Hernandez headshot

Emerson Fellow

Eduardo Hernandez

23rd Class, 2016-2017

Eduardo graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in Health and Exercise Science. During college, he conducted a healthy food initiative in his hometown addressing the local levels of childhood obesity and conducted community based participatory research on migrant farmworker occupational health with the Wake Forest School of Medicine. As President of the Organization of Latin American Students (OLAS) on campus, he advocated, facilitated, and planned a variety of events to educate his college community on the social justice issues Latinos face domestically and abroad. Eduardo has interned for Student Action with Farmworkers and, upon graduation, served as a City Year AmeriCorps Member where he tutored and mentored at-risk inner city youth.

Field placement: United Way of King County

Seattle, Washington

Eduardo collaborated with the Fuel Your Future Campaign which works to leverage the connections between federal nutrition programs and community based resources to make sure no child is hungry.  In his role, Eduardo analyzed School Breakfast participation data from the 2015-2016 school year for all of the school districts in King County. He created school-specific and district-wide fact sheets to share with school officials as the program worked with schools to implement alternative breakfast models. In addition, Eduardo worked with AmeriCorps members to plan school breakfast launches and family engagement nights. His work at the United Way also included developing a communications and implementation plan for the 2017 King County Breakfast Challenge to get students excited about school breakfast.

Policy placement: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Washington, D.C.

With the Office of Family Assistance at the Department of Health and Human Services, Eduardo analyzed data and created graphs to illustrate how states are engaging families in the work participation rate under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. Additionally, Eduardo worked with the Office of Regional Operations to create a database of programs around the country that are working towards increasing family self-sufficiency. He also planned and moderated a webinar on the possibilities for coordination between TANF, Child Care, and Workforce Development.

Hunger Free Community Report

"It’s Not Just Breakfast, It’s Equity: A Profile on the State of School Breakfast in King County" provides a thorough overview of the school breakfast program and why increasing access to school meals is important. The report analyzes racial data in low income schools, includes a cost-analysis of the school breakfast program, summarizes responses from Nutrition Directors, and provides recommendations for better serving the students of King County.

Blog Posts