James D. Weill, President
Jennifer Adach, Communications Coordinator
Mike Ambrose, Online Communications Specialist
Signe Anderson, Child Nutrition Program Analyst
Alexandra Ashbrook, Director, D.C. Hunger Solutions
Chris Collins, Chief of Staff
Rachel Cooper, Senior Policy Analyst, Research and Analysis
Rashan A. Datcher, Admin/Human Resources Assistant
Cathy Demeroto, Director, Maryland Hunger Solutions
Betsy Edwards, Field Organizer
Crystal FitzSimons, Director of School and Out-of-School Time Programs
Laura Flamm, Nutrition Associate, Maryland Hunger Solutions
Eyang Garrison, School Breakfast Associate
Heather Hartline-Grafton, Senior Nutrition Policy Analyst
Geraldine Henchy, Director of Nutrition Policy and Early Childhood Programs
Courtney Jones, Grant Writer/Manager Foundation Relations
Madeleine Levin, Senior Policy Analyst, School Breakfast and Lunch Program
Jessica Luna, Anti-Hunger Program Associate, D.C. Hunger Solutions
Etienne Melcher, Legislative Associate
Gilberto Morales, Receptionist/Office Assistant
Denise Odell, Executive Assistant
Richard Ryans, CPA, Controller
Alan Sharpe, Senior Administrative Assistant/Information Systems Coordinator
Ellen Teller, Director of Government Affairs
Ellen Vollinger, Legal/Food Stamp Director
Anita Wahi, Anti-Hunger Program Associate, Maryland Hunger Solutions
Barbara Western, Director of Human Resources and Operations
Ashley Williams, Development Assistant
Patrick Youngblood, Director of Development
Valerie Zeender, Nutrition Associate, Maryland Hunger Solutions
Jim WeillJim Weill has been President of the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) since February 1998. Jim has devoted his entire professional career to reducing hunger and poverty, protecting the legal rights of children and poor people, and expanding economic security, income and nutrition support programs and health insurance coverage.
Prior to joining FRAC, he was at the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) as Program Director and General Counsel. He led CDF’s efforts in 1985 that produced the first major expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, oversaw CDF’s Medicaid expansion, child care, and child support enforcement reform efforts, and was a key leader of the campaign to pass the Children’s Health Insurance Program in 1997.
Before CDF, Mr. Weill was Deputy Director and Director of Federal Litigation at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago. He litigated major law reform and class action cases in the federal court of appeals and Supreme Court on Social Security, Medicaid, AFDC, SNAP/Food Stamps and other public benefits issues, and the rights of children born out of wedlock.
Mr. Weill is chair of the board of directors of the Alliance for Justice Action Council and is a member of the boards of OMB Watch and the National Center for Youth Law. He serves on the advisory council to the National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education and Families. He has served as a member of the U.S. delegation to the UNICEF Executive Board.
Jen AdachJennifer joined FRAC in July 2006 as its communications coordinator. She is charged with developing FRAC’s communications strategy, from managing press outreach to disseminating publications and materials. Jennifer has had extensive experience in translating government regulations and programs into easily-understood materials for a variety of audiences. Her previous experience includes working at Save-A-Lot as its community relations and government programs project manager, where she developed SNAP/Food Stamp outreach events to raise local awareness of the program and help individuals apply for the program, and The Welfare to Work Partnership as its media relations manager. She holds a BA in English from Catholic University.
Mike AmbroseMike joined FRAC in January 2008 as the Online Communications Specialist. In this role, he is responsible for maintaining and updating the FRAC Web site, and the sites for D.C. Hunger Solutions and Maryland Hunger Solutions. He also writes and distributes the weekly FRAC News Digest.
Mike has over twenty years of national nonprofit communications, program management, development and conference planning experience. His background includes extensive education and public health program work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. He received the “Optimal Oral Health for All” award from the American Association of Public Health Dentistry, and writing awards from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation.
