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

Bailey Adams
Leland Fellow

Farah Ahmad
Leland Fellow

Onyịnye Alheri
Leland Fellow

Nick Battles
Emerson Fellow

Jazmyne Brooks
Emerson Fellow

Allison Bunyan
Emerson Fellow

Mary Kate Cartmill
Leland Fellow

Felipe Cook
Leland Fellow

Isabella Dresser
Emerson Fellow

Lauren Drumgold
Emerson Fellow

Aliyah Fard
Emerson Fellow

Breanna Gomillion
Leland Fellow

Gabe Hafemann
Emerson Fellow

Raneem Karboji
Emerson Fellow

Lexi Kirton
Leland Fellow

Akeisha Latch
Emerson Fellow

Landy Lin
Emerson Fellow

Liz Margolis
Leland Fellow

Doug Nagie
Leland Fellow

Natalie Petrulla
Leland Fellow

Molly Pifko
Emerson Fellow

Clara Pitt
Emerson Fellow

Hayleigh Rockenback
Emerson Fellow

Alyx Ruzevich
Leland Fellow

Rajitmeet Singh
Emerson Fellow

Maryam Taysir
Emerson Fellow

Casey Tokeshi
Leland Fellow

Taylor Unoki
Emerson Fellow

Angela Zhang
Emerson Fellow
Our Staff

Zack Bly
Senior Manager, Communications and Engagement

Paige Clay
Associate, Emerson National Hunger Fellowship

Bairy Diakite
Director of Operations

Laura Henderson
Director, Leland International Hunger Fellowship

Emily Irsik
Internships and Recruitment Associate

Tony Jackson
Director, Emerson National Hunger Fellowship

Shannon Maynard
Executive Director

Liz Pearce
Specialist, Partnership & Outreach

Megan Rossiter
Associate

Laura Tarre
Development Director

Emely Umaña
Learning Manager

Elizabeth Uriyo
Chief of Staff
Our Alum Council

Joel Anderson
Master of Public Administration Candidate, Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, University of Washington

Karolina Arias
Partner, Federal Hall Policy Advisors

Max De Faria
Food Justice Researcher & Policy Advocate

Michelle DeFreese
Senior Officer, Global Green Growth Institute

Mercy Erhiawarien
Program Coordinator, Halcyon

Yesenia Garcia

Yesenia Jimenez
Policy Associate, GRACE/End Child Poverty in California

Azad Oommen
Co-Founder, Global School Leaders

Jane Schmitz
Advisor, From Now On Fund

Sakeenah Shabazz
Policy Director, Berkeley Food Institute

Shanique Streete

Maria Wrabel
Power of Nutrition Research Project Coordinator, Action Against Hunger USA

James Ziegeweid
Student, Minnesota State University, Mankato
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
Chief of Staff, World Food Program USA, 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

Gerri Mason Hall
VP Global Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, NetApp

Patience B. Peabody
DC Executive Director, Flamboyan Foundation

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
Vice President of Government Affairs for the American Forest & Paper Association

Mary Catherine Toker
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.