Congressional Hunger Center

Our mission is to develop, inspire, and connect leaders in the movement to end hunger, and to advocate for public policies that create a food-secure world. We envision a world without hunger and poverty where every person can achieve their full potential because equitable systems exist to achieve financial freedom and full access to healthful, affordable, and culturally appropriate foods.

Our program work consists of: 

1. Leadership Development – We provide leadership development opportunities for hunger fighters to connect policy with practice, learn together in peer cohorts, apply an equity lens to their work, and make meaningful contributions to the fight against hunger in the U.S. and overseas. Our programs include the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship, the Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellowship, Zero Hunger Internship, and Zero Hunger Academy.
2. Network Building – We facilitate collaboration across our network of more than 1,000 program alums and 300+ partner organizations and work at the intersection of hunger and its root causes. We break down silos and engage a broad range of allies who have a vested interest in ending hunger.
3. Advocacy – We are a one-stop shop for policymakers in need of accurate, field-based information and expertise on hunger and its root causes.

Woven into all the work we do is a commitment to equity and ensuring that people who have experienced hunger and poverty are leaders in designing, implementing, and evaluating community solutions and public policies. We also believe that leaders at the field and policy levels must collaborate and share knowledge to effect the systemic changes required to end hunger and poverty.