Technical Advisory Group

The primary role of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) is to review and provide ongoing feedback on Feeding America research projects in order to ensure our ability to deliver the highest quality of information to food banks and other service providers within the Feeding America network. TAG Members also collaborate with us to conduct new research on charitable food assistance, poverty, program evaluation, client studies, etc. The Feeding America TAG is comprised of independent researchers whose views are their own and should not be attributed to  Feeding America.

Yvette R. Blair-Lavallais

Adjunct Professor and Cohort Mentor, the Land, Food, and Faith Doctor of Ministry Program in Memphis Theological 
D.Min., Memphis Theological Seminary
M.T.S., Southern Methodist University
B.A., University of Northern Texas

 Yvette R. Blair-Lavallais is an adjunct professor and cohort mentor in the Land, Food, and Faith Doctor of Ministry program at Memphis Theological Seminary. As a food justice strategist and scholar, her research intersects faith, advocacy, and anti-racism in food access. Her work is grounded in a theological framework she calls “acts-tivism,” focusing on how food injustice—such as land displacement and gentrification—affects Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities. Her publications include Scrimpin’ and Scrapin: The Hardships and Hustle of Women and Food Insecurity in Texas Through a Womanist Lens. 

Yvette is a global-thought leader in food justice, regularly presenting her research and engaging in high-profile advocacy. She was a featured speaker for World Food Day, met with congressional leaders during Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill, and was invited to speak at a White House event on regional food justice. She has also received funding from the Henry Luce Foundation and Lilly Endowment to address food insecurity in the South and is a TIDEL fellow with Union Theological Seminary. Yvette is an Ordained Elder in The Methodist tradition and has worked extensively with faith communities to mobilize, advocate, and partner with elected officials to address food insecurity.

Katie S. Martin

CEO, More Than Food Consulting, LLC

Ph.D., Tufts University, Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy
B.A., Indiana University

Katie is the CEO of More Than Food Consulting, LLC whose goal is to advance organizational and systems change in the charitable food network. In this role, Katie collaborates with Feeding America, food banks, and community partners to increase access to healthy food, address root causes of hunger, and identify better practices to reduce food insecurity. Katie is recognized as a thought leader on food security issues, and has over 25 years of experience developing and evaluating holistic solutions to hunger. She earned a Ph.D. in Nutritional Science & Policy from Tufts University, and has presented her work at dozens of regional and national conferences. Katie is happily married, is the proud mom of two sons, and blessed to be a host parent for an exchange student from Nigeria. Katie is the author of a new book titled Reinventing Food Banks and Pantries: New Tools to End Hunger, released in March 2021.

Angela Odoms-Young

Associate Professor in the Division of Nutrition Sciences, Cornell University
Director of the Food and Nutrition Education in Communities Program and New York State Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program 

Ph.D., Cornell University
M.S., Cornell University
B.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Angela Odoms-Young, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor and Director of the New York State Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program in the Division of Nutrition Sciences, College of Human Ecology/College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University.

Her research examines the social and structural determinants of dietary behaviors, food insecurity, and related health outcomes in low-income and black and Latinx populations. Dr. Odoms-Young’s work also centers on identifying culturally responsive programs and policies that promote health equity, food justice, and community resilience. Dr. Odoms-Young has 200+ academic presentations, book chapters, and publications and has served on numerous advisory committees and boards, including the National Academy of Sciences Food and Nutrition Board, the Institute of Medicine committees to develop the nutrition standards for the National School Lunch Program/School Breakfast Program and to revise the food packages provided in the Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Additionally, Dr. Odoms-Young has served on the board of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Grow Greater Englewood, Blacks in Green, and the American Heart Association Metro Chicago. 

Dr. Odoms-Young received her B.S. in Foods and Nutrition from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and M.S./PhD in Community Nutrition from Cornell University. Additionally, she completed a Family Research Consortium Postdoctoral Fellowship examining family processes in diverse populations at the Pennsylvania State University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Community Health Scholars Fellowship in community-based participatory research at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.  Prior to joining Cornell DNS, Dr. Odoms-Young served on the faculty at University of Illinois at Chicago in the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition and Northern Illinois University in Public Health and Health Education.

Hilary Seligman

University of California San Francisco 
UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations 
 
Senior Medical Advisor, Feeding America 
 
M.A.S. in Clinical Research, University of California San Francisco 
M.D., Baylor College of Medicine 
B.A., Williams College

Dr. Seligman is an expert in food insecurity and its health implications across the life course. Her policy and advocacy expertise focus on federal nutrition programs (particularly SNAP), food banking and the charitable food network, hunger policy, food affordability and access, and income-related drivers of food choice. She directs the Food Policy, Health, and Hunger Research Program at UCSF’s Center for Vulnerable Populations at San Francisco General Hospital and the  CDC’s Nutrition and Obesity Policy, Research and Evaluation Network (www.nopren.org). Dr. Seligman founded EatSF, a healthy foods voucher program for low-income residents of San Francisco.  Outside of San Francisco, EatSF is known as Vouchers for Veggies.

Elaine Waxman 

 Senior Fellow, The Urban Institute
 Ph.D., University of Chicago
 M.P.P., University of Chicago
 B.A., Indiana University

 Elaine Waxman is a Senior Fellow in the Income and Benefits Policy Center at The Urban Institute (UI).  Her expertise includes food insecurity, nutrition, the food assistance safety net, the social determinants of health disparities, as well as broader issues affecting low-income families and communities.  Prior to joining the Institute, Waxman served as the    Vice President of Research and Nutrition at Feeding America, where she oversaw research on food insecurity, the intersection of hunger and health, and the circumstances and experiences of individuals seeking food assistance.  In that role, Waxman supervised Hunger in America 2014, the largest study ever conducted of charitable feeding in the United  States, and collaborated on the development of Map the Meal Gap project, the first county-level estimates of food insecurity in the U.S. Waxman previously conducted research on the structure of low-wage work and challenges facing low-income working families through a series of research initiatives at the University of Chicago and in this capacity.  She has co-authored numerous research and policy reports and articles in scholarly journals, including Applied Economics Perspectives and Policy, Social Service Review, Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition, Journal of Family and Economic Issues, and Journal of Food Law and Policy. She received her PhD from the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago, where she is currently a Lecturer.  She also holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago.

Former TAG Members

Craig Gundersen

Alison Jacknowitz

Robert Santos