2015 Iowa Hunger Summit

Dr.Yogesh Shah

Dr. Shah is the Associate Dean of Global Health at Des Moines University. He began serving in this position in July, 2007.

Dr. Shah’s expertise is in geriatrics and the health effects of climate change on the human population. His passion is to improve the health of people around the world. He was awarded a Fulbright scholarship in March, 2013 to develop a palliative care curriculum in Rwanda.

Dr. Shah has been instrumental in establishing the city of Des Moines as a member of the World Health Organization’s network of age friendly cities. He is the founding attending physician for Des Moines University’s Memory Clinic. He is Medical Advisor for American Red Cross –Iowa State Fair first Aid Stations. He has been moderator and speaker at Iowa Hunger Summit.

Dr. Shah has led the creation of two consortiums; the Heartland Global Health Consortium (HGHC) and the Heartland Climate and Health Consortium (HCHC). The HGHC is a collaboration of Iowa educational institutions that are leaders in promoting opportunities to inspire and equip students to become leaders in global public health.  The HCHC works toward educating Iowans on the effect of climate change on nutrition and human health. Dr. Shah has been invited to speak at the White House task force on climate change and be a part of the first ever World Health Organization conference in Geneva on climate and health. He is one of the lead authors for Iowa Climate Statement 2014: Impacts on the Health of Iowans. 

Dr. Shah received his degree in medicine from Bombay University in India. He completed his residency in Family Medicine with the Mercy Mayo Residency Program and his Geriatric Fellowship from the Mayo Clinic. He is triple-board-certified in family medicine, geriatrics and hospice and palliative care. Dr. Shah holds a Masters in Public Health from Des Moines University.

Dr. Shah has received numerous awards for his work in aging and dementia and has served as the Commissioner on Iowa Department of Aging and as a board member on the Iowa Medical Examiners. He has received the Passport to Prosperity Award, which honors individuals who immigrated to the state of Iowa and have contributed significantly to the community.

Cory Berkenes

Cory Berkenes has served as the State Director of the Iowa Food Bank Association since January, 2013. He resides in the Des Moines Area with his wife, Crystal, and two daughters, Elsie and Emerson. 

Berkenes’ current position as State Director of the Iowa Food Bank Association allows him to collaborate with the eight Feeding America Food Banks in the state that serve all 99 counties. He directs the state policy and advocacy efforts for the association, oversees the statewide SNAP outreach contract, manages the state food bank disaster preparedness initiative, and establishes strategies for improved food and fund procurement for food banks. Berkenes currently serves on the Leadership Team of the Food Access and Health Work Group of the Iowa Food Systems Council and co-chairs its policy committee, sits on the Advisory Council of the Iowa Food and Family Project, and has co-lead the Iowa Anti-Hunger Coalition.

Lily French

Lily French is Senior Policy Consultant for the Iowa Policy Project. She is Director of Field Education and a Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Iowa. A former policy analyst for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, she has served as an adviser to state and local government officials on issues of child care, workforce development and microenterprise development. She holds a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Iowa.

Liesl Eathington

Liesl Eathington has worked in the Department of Economics at Iowa State University as a full-time staff researcher since 1998. Liesl also provides technical assistance in support of regional economic development efforts by the Iowa State University EDA University Center, which is housed in the Center for Industrial Research and Service.

Liesl currently coordinates the Iowa Community Indicators Program (ICIP), which provides demographic and economic data and analysis to Iowa’s communities. Visit the ICIP Web site at www.icip.iastate.edu.

David Ring

David W. Ring, 54, was born in Albert Lea, MN and raised in La Crosse, Wisconsin where he graduated from Central High School in La Crosse in 1979. 

Ring received a B.S. in Economics and Finance in 1984 and a MBA in 1995 from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse.  (Ring previously worked for The First National Bank of Chicago as an economist, for Gateway Foods in a government relations capacity, and for Reinhart Companies and Associated Bank in the areas of property management and commercial lending, respectively.)

Ring serves as Community Relations Manager for Kwik Trip, Inc., where he assists zone, district and store leaders and the real estate department in fostering stronger bonds and relationships with guests, businesses, and charitable organizations in the communities Kwik Trip and Kwik Star serves.  Other job duties include government relations work with state and federal trade associations, assisting in the coordination and implementation of community initiatives, as well as chairing the Families Helping Families Committee which provides support to Kwik Trip and Kwik Star co-workers in need of assistance. 