Mike has a B.A. in Arts and Humanities from the University of Maryland, and an M.S. in Telecommunications from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
Signe joined FRAC in 2010 as a Child Nutrition Policy Analyst. She works with local, state and national governments as well as with anti-hunger organizations to expand the use of child nutrition programs. Her focus is to increase participation in afterschool and summer nutrition programs.
Before joining FRAC, Signe was program coordinator at Visions in Action, an international development organization in Washington, D.C. that advocates for human rights, education, and HIV/AIDS prevention.
Signe earned a Masters of Science in Food Policy and Nutrition from Tufts University and a Bachelors of Arts in French and Russian Literature from Saint Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.
Alexandra AshbrookAlex serves as the director of D.C. Hunger Solutions, an anti-hunger, anti-poverty nonprofit in the District and an initiative of FRAC. She works to end hunger and improve the nutrition, health, economic security, and well-being of low-income families in the nation’s capital. She leads and participates in many city-wide coalitions and most recently, was appointed as chair of the D.C.’s Mayor’s Commission on Food and Nutrition in September 2009.
Alex, who joined FRAC in January 2007 as the Director of D.C. Hunger Solutions, brings extensive advocacy experience to her role, much of which has focused on the needs of vulnerable youth. While at Georgetown Law School’s D.C. Street Law Project, Alex supervised law students teaching at D.C. public high schools. She spent the last ten years working at Street Law, the national nonprofit dedicated to transforming democratic ideals into citizen action. Alex received her J.D. and L.L.M. from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Chris CollinsChris joined FRAC in March 2010 as Chief of Staff with responsibility for supporting daily operations as well as FRAC’s longer term direction.
Chris brings over twenty-five years of experience in both non-profit and corporate organizations. Most recently she was Chief of Staff for the Institute for America’s Future, a research and education organization focused on issues relating to economic security. Prior to that she provided strategic planning, financial and operational management consulting services for a variety of non-profit and corporate organizations. Chris spent much of her career at Xerox Corporation where she held significant positions in operations, program management, marketing and sales. She was a founding member of the Xerox Women’s Network and has served on the boards of several non-profit organizations, including two child development centers. She is currently active with a transitional housing program for women in the District of Columbia.
Chris holds a B.A in linguistics and an MBA in International Finance, both from the University of Michigan.
Rachel CooperRachel joined FRAC in July 2006 as a Senior Policy Analyst. In charge of research and data analysis, her work covers all of the federal nutrition programs and is published in the various annual reports she authors or coauthors such as the School Breakfast Scorecard, Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation, and State of the States.
Before coming to FRAC, Rachel worked for the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), in their New York office. At CDF-NY, she focused on helping families gain access to programs that provide work supports – such as tax credits, Medicaid, SCHIP, and SNAP/Food Stamps. At CDF-NY Rachel conducted research, gave technical assistance and coauthored several reports including documenting the damage caused by predatory tax refund loans and the success of New York City’s Disaster Medicaid system established after 9/11.
Rachel received her Masters in Human Development and Social Policy from Northwestern University.
Rashan joined FRAC in May 2011 as an Admin/Human Resource Assistant. In this role, Rashan works closely with the Director of Administration on a variety of office procedural, HR-related and administrative fronts. She also coordinates processes related to position openings and coordinates the internship program.
Rashan has a B.A. in Business Administration from Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta Georgia and a M.A. in Human Resource Management from The Catholic University of America in Washington DC.
As director of Maryland Hunger Solutions, Cathy Demeroto works to end hunger and improve the nutrition, health, economic security, and well-being of low-income families in Maryland. Cathy serves in a leadership role in many statewide coalitions and is a core advisor in the Governor’s Partnership to End Childhood Hunger.
