Encouraging Healthy Food Choices in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
 
Register Now

Speakers

Linda Jo Doctor
Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Linda Jo Doctor is a program officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan. In this role, she helps develop programming priorities, reviews and recommends proposals for funding, manages and monitors a portfolio of active grants, and designs and implements national grant initiatives, place-based work and multi-year projects.

As a member of the Food, Health & Well-Being team, her work focuses on the impact of environmental conditions on health equity. She co-leads the Food & Community Program, an initiative designed to transform food systems and the physical environments in places where children live, learn and play. In Michigan, Ms. Doctor co-leads the foundation's placed-based work in Detroit focused on creating conditions so vulnerable children and families thrive.

Previously, Ms. Doctor was deputy director for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Allies Against Asthma Program housed at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She also directed the Division of Prevention at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, where she provided leadership for statewide health promotion and prevention programs and interagency initiatives. She has worked in substance abuse prevention including managing a national training and technical assistance system supported by the federal Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.

Ms. Doctor received her master's of public health degree from Boston University School of Public Health. She received her bachelor of science in social work from the University of Cincinnati, College of Community Services.

She has had leadership roles in several professional associations including the Prevention Network and the Association of State and Territorial Health Promotion Directors, and is a member of the American Public Health Association, and the Society of Public Health Education.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, established in 1930, supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, southern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Dan Glickman
Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture; Senior Fellow, Bipartisan Policy Center

Dan Glickman is a BPC senior fellow, and he co-chairs its Commission on Political Reform, Democracy Project, Nutrition and Physical Activity Initiative, and Task Force on Defense Budget and Strategy.

Glickman is the executive director of the Aspen Institute Congressional Program, a nongovernmental, nonpartisan educational program for members of the United States Congress. Previously, he was chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA), which serves as the voice and advocate of the U.S. motion picture, home video, and television industries. Prior to joining the MPAA, Glickman was the director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Glickman also served as a partner and senior advisor to the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Washington.

Glickman served as the U.S. secretary of agriculture from March 1995 until January 2001. Under his leadership, the Department of Agriculture administered farm and conservation programs, modernized food-safety regulations, forged international trade agreements to expand U.S. markets, and improved its commitment to fairness and equality in civil rights.

Before his appointment, Glickman represented the 4th Congressional District of Kansas for 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. During that time, he was a member of the House Agriculture Committee, including six years as chairman of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over federal farm policy issues. Moreover, he was an active member of the House Judiciary Committee, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and was a leading congressional expert on general aviation policy.
Oran B. Hesterman, PhD
President and Chief Executive Office, Fair Food Network

Dr. Hesterman is a national leader in sustainable agriculture and food systems. He is the author of Fair Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All, in which he provides an inspiring guide to changing not only what we eat, but how food is grown, packaged, delivered, and sold. His experience in the philanthropic sector includes more than 15 years as program director for Food Systems at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. He also played an essential role in the establishment of the Michigan Food Policy Council and has made significant contributions to the funding of healthy food and farming via his leadership of the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders group.

Prior to starting the Fair Food Network, Dr. Hesterman was the inaugural president of Fair Food Foundation, leading their sustainable food systems programs. Prior to his work in philanthropy and the nonprofit sector, he researched and taught forage and cropping systems management, sustainable agriculture, and leadership development in the crop and soil sciences department at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

A former fellow in the Kellogg National Fellowship Program (KNFP) and the National Center for Food and Agriculture Policy in Washington, D.C., he has published more than 400 reports and articles on subjects ranging from cover crops and crop rotation to the impact of philanthropic investments on food systems practice and policy.

Dr. Hesterman earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of California, Davis, in plant science/vegetable crops and agronomy, respectively. He received his doctorate in agronomy and business administration from the University of Minnesota, St. Paul.
Faith Mitchell, PhD
President and CEO, Grantmakers in Health

Faith Mitchell is president and CEO of Grantmakers In Health (GIH). Previously she served as vice president for program and strategy at the organization. Before joining GIH, Dr. Mitchell was senior program officer at the Institute of Medicine (IOM) where she was responsible for the health disparities portfolio. Dr. Mitchell spent 12 years at the National Academies, both at the IOM and as a center director in the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Education. She has also held leadership positions at the U.S. Department of State, The San Francisco Foundation, and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Throughout her career, Dr. Mitchell has worked on the application of social science to domestic and international public policy, health policy, and programs. She is the co-editor of several reports, including Examining the Health Disparities Research Plan of the National Institutes of Health: Unfinished Business; Multiple Origins, Uncertain Destinies: Hispanics and the American Future; Hispanics and the Future of America; Terrorism: Perspectives from the Behavioral and Social Sciences; Discouraging Terrorism: Some Implications of 9/11; America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences; Governance and Opportunity in Metropolitan America; and Premature Death in the New Independent States. Dr. Mitchell holds a doctorate in medical anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Audrey Rowe
Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service

Audrey Rowe is the Administrator for the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in Washington, D.C. FNS provides children and needy families with better access to food and a more healthful diet through its 15 nutrition assistance programs and nutrition education efforts.

She brings to the Federal government over 20 years of experience in human services policy development, fiscal management, program design, service delivery and marketing with a particular focus on vulnerable populations, low income women, children and youth.

Most recently, Ms. Rowe served as Deputy Administrator for Special Nutrition Programs at FNS, leading the effort to pass the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, the legislative centerpiece of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative to end childhood obesity in a generation.

Ms. Rowe has extensive experience working on issues related to FNS programs. Her leadership has included roles as Human Resources Administrator in New Haven, Connecticut, and Social Services Commissioner for the State of Connecticut and the District of Columbia. In addition, she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the National Urban League.

In private industry, Ms. Rowe served as Senior Vice President and Managing Director for the Children and Family Services division for Affiliated Computer Service (ACS), formerly Lockheed Martin IMS. In this capacity, she spearheaded industry leadership in the realms of child support payment processing and enforcement and the electronic dissemination of public assistance benefits, including implementing Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) programs in over 20 states. Additionally, Ms. Rowe was appointed Senior Vice President for Public Affairs where she managed the corporation's government relations, philanthropy, and community relation programs.

Ms. Rowe is a graduate of Federal City College and was a fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government Institute of Politics at Harvard University.
Loren Bell
Co-Director, Center for Food Assistance and Nutrition, Altarum Institute

Loren Bell is a nationally known expert in food assistance and nutrition education program policy and program operations. He has more than 25 years of experience working with the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and Food Stamp Programs at the state and national levels.

Under Mr. Bell's leadership, Altarum Institute has emerged as a leading provider of technical assistance and evaluation services in the area of food assistance and nutrition education programs. He has managed a number of projects, including two studies examining the food purchasing patterns of WIC clients; four food stamp nutrition education technical assistance and evaluation projects; two national studies of WIC vendor management practices; a needs assessment of adolescents participating in the WIC program; and a national study of how States have reengineered their Food Stamp Programs as a result of welfare reform.

In addition, Mr. Bell has managed a number of technical assistance efforts, including projects to help states revise how local WIC agencies are funded; conducting assessments for states developing participant-centered nutrition education in their WIC programs; and assisting states with using program data for improved program management. Mr. Bell has also directed an effort for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to examine the link between obesity, poverty, and participation in food assistance programs.

For 11 years, Mr. Bell directed the Washington State WIC Program. He received three national awards from the USDA for this work. Mr. Bell also held senior management positions in the California Department of Health. Mr. Bell holds a bachelor's degree in communications and undertook graduate studies in business and organizational communications at California State University, Fullerton.