Ring currently serves on the boards of the following community organizations: Iowa Grocery Industry Association, Southwest Wisconsin Chapter of the American Red Cross, Aquinas Catholic Schools Foundation, Workforce Connections, Inc., Viterbo University’s Dahl School of Business Advisory Board, UW-La Crosse’s Chancellor’s Community Council, La Crosse Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Minnesota Retailers Association. 

He is the current campaign chair for the United Fund for Arts and Humanities and past board president of the Coulee Region Humane Society, La Crosse Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, Downtown Mainstreet, Inc., and the Scenic Bluffs Chapter of the American Red Cross.  Ring also previously served on the Harbor and Waterfront Plan Steering Committee, the La Crosse Parking Advisory Board, La Crosse Community Theatre Government Affairs Committee, and the Onalaska Efficiency Committee. Ring was privileged and honored to serve as the 2013 Festmaster for Oktoberfest USA.

Ring lives in Onalaska, Wisconsin and is married to his wife, Denise, assistant principal and former math teacher at Aquinas High School, and has two children, Mariah, a junior at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse and Scott, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse; and a special dog, Boomer.  

Greg Fripp

Greg Fripp is the Founder and Executive Director of Whispering Roots, Inc.  Whispering Roots is an award winning non-profit organization dedicated to bringing healthy food, S.T.E.M. Education and economic development to underserved communities by using Aquaculture, Aquaponics and Hydroponics. Greg proudly served his country in the US Navy as both a “top ranked” Officer and Enlisted Member. After completing his military service, Greg had a very successful career in the corporate world ultimately achieving the position of Head of Talent Acquisition for TD AMERITRADE.  He left that role in July 2010 to pursue his passion for growing food and developing vibrant communities. Greg’s vision led to the creation of Whispering Roots.

Mr. Fripp’s innovative programming has been responsible for two of his client sites receiving Presidential awards in the last year. He travels both nationally and internationally consulting on techniques to increase the availability of healthy food while enhancing the educational and economic opportunities for people in need.

Dr. Evelyn Crayton

Dr. Evelyn F. Crayton, RDN, LDN, is the 2015-2016 President of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. A registered dietitian nutritionist, Crayton is a professor emeritus at Auburn University and formerly a professor of nutrition, dietetics and hospitality management and assistant director of extension family and consumer sciences. In a partnership with Dominican University, she established an individualized supervised practice pathway for community nutrition educators. Crayton is a past president of the Alabama Dietetic Association; chair of the Nutrition Education for the Public dietetic practice group; membership chair of the Hunger and Environmental Nutrition DPG; and a mentor in the National Organization of Blacks in Dietetics and Nutrition member interest group. She has collaborated, partnered or received funding from the National Cancer Institute, the March of Dimes, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health, International Society of Hypertension in Blacks and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Crayton was a consumer representative on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Food Advisory Committee. A published author in refereed journals, she has developed curricula, videos, slide presentations, leaflets and other teaching materials and is an international speaker. Crayton is the author of Food Preservation in Alabama (Alabama Cooperative Extension System 2012). A graduate of Grambling State University, Crayton earned a master’s degree from Saint Louis University and a doctorate from Auburn University.

Raymond Offenheiser

Raymond C. Offenheiser is President of Oxfam America, a non-profit international development and relief agency and the U.S. affiliate of the Oxfam International confederation.  Oxfam works to end global poverty through saving lives, strengthening communities and campaigning for change. Since Ray joined Boston-based Oxfam America in 1995, the organization has grown more than sevenfold and become a leading voice in the US on a broad array of public policy issues from international development, to human rights and foreign policy.

Prior to Oxfam, Ray represented the Ford Foundation in Bangladesh and the Andean and Southern Cone regions of South America. He has also directed programs for the Inter-American Foundation in both Brazil and Colombia and worked for Save the Children Federation in Mexico. At the 2012 G Meeting, he was appointed by the Obama administration to represent civil society interests on the Leadership Council of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Africa.

Ray serves and has served on numerous boards and advisory bodies for a diverse array of both national and international institutions including the World Economic Forum, the Clinton Global Initiative, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Aspen Institute, the World Agricultural Forum, the Gates Foundation, Harvard Business School, the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, Cornell University, Interaction and the Kellogg Center at the University of Notre Dame. He was a co-founder and board member of the ONE Campaign, the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network and the Food Policy Action Network and served as honorary President of Wetlands International. Ray holds a master’s degree in development sociology from Cornell University and earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame.