Before she came to Maryland Hunger Solutions, Cathy was the Director of Social Concerns and Parish Social Ministry for Catholic Charities in Baltimore, Maryland. At Catholic Charities, Cathy led the development, advancement, coordination, and direction of the agency’s position on social policy issues. She developed advocacy strategies with particular attention to poverty, child welfare, energy, housing, the aging, and persons living with disabilities. She also built coalitions and networks of other advocacy groups and chaired two statewide coalitions: Welfare Advocates and Energy Advocates. Before Catholic Charities, Cathy practiced law as an associate attorney at Wellens Law Firm in Severna Park, Maryland. Cathy also served as a staff attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadephia, Pennsylvania.
Cathy received her Juris Doctor with Honors from The George Washington University National Law Center in Washington, DC. She received the Michael D. Cooley Humanitarian Award and completed the Administrative Advocacy Clinic with Honors. Cathy received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College with a major in political science and concentration in business management. She graduated Magna cum laude.
Betsy began with the FRAC in April 2010 as the field organizer. Her role at FRAC is to garner public support for the President’s end childhood hunger by 2015 goal by working with local and statewide organizations.
Before Betsy came to FRAC she worked as the advocacy manager for the Alameda County Community Food Bank in Oakland, CA. In that role she worked to address the issues of hunger and its root causes with community members, food bank agencies, staff, and elected officials. She also recognizes the invaluable experience and connections that she gained while interning for the Society of St. Andrew, Big Island, VA and St. Mary’s Center, Oakland, CA.
Betsy has a B.A. in English from Mary Washington College.
Crystal Weedall FitzSimonsAs Director of School and Out-of-School Time Programs, Crystal directs FRAC’s work on the child nutrition programs that serve school-age children. She analyzes policy to advocate for legislative and regulatory improvements to increase low-income children’s access to the nutrition programs. She helps develop strategy and direct field efforts to achieve program improvements. She provides technical assistance, conducts training, and develops materials for national, state, and local organizations. She frequently speaks at national afterschool conferences and meetings. Crystal is the author or co-author of numerous publications, including Hunger Doesn’t Take A Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report (2009). Her previous work experience includes the Center for Community Change as a policy analyst on transportation issues and Housing Comes First, Missouri’s statewide low-income housing coalition, as Director of Tenant Organizing. She holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Sociology from Carroll College and a M.S.W. from Washington University.
Laura joined Maryland Hunger Solutions in July 2011 as a Nutrition Associate. Laura focuses on increasing access to healthy food for low-income Marylanders. This includes statewide outreach to increase participation in the Food Supplement Program (FSP, formerly called food stamps), support and technical assistance for farmers’ market FSP projects, and WIC research and advocacy.
Laura joins Maryland Hunger Solutions with a background in community-based public health and nutrition. She evaluated a rural Ohio farmers’ market’s food stamp program in its first year and was engaged in research and action for diabetes prevention. As a student at Johns Hopkins, Laura was a HRSA Public Health Traineeship recipient.
She has a B.Phil. from Miami University focusing in Community Health Psychology. She is currently a M.S.P.H. candidate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Health, Behavior, and Society and is also earning a certificate in Community-Based Public Health.
Eyang joined FRAC in January 2012 as School Breakfast Associate. She works in targeted states, school districts, and schools in collaboration with national and local anti-hunger organizations to increase the number of children participating in school breakfast and the number of schools offering breakfast in the classroom free to all students.
Before joining FRAC, she worked as a Legislative Assistant for Congresswoman Gwen Moore where she focused on issues related to alleviating and addressing child and adult poverty and hunger. During her work on Capitol Hill, she worked to expand the School Breakfast Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and to provide low-income families with greater access to federal assistance programs including the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. In 2012, she received the “Friend of WIC Award” from the National WIC Association for her contributions in support of the WIC program.
She earned a B.S. in Political Science from the University of Oklahoma.
