who is most likely to be affected by it and why, and how they can support the most effective solutions to hunger as volunteers, donors, and advocates. By 2025, we will educate 12,000 individuals representing all 50 states to build the public and political will to address the root causes of hunger and ensure a strong social safety net. You can join us in this goal by taking the End Hunger in 30 Challenge starting on Monday, October 3. Sign up today or contact Partnerships & Outreach Specialist Liz Pearce to see how you can partner with the Hunger Center to share Zero Hunger Academy with your organization. - Strengthen our influential network of alums by amplifying their voices in the anti-hunger movement and investing in their continued development as leaders.
Since 1993, nearly 750 leaders have completed our fellowship and internship programs. These alums are leading the anti-hunger movement across government, nonprofits, and the private sector. We will launch a new program to showcase our alums’ knowledge and expertise to policymakers and prepare them to build their influence through serving on boards, running for public office, and achieving top leadership positions across the movement.
“Putting an end to hunger once and for all means moving past business as usual,” said Shannon Maynard, executive director of the Hunger Center. “It will take a new kind of visionary leadership, informed by personal experience and focused on the societal problems that cause food insecurity. Our fellows, interns, alums, and the community of learners on Zero Hunger Academy are poised to help lead our country to a hunger-free 2030.”
“The Hunger Center is a transformative space for young leaders to meet other change makers,” said Yesenia Jimenez, Policy Associate for GRACE/End Child Poverty in California and 25th Class Emerson National Hunger Fellow (’19). “Being a part of a cohort of fellows, learning and working together, was invigorating. Now as a member of the Hunger Center’s Alum Council, I am thrilled to be working on building the power of a network of trailblazers.”
Founded in 1993 by a bipartisan group of Members of Congress, the Congressional Hunger Center is 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.
Ending hunger by 2030 will take the combined efforts of many agencies, nonprofits, companies, and individuals, working across sectors. We are grateful to the funders, donors, and in-kind partners who make our work possible. Learn more about our supporters or explore new partnership opportunities here.