Directors & Program Staff

Siena Chrisman

Manager of Strategic Partnerships & Alliance

Siena works in coalition with organizations and good food advocates around the country to build the movement for a healthier and more just food system. Siena joined WhyHunger in 2005 and is a contributor to Civil Eats blog. She was the editor of Green Roofs: Ecological Design and Construction (Schiffer Publishing, 2004). She holds a BA from Mount Holyoke College. Originally from Western Massachusetts, she now cooks, bakes, and gardens in Brooklyn.

Lorrie Clevenger

Capacity Building Coordinator for the Grassroots Action Network

Lorrie provides resources, information and networking opportunities to strengthen and support thousands of community based organizations across the country. Prior to joining WhyHunger in early 2010, Lorrie discovered her interest and passion for food justice work as the Administrative Assistant and Network Administrator at Just Food, where she still serves as a board member. Lorrie is an active member of the Executive Committee for Farm School NYC, a community gardener at Taqwa Community Farm in the Bronx, NY and a founding member of Black Urban Growers (BUGs), where she served as the Volunteer General Coordinator for their first annual Black Farmers & Urban Gardeners Conference in 2010.

Candice Comisi

Program Coordinator for the Grassroots Action Network

Candice manages the Harry Chapin Self-Reliance Awards, and works to refine and promote WhyHunger's web presence through the Food Security Learning Center and the Connect blog. Prior to joining WhyHunger in 2006, Candice worked with several community organizations, such as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Project Reach Youth, and the Asian-Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS. Candice is an active member of the Growing Food and Justice for All I nitiative. She received her BA in Gender and Sexuality Studies at Purchase College. She is a Brooklyn native.

Debbie Grunbaum

Director of Communications

Debbie leads the development and implementation of WhyHunger's overall communication strategy. Overseeing the organization's marketing, public relations and brand strategy, Debbie brings expertise in media relations, organizational messaging and event planning to WhyHunger. Prior to joining WhyHunger in spring 2011, Debbie served as the Director of Communications and Development for the Women's Housing and Economic Development Corporation, a community based human service non-profit, where she shaped strategic communications and fundraising initiatives for the organization. Previously, Debbie implemented strategic publicity campaigns for dozens of for-profit and non-profit clients at G.S. Schwartz & Company, a mid-sized Manhattan based public relations firm. She has worked with top-tier media outlets, planned large scale fundraising events and secured millions in private funds. Debbie is a member of New York Women in Communications, a mentor in the Big Brother's Big Sister's Program and New York Cares volunteer.

Sue Leventhal

Events Director

Sue has been spearheading WhyHunger's annual Hungerthon, WhyHunger Chapin Awards and other events for the past 26 years. Prior to her time at WhyHunger, Sue worked as the outreach coordinator for the NY State Consumer Protection Board's NYC office, as a legal assistant at Kronish Lieb Shainswit Weiner & Hellman where she served as right hand to attorney Adam Walinsky's The Police Corp Project. As a freelance event producer and fundraiser she produced 22 years of concerts in conjunction with Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul & Mary) to benefit NYC public schools. In conjunction with WFAN, Tomorrow's Children's Fund and the CJ Foundation for SIDS she produced a series of radiothons to help children with cancer - and their families as well as research money for cancer and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. She also produced fundraising events for Children of War, Mark Green for US Senate, Les Aspin for US Senate, Richard Kessel for Nassau County Executive, PS 41, PS 64, PS 290, Michael Moore's Michigan Voice and Flint Voice newspapers; and more. Sue served as stage and house manager for Wagner College's summer equity theatre program. Sue also managed performing artist David Buskin and his band Modern Man. Sue owns "Proud To Present" a small catering company.

Peter Mann

Director Emeritus of the Global Movements Program

Peter has been working for over twenty five years at WhyHunger to expand its international outreach and connect its domestic work fighting hunger and poverty with international partners. As human rights and sustainable development became a new context for the struggle against hunger and poverty in the 1990s and early 21st century, Peter developed partnerships for WhyHunger at UN conferences on the Environment, Women's Rights, Poverty, Food, Sustainable Development and the Millennium Development Goals. Peter has written extensively on these powerful s ocial movements for water, land, credit, and food as a human right. Peter was a founding member of International Partners for Sustainable Agriculture (IPSA), Just Food in New York City, and a board member of the Community Food Security Coalition (www.foodsecurity.org) where he worked on linking anti-hunger and food system movements in the US and internationally. He is active in the local food movement around community gardens, urban farming, farm to school programs, and sustainable agriculture.