Heather Hartline-GraftonHeather is a Senior Nutrition Policy Analyst at FRAC. Heather’s work focuses on obesity as it impacts low-income and food insecure children and families, with emphasis on the federal nutrition programs. She has a rich background in nutrition policy research, obesity prevention, and healthy eating strategies, including her prior work at the American Cancer Society, Mathematica Policy Research, and Tulane University. Heather is a Registered Dietitian and holds honors bachelors’ degrees in nutritional sciences and dietetics from the University of Delaware, a MPH in nutrition from the University of North Carolina, and a DrPH in community health sciences from Tulane University.
Geraldine HenchyGeri is the director of nutrition policy at FRAC. Geri’s work focuses on the nutrition policies, such as increasing the healthfulness of nutrition programs, necessary to reach the goals of eradicating domestic hunger and improving the nutrition and health of low-income individuals and families.
Geri is a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Committee to Review the Child and Adult Care Food Program Meal Requirements which has the task of creating nutrition standards to bring the meals served into compliance with the Dietary Guidelines. Geri is the current chair of the policy committee of the American Public Health Association’s Food and Nutrition Section. She currently serves on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Management Improvement Task Force.
She has been honored to receive awards for her work on the Child Nutrition Programs from the Sponsors Association, the National Sponsors Forum and the California Roundtable. Most recently, the National Association of Family Child Care honored Ms. Henchy with their Advocate of the Year Award.
Geri is the author of numerous policy briefs on the federal Child Nutrition programs. She has co-authored a number of publications including Making WIC Work for Multicultural Communities: Best Practices for Outreach and Nutrition Education, Time for a Change: WIC Food Package Guide, WIC In Native American Communities: Building a Healthier America, and WIC Partnerships and the Nurturing Parent. Ms. Henchy is also the author of a number of web-based tools including most recently the Child Care Wellness Tool Kit: Child and Adult Care Food Program.
She is a registered dietitian and has an MPH in nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley.
Courtney JonesCourtney joined FRAC in October 2009 as Grants Writer/Manager of Foundation Relations. In this role, she works closely with FRAC’s Director of Development, President and program staff to conceptualize and write persuasive letters of inquiry, proposals and reports to foundations and other funding sources.
Before joining FRAC, Courtney worked as an Associate Director at Orr Associates, Inc. (OAI), a consulting firm to nonprofit organizations. While at OAI, Courtney worked with a variety of local nonprofit organizations to develop, organize and implement a wide range of fundraising and strategic planning initiatives, including development research and grant writing, fundraising event management, marketing and communications and capital campaign planning and execution.
Courtney graduated magna cum laude from the honors program at American University, with a degree in Public Communication, and studied French abroad at La Sorbonne in Paris, France.
Madeleine LevinMadeleine is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Child Nutrition Unit, working on school nutrition issues. She focuses on the National School Lunch Program, the National School Breakfast Program and local school wellness policies. Madeleine has a rich background in maternal and child health policy and programs. After serving as Health and Nutrition Coordinator for a large Head Start program in Chicago, she was a member of the National Technical Assistance Network for Head Start programs, working primarily with programs in the mid-Atlantic region. In addition to a strong background in child nutrition, she also has expertise in special nutrition concerns of children with disabilities. Madeleine earned her bachelors’ degree from the University of Chicago and her Masters in Public Health from the University of Illinois.
Jessica joined D.C. Hunger Solutions in August 2011 as an Anti-Hunger Program Associate. She is working to increase SNAP/Food Stamp participation in the District of Columbia through outreach to service providers and clients as well as promoting policies to improve the SNAP/Food Stamp Program. Her background in anti-hunger advocacy includes working to expand SNAP/Food Stamp participation with a food bank in California, evaluating the free summer meals program with the Food Bank for New York City, and promoting SNAP/Food Stamp redemption at farmers’ markets. Most recently, she served as an Emerson National Hunger Fellow with the Congressional Hunger Center. Jessica holds a B.A. in Sociology with a minor in Health Policy from Harvard University.
