LEADING A FOOD BANK THROUGH THE STORM

While a a student at the Maxwell School, Julia Tedesco ’08 M.P.A. never would have imagined that her future career would be heading an agency aimed at alleviating hunger.

Foodlink’s longtime director, the late Tom Ferraro, saw her talent. Shortly after she graduated, he created a position for her in the Rochester, New York-based food bank, which serves a 10-county region. The agency’s primary mission: delivering food to the region’s needy through food pantries and other organizations.

When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, many lost jobs and schools closed, limiting income and youngsters’ access to food. Tedesco says the agency needed to respond—and fast.

A growing number of people didn’t have enough to eat. “We had to pivot very quickly,” she says. “We had to focus on emergency food. It was a critical test. We had to redeploy staff. But we’re an organization prepared for disaster.”

Among the most pressing needs: helping to ensure Rochester city school children had enough to eat. While the district distributed breakfasts and lunches for students now studying from home, Foodlink made sure children got meals after hours—prepared in Foodlink’s 35,000-square-foot kitchen, where, among other things, they train people to work in the food industry.

They delivered the meals any way they could—through recreation centers, daycares and directly to city neighborhoods. Since March 2020 they have given out nearly one million snacks and meals.

Partnering with public and private organizations, Foodlink also safely supplied food boxes for the drive-through distributions in the region, delivering 26.6 million pounds of food in 585 events. In all, 174,000 households, including shut-ins, were served.

“We changed everything to meet people where they are,” Tedesco says.

While Tedesco didn’t set out to become a CEO of a food bank, the work feels right, and that was driven home by what she experienced with her dedicated staff during the pandemic. “I do feel like it was meant to be,” she says.

— Steve Buchiere

Alexandria Valerio ’93 M.P.A. is resident representative for the World Bank in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She previously served as lead economist for the World Bank in Washington, D.C.

Lynda Barrow ’94 M.A. (PSc)/’98

Ph.D. (PSc) authored Religion & Politics on the World Stage: An IR Approach (Lynne Rienner Publishers), analyzing the junction of religion and world politics. To understand the world around us, Barrow explains, we must first understand how religious ideologies shape our politics.

Nancy Bell ’94 J.D./M.A.I.R./’96

Ph.D. (PSc) is director of regulatory affairs and associate general counsel for Rivian in Washington, D.C. She previously served as policy counsel for Automated Driving and Internet of Things at Intel Corporation in Washington, D.C

Stephanie Pasquale ’94 B.A. (PSt)/’97 M.P.A. was appointed to Onondaga County’s board of directors for the Syracuse-based Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency.

Peter Anastor ’95 M.P.A. is the new director of the Michigan Department of Transportation’s Office of Rail.

Tunc Berkman ’95 B.A. (Econ) is a partner at TBS Investment and Management Co. He previously served as a freelance marketing and advertising consultant at Divera AI.

Susan Gooden ’95 M.A. (PSc)/’96 Ph.D. (PSc) was named dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs. Gooden previously served as interim dean at the Wilder School since May 2018.

Holly Hurlburt ’95 M.A. (Hist)/ ’00 Ph.D. (Hist) is assistant dean and executive director of academic enrichments programming at North Carolina State University.

Joyjit Roy ’95 M.P.A. is executive vice president of global programs at Winrock International. He previously served as vice president at ACDI/VOCA, providing operational support across the organization to improve project workflows.

John Powers ’96 J.D./M.P.A. was inducted as a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is currently a partner at Hancock Estabrook, LLP.

Robert Henke ’97 M.P.A. served as chief of staff to the deputy secretary of defense at the U.S. Department of Defense from December 2019 to January 2020. He previously served as staff director on the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee.

Jay Silveria ’97 M.S.Sc. is executive director at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. He previously served as lieutenant general for the U. S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Jason Sisney ’97 M.P.A. is budgetdirector for the California State Assembly Speaker’s Office.

Danita Nias ’99 M.S.Sc. is the new president and chief executive officer for the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin counties in Fla. She previously served as vice president for Florida Atlantic University.