Jessica Powers

Director of the National Hunger Clearinghouse

Jessica is responsible for leading a team of advocates on the National Hunger Hotline and developing capacity building resources for emergency food providers through the Clearinghouse. Prior to joining WhyHunger, Jess managed an emergency feeding program that planned and responded to disasters affecting people in NYC and the lower Hudson Valley for the American Red Cross in Greater New York. She responded to nationally declared disasters in New York, Iowa and Louisiana, and, most recently, managed a kitchen site in response to the Alabama tornadoes. She worked as a foodservice professional for over ten years: she was a chef and pastry chef at restaurants in New York City, managed teams for large event caterers, cooked on several yachts and consulted at a former state bakery in Russia. Jess holds a B.A. in English literature with honors from the University of California at Berkeley.

India Rodgers

Program Assistant

India povides support, research and outreach for the National Hunger Clearinghouse and Global Movements Program. India works closely with individuals and families in need, connecting them with local food resources through the National Hunger Hotline. She also plays a key role in connecting international partners with United States organizations working on food justice issues. Prior to joining WhyHunger in 2010, India worked as a Research Assistant at the University of Maryland Baltimore County in the field of reproductive biology.

Patricia Rojas

Manager of the National Hunger Hotline

Patricia responds to telephone calls from individuals and groups in need of emergency food resources and connects them with local emergency feeding program. Additionally she works with callers interested in donating food, seeking volunteer opportunities or looking for assistance in starting their own emergency feeding program. She also helps develop resources to assist grassroots groups in providing better services to their clients with an emphasis on hunger and poverty issues. Previously, Patricia worked for YAI where she trained adults with developmental disabilities at volunteer opportunities. She has a B.A. from Barnard College and a M.S from The New School. She also is a volunteer guide at the Central Park Zoo.

Christina Schiavoni

Director of the Global Movements Program

Christina works with diverse networks to grow and unify movements for food, land and water in the US and globally. Prior to joining WhyHunger in 2003, Christina worked with the NYC-based grassroots group Just Food, where she coordinated community supported agriculture (CSA) and community garden projects to increase access to fresh, local food in low-income areas. Christina holds degrees in International Agriculture and Natural Resources from Cornell University. She has researched and reported on responses to the injustices of the global food system, from the halls of the United Nations to the centers of social movement convergences. Outside of WhyHunger, Christina is involved in political activism and urban agriculture.

Brooke Smith

Director of the Grassroots Action Network

Broke is responsible for leading a team in designing, building, innovating and implementing the programs of the Grassroots Action Network (GAN). GAN generates and shares knowledge, empowers local innovation, and mobilizes resources to support and connect grassroots organizations building healthy communities and local economies where there is equitable access to nutritious food. Programs include the Food Security Learning Center, the Community Learning Project, the Harry Chapin Self Reliance Awards, and developing regional networks to eliminate food deserts. Brooke has a Master's degree in International and Intercultural Management from the School for International Training, and has domestic and international community development experience in social enterprise, diversity leadership, sustainable development and youth leadership.

Tristan Quinn-Thibodeau

Outreach and Partnerships Coordinator for the Global Movements Program

Tristsan networks and strategizes with organizations in other countries that are working on food and agriculture issues and with US-based organizations working on US foreign policy around food and agriculture. He runs logistics for the Coordination team of the US Food Sovereignty Alliance, oversees the "Imagine There's No Hunger" Campaign, and contributes content to WhyHunger's website regarding global issues and trends around hunger, food, agriculture, development, and politics. Prior to joining WhyHunger in 2007, Tristan worked as a community organizer in East New York, Brooklyn with the New York City Coalition Against Hunger. Before that he worked on a student-run CSA organic farm at the University of Maine, where he first recognized the power of food and gardens. He has a B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science from the University of Maine and is an M.A. Candidate in Philosophy at The New School for Social Research in New York City.

Hillary Zuckerberg

Director of Artists Against Hunger & Poverty

Hillary develops unique ways for artists, the music community and the music industry to raise awareness and funds for WhyHunger and our grassroots partners who are doing essential work on the ground to put an end to hunger and poverty. Since starting at WhyHunger in 2008, Hillary has increased exposure to WhyHunger by opening up the program to new artists including moe., Papa Roach, Burlap to Cashmere and more and by building AAH&P's online social networks. Prior to joining WhyHunger, Hillary spent 15 years in the music industry managing bands, promoting concerts and listening to great music at venues big and small. Hillary graduated from SUNY Fredonia with a degree in Communications/Media Management and a minor in Music. She is an avid Yankees fan and was recently published for the first time via a Letter to the Editor in Rolling Stone magazine.

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