Etienne MelcherEtienne joined FRAC in November 2007 as a Legislative Assistant. In her current role as FRAC’s Legislative Associate, she works with FRAC’s state and local network, national organizations, and Congress, advocating for improved access to and participation in domestic anti-hunger programs for low-income people. She also coordinates FRAC’s Annual National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference.
Prior to joining FRAC, Etienne worked with RESULTS’ domestic policy campaign on early childhood development issues. She began her anti-hunger advocacy work by co-organizing Saint Mary’s College’s first annual Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.
She has a B.A. in Political Science and Religious Studies from Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, IN.
Gilberto MoralesGilberto joined FRAC in April 2000 as the office assistant. In his role, he is responsible for answering incoming calls, greeting and receiving guests, maintaining office equipment, sorting the mail and signing for packages. He also assists the program staff as needed.
Before FRAC, Gilberto worked for six years as an office assistant/translator with the Chesapeake Center in Springfield, Va. In this capacity Gilberto oversaw the day-to-day operations of the front office as well as scheduled appointments for clients and translated for Hispanic clients.
Denise OdellDenise has worked for the last 10 years as executive assistant at FRAC. In this role, she has helped manage the details, logistics and support for the activities that promote FRAC’s mission. Denise’s experience in development, combined with her attention to detail, collaborative work style, and her commitment have helped FRAC, its Board and its President to achieve their goals. In addition to her FRAC responsibilities, Denise—a native Washingtonian and University of Maryland alum—is a professional photographer with numerous exhibits at fine arts galleries throughout the region.
Richard joined FRAC in May 2011 as Controller. In this role, he is responsible for performing all accounting, financial processing and payroll activities. Duties include general accounting, internal auditing, cost accounting, financial analysis and forecasting, budget planning, cash flow monitoring, and development of monthly status reports.
Richard has over 30 years of financial, accounting, budgeting and analytical experience. His background includes controllerships at WellPoint, Washington Gas, SAP America, Lucent, AT&T Paradyne and Honeywell. In addition, his expertise includes performing competitive analysis and developing strategic and financial plans.
Richard earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame with a concentration in accounting. He has his CPA certification from the states of Maryland and Virginia.
Alan SharpeAlan is FRAC’s Senior Administrative Assistant/Information Systems Coordinator. For nearly 27 years, Alan has served in various support capacities as a member of FRAC’s administrative staff. Initially secretarial, his duties have expanded with technology and the onset of computerized office functions. In his current position as senior administrative assistant/information systems coordinator, he oversees FRAC information technology needs, provides in-house computer “help desk” and administrative support for program staff, and serves as liaison between FRAC and its various IT consultants and vendors.
Ellen TellerAs Director of Government Affairs, Ellen Teller directs the development and implementation of FRAC’s legislative agenda. Working with Congress, national organizations, and FRAC’s diverse state and local grassroots field network, Ellen advocates for improved access and participation to domestic anti-hunger programs for low-income individuals and families.
Ellen joined FRAC in 1986 as a Staff Attorney and had previously worked at the American Bar Association’s Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities, the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Consumer Federation of America.
Ellen has a B.A. in Political Science and English Literature (1978) from the State University of New York, College at Oneonta, and a J.D. from Western New England College School of Law (1983). She is a Member of the DC Bar and serves on a the Boards of the Coalition on Human Needs (Chair); Manna Food Center, Rockville, Maryland; ActionAid USA; and the Bill Emerson Hunger Fellows Advisory Committee, Congressional Hunger Center. Honors include: National WIC Association Leadership Award, 2006; Commodity Supplemental Food Program Association Award, 2003 & 2010; and the Congressional Hunger Center Emerson Fellows’ Fairy Godmother Award, 2008.
Ellen VollingerEllen Vollinger is Legal Director for FRAC. She has responsibility for directing FRAC’s advocacy on behalf of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/Food Stamps). Ellen has led FRAC’s efforts to bolster SNAP/Food Stamps, particularly to serve working families, legal immigrants and victims of disasters. She has worked with administrators, elected officials, industry representatives, and non-profit partners on strategies to provide a more accessible and effective nutrition assistance safety net. She serves on the eGovernment Payments Council.
