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

Theo Anastopoulo
Leland Fellow

Kaila Balch
Leland Fellow

Lora Boll
Leland Fellow

Peter Bowman
Leland Fellow

Adin Burwell
Emerson Fellow

Zhara Edwards
Emerson Fellow

Theresa Fang
Leland Fellow

Nicholas French
Emerson Fellow

Alfred Gary III
Emerson Fellow

Tylah Harrison
Emerson Fellow

John Hoang
Emerson Fellow

Maria Islam
Emerson Fellow

Alaine Johnson
Leland Fellow

Jeanie Kim
Emerson Fellow

Chika Kondo
Leland Fellow

Stefano Mancini
Emerson Fellow

Avyan Mejdeen
Emerson Fellow

Erin Mercado
Leland Fellow

Chas Nystrom
Emerson Fellow

Kenneth Palmer
Emerson Fellow

Sarah Pechtl
Leland Fellow

Denise Ramos-Vega
Emerson Fellow

Melanie Sudetic
Leland Fellow

Kathryn Tzivanis
Emerson Fellow

Tatiana Villegas
Emerson Fellow
Our Staff

Zack Bly
Senior Manager, Communications and Engagement

Bairy Diakite
Director of Operations

Emily Irsik
Internships and Recruitment Coordinator

Tony Jackson
Director, Emerson National Hunger Fellowship

Shannon Maynard
Executive Director

Liz Pearce
Partnership & Outreach Manager

Laura Tarre
Development Director

Emely Umaña
Senior Learning Manager

Elizabeth Uriyo
Chief of Staff
Our Alum Council

Max De Faria
Food Justice Researcher & Policy Advocate, Alum Council Co-Chair

Sakeenah Shabazz
Policy Director, Berkeley Food Institute; Alum Council Co-Chair

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

Karolina Arias
Partner, Federal Hall Policy Advisors

Olivier Bradley
Student, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Riani Carr
Senior Research Coordinator, Aspen Institute Financial Security Program

Michelle DeFreese
Senior Officer, Global Green Growth Institute

Mercy Erhiawarien
Program Coordinator, Halcyon

Yesenia Garcia

Chloe Green
Senior Policy Associate, Food and Nutrition Services, American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)

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

Morgan McKinney
Process Innovation Project Associate, American Public Human Services Association (APHSA)

Jane Schmitz
Advisor, From Now On Fund

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

Yesenia García
Vice President, WE Communications

Lou Gerber
Senior Fellow at the Food Research & Action Center

Dennis Hertel
Member of Congress (Retired), Distinguished Professor at National Defense University

Kate Houston

Joan McGlockton

Azad Oommen
Co-Founder, Global School Leaders

Patience B. Peabody
DC Executive Director, Flamboyan Foundation

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

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.