Newman headshot

Emerson Fellow

Etan Newman

16th Class, 2009-2010

Field Placement: Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara & San Mateo Counties (San Jose, CA)

Etan worked to identify barriers that prevent eligible residents of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties from accessing the Food Stamp Program. He collected information from clients, staff, and partner agencies in each of the food bank’s nine geographic service areas in order to evaluate the success of ongoing food stamp outreach efforts and pinpoint areas where the food bank could expand, improve, or change strategies.

Hunger Free Community Report:

Struggling for Sustenance: Food Stamp Program/SNAP Access Barriers in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties details the hardships eligible households face in trying to access food stamps. Based on 400 surveys and 40 interviews with food bank clients and partner agencies, the report provides recommendations for steps that national, state, and county governments, in partnership with local organizations, can take to overcome or eliminate these barriers.  

Policy Placement: The Brookings Institution (Washington, DC)

Etan worked with the Metropolitan Policy Program to research the causes and implications of suburban poverty in US metropolitan areas. He drafted a case study narrative of suburban poverty in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that serves as a template for further case studies around the country.

Pre-Fellowship Education and Experience:

Originally from Minnesota, Etan graduated from Brown University in 2009 with a degree in history.  He has worked to connect low-income families to social services, taught about the Holocaust in high schools, interned at the Poverty Institute, and lobbied for the rights of undocumented immigrant students.  Etan also studied human and civil rights issues in Israel, Denmark, and South Africa, and conducted research on the teaching of apartheid history in South African high schools.

Publications