Her prior positions include serving as director of the nonprofit National Committee for Full Employment as well as a practicing attorney with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Ross, Dixon and Masback.
Ellen has a B.A. in American Studies from Smith College, an M.A.S.S. in Legislative Affairs from George Washington University and a J.D. magna cum laude from the American University’s Washington College of Law.
Anita joined Maryland Hunger Solutions in January 2012 as an Anti-Hunger Program Associate. She is responsible for SNAP/Food Stamp outreach and education across Maryland, specifically focusing on hard-to-reach populations, such as seniors, Spanish-speaking people, and people in rural areas.
She has extensive experience working in community development and social justice internationally in places like Mexico, Guatemala, and Peru. Prior to joining Maryland Hunger Solutions, she was the International Cooperation Coordinator at Uniminuto University in Bogotá, Colombia, where she coordinated a range of initiatives, from an internationally-funded project working to develop economic alternatives for sex workers to a virtual classroom experiment in global social responsibility. Anita has also worked with the United Nations Development Programme’s Civil Society Division and assisted with the development of the Economic and Social Rights Fulfillment Index.
Anita holds an MA in International Affairs from The New School, a BS in International Business from the University of Maryland, and a BA in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland.
Barb joined FRAC in March 2012 as the Director of Human Resources and Operations. In this role she is responsible for overseeing overall organizational operations, including the technology infrastructure, and is directly responsible for human resources policies and employee benefits and relations.
Barb has over twenty years of experience working with national nonprofit organizations in a variety of areas that include: human resources, operations, finance, board development and support, fundraising, events management, strategic planning and advocacy. Most of her skills were acquired through her many years of work at OMB Watch where she played a variety of roles, most recently the Director of Operations. Prior to her work at OMB Watch she worked for Legal Times.
Barbara has a B.S. in Journalism from Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism at West Virginia University and a Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate from the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership at Georgetown University.
As Development Associate – State Initiatives, Ashley works to secure funding for FRAC’s state-based initiatives, D.C. Hunger Solutions and Maryland Hunger Solutions. Prior to joining FRAC in September 2010 as Development Assistant, she worked as the Ward 8 Outreach Coordinator for Higher Achievement on fundraising, scholar and mentor recruitment, and partnership-building in D.C.’s Ward 8. She has a B.A. in History with a minor in Creative Writing from Washington University in St. Louis.
Patrick YoungbloodPatrick joined FRAC in January 2004 as Director of Development. In this role, he is responsible for managing all aspects of FRAC’s fundraising activities.
He has over fourteen years of experience in non-profit fundraising. Before coming to FRAC, he served as Assistant Manager of Major Gifts at the Kennedy Center, Associate Director of Development for Major Gifts at the Washington National Opera, and Director of Development at American Rivers.
He holds an M.A. from Vanderbilt University and a Ph.D. from the University of London.
Valerie Zeender joined Maryland Hunger Solutions in April 2011 as a Nutrition Associate. She is responsible for the implementation of the Hunger-Free Communities Grant, seeking to increase awareness of, access to, and participation in federal nutrition programs in eight targeted counties (Allegany, Anne Arundel, Caroline, Carroll, Dorchester, Frederick, Garrett and Montgomery) in Maryland.
Before joining Maryland Hunger Solutions, Valerie worked as the Prevention Specialist in the Maryland Governor’s Office for Children, where she coordinated a number of collaborative interagency initiatives, including the Partnership to End Childhood Hunger in Maryland, the Maryland Youth Advisory Council, and Maryland’s Result for Child Well-being. Valerie previously worked in both the executive and legislative branches of state government and developed a strong interest in and passion for the state’s initiatives around child welfare issues.
Valerie holds a B.S. in International Relations and Biomedical Science from Lynchburg College in Lynchburg, VA.
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