Margolis headshot

Leland Fellow

Liz Margolis

11th Class, 2021-2023

Elizabeth is an experienced policy and data analyst in the field of food and gender, with strong communications skills and a passion for humanitarian response and social development. Her research has focused on Food Systems, Security, Sovereignty, and Anthropologies, Social Development and Protection, Sexuality and Gender, Latin America and Guatemala, and more. She earned her MA in Social Development with Distinction from the University of Sussex (Ranked #1 in the World for Development Studies), and her BA in Public Policy and Ethics magna cum laude from the Templeton Honors College at Eastern University. She is originally from Connecticut and is fluent in French and Spanish. Liz has several years of work experience in research, policy and data analysis with the UN World Food Programme and several US-based NGOs.

Host Organization: World Vision International

First Year Placement
Denver, Colorado (remote)

As a recipient of the Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellowship (’21-’23), Liz worked in humanitarian advocacy and food security policy with World Vision International. She was responsible for food security policy research and analysis, famine prevention advocacy and communications, and coordination for the UN Food Systems Summit follow up and Working Groups for School Meals and UNFSS. She also researched localization policy and gender in food systems, developing advocacy case studies, and supporting advocacy humanitarian response groups and the Global Hunger Initiative.

Second Year Placement

Liz Margolis is spending the second year of her fellowship focused on research and implementation of school meals programming in Angola and Burundi.

Liz has been serving as Assistant Project Coordinator in Lubango, Angola for an emergency school meals program responding to drought in South-West Angola. In this position she has catalyzed project implementation both for On-Site Feeding and for Take-Home Rations. She has worked closely with WFP and municipal governments, overseen project logistics and M&E, written and designed key program documents and training materials, and supported management of the team.

Liz is now heading to Bujumbura, Burundi to support implementation of school meals programming, M&E, and gender integration in food assistance programming. She will also be focused on integration of Disaster Management, Humanitarian Affairs, and Resilience, as well as on research and advocacy.

Liz will finish her fellowship by writing research and experience-based advocacy case studies to demonstrate World Vision’s success and experience in school meals programming, and to support World Vision’s engagement in the global School Meals Coalition.

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