Food Insecurity on College Campuses

Anna Bowden Campus Life Program Assistant, Chair of the Food Pantry Board of Director, and No Kid Hungry Youth Ambassador, Louisiana State University

Anna Bowden is in her senior year of pursuing a Nutrition and Food Science degree with a concentration in Nutrition, Health, and Society and a minor in Business Administration. She is working towards tackling the pervasive problem of food insecurity through sustainable methods at Louisiana State University. In her short career she has worked her way up from being a student worker in the LSU Food Pantry to the Chair of the Board of Directors for the pantry. Also, in her time at LSU she has been the director of Volunteer LSU and is currently one of seven students in charge of managing all volunteer and student events at LSU. This past summer she served as a Youth Ambassador for Share Our Strength in New Orleans working with the Summer Feeding Program. Anna is currently working on a collaborative fundraising event between LSU and Ole Miss to provide meals for both communities. She plans to continue her work with food systems and connecting food waste to food insecure communities.

Jaime Hansen Executive Director, Swipe Out Hunger

Jaime Hansen is the Executive Director at Swipe Out Hunger. With over 20 years in the community benefit sector, Jaime has worked with national, state, and multi-county agencies to achieve stability and mission-driven success. Jaime currently resides in Boise, Idaho — a state with a strong agricultural community but large barriers to food and nutrition access. Her passion for justice and equity for basic needs is shaped by her childhood. With nomadic parents, she was offered an opportunity to live in different states across the country. Jaime has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychological Sciences as well as a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and returns to school every fall to teach Nonprofit Management at Boise State University. You can often find Jaime in the vast wilderness of Idaho on a raft or in snowshoes. She loves all things food and regularly experiments in cooking with her partner Xanti, a 5-year-old with dance fever, and their two dogs.

Radha Muthiah President and CEO, Capital Area Food Bank

Radha Muthiah currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Capital Area Food Bank. As CEO, she leads a team that will distribute 50 million meals of good, healthy food, directly and through a network of 400+ partners, to more than 540,000 food insecure people in the greater Washington region each year. Since joining the food bank in March of 2018, Muthiah has led the food bank in its development of a new strategic plan that both addresses hunger today and begins to tackle the root causes of food insecurity. Under Muthiah’s leadership, the CAFB is responding to the increase in the region’s food insecurity as a result of the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. She is also focused on the development of programs and services that bundle food with education, skill development, financial literacy training, housing, health and more in order to effect catalytic change in the lives of those the food bank serves.

Prior to her role at the food bank, Muthiah has led and grown both start-up and established organizations spanning multiple sectors in the US and internationally. Most recently, Muthiah served as CEO of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (now Clean Cooking Alliance), a public-private partnership hosted by the United Nations Foundation. Muthiah has also worked at CARE International USA, ICF International, the American Red Cross, Mercer Management Consulting, and the Council on Foreign Relations. She serves as a member of the Greater Washington Board of Trade and of the Public Health Institute Board of Directors, and is a Trustee of the Federal City Council. She holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in economics from Tufts University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford University.

Jessica Owens-Young Professor of Health Studies, American University

Jessica Owens-Young is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Studies at American University. Her research centers on investments and policies that improve health through community and economic development and the roles race and racism play in shaping these investments and policies. Prior to American University, she was a Program Associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation where her work focused on the connections between health and early academic success. She has a Ph.D. in Health Policy and Management from Johns Hopkins University, a M.S. in Health Promotion Management from American University, and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

Johanna Elsemore, Moderator Manager, Media & Public Affairs, Share Our Strength | No Kid Hungry

Johanna Elsemore manages media & public affairs for Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign. She’s an alumna of American University, where she received her Masters of Science in Nutrition Education with a concentration on food justice. During her time at American, Elsemore designed a food justice curriculum for undergraduate students and published an article in the Journal of Food Studies examining the critical role of colleges and universities in the food justice movement, from developing the next generation of food justice leaders to addressing food insecurity on college campuses. She’s a passionate foodie, self-taught chef and triathlete living in Washington D.C. with her husband and two pit bulls.