Dr. Ellen Dierenfeld

Ellen Dierenfeld, PhD brings extensive expertise in Comparative Animal Nutrition and Global Sustainable Agriculture, with over 20 years’ experience in basic and applied animal nutrition research. Ellen has managed several sustainable agriculture initiatives, with field work in six continents focusing on local/alternative feed ingredient utilization and animal production. Knowledgeable with livestock, zoo, pet, and wildlife species, she has served as the Director of the Wildlife Nutrition Center at the Wildlife Conservation Society (Bronx Zoo), Staff Nutritionist at the Saint Louis Zoo, and the Manager of the Global Sustainability Programs at Novus International, Inc., and currently serves as Lead Scientist for Outreach’s Shallom Farm in Tanzania. Ellen has published more than 150 peer-reviewed articles on animal nutrition and sustainable agriculture, and co-authored the book, Comparative Animal Nutrition and Metabolism. She received the PhD in animal science from Cornell University.

Rick McNary

Rick is Vice President of Private and Public Partnerships for Outreach, Inc., a nonprofit based in Iowa with an international NGO in Tanzania.

Rick is an innovator and advocate in the hunger space as evidenced by the development of the Kansas Hunger Dialogue in conjunction with Universities Fighting World Hunger, which gathers top administrators, faculty, and students from Kansas’ institutions of higher learning to collaborate on hunger. The Hunger Dialogue is now being replicated in other states.  Rick is also the 2012 recipient of a National Innovation Award from the Alliance to End Hunger for his Healthy Foods/Hunger Free Community model. 

He serves as Treasurer of the Executive Board for the Alliance to End Hunger in Washington, D.C., where he co-chairs the Alliance’s Advocacy Committee. Rick also serves as an Advisor to the National Hunger Free Communities Network.

Rick is a frequent keynote speaker on the topic of world hunger and blogs for several national and international hunger sites. He is the author of, Hunger Bites: Bite Size Stories of Inspiration.  His novel, Voices on the Prairie, was released in the summer of 2015.  Rick lives in Kansas with his wife, Christine. They have five children and four grandchildren.

Richard Hatfield

Richard Hatfield is a third generation Kenyan who has worked in the conservation sector for 20 years and more recently the development sector. His focus for the past 8 years has been on regeneration of pastoralist land and communities in Kenya and southern Ethiopia. His main motivation is that no future can be sustained without healthy land; and that ultimately land degradation is a social issue, hence the need to focus on reinforcing and rebuilding communities. He has created an umbrella of training colleagues, Natural Capital East Africa, which is involved in training, consultancy to land owners, and land management for land owners. Born and raised in Kenya, Hatfield is a Natural Resource Management specialist who has been working in both the development and conservation sectors in East Africa for the past 20 years; specializing in rangeland rehabilitation and management. He is highly committed to African ‘triple bottom line’ development (social-environmental-economic). Richard received his MS Ag Economics from Cornell.

Barbara Prather

Barb Prather has been the Executive Director of the Northeast Iowa Food Bank in Waterloo for 16 years and currently serves as the Iowa Food Bank Association Board Chair. In 2013, the Food Bank, under her leadership, completed a $6.5 million capital campaign for a new facility. This has and will greatly increase the food bank’s capacity to serve more. She’s been in the food banking industry for over 20 years.

Jill Krall

Jill Krall has been the Executive Director of the Waverly-Shell Rock Area United Way since March of 2013. When concern was raised by the Mayor and the City of Waverly in 2014 to address Food Security issues in the community, United Way stepped up to take the leadership of the newly formed Waverly Food Secure Network. The Network boasts a membership of over 25 organizations, individuals, and churches. Together the network strives to create the first food secure community in Iowa!

Kate Pauly

Grew up in southern Minnesota, went to college at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (geological engineering).  My husband and I met at my first job here in Des Moines at an environmental engineering firm.  We then moved around the country doing environmental cleanup projects at military installations.  When we started a family, we knew that we wanted to be back in the Midwest and not moving around every couple of years.  My husband is from Des Moines so we moved back and he returned to school to get his teaching certificate while I managed projects at Wells Fargo.  

We currently live in Winterset and my husband is a teacher at Dowling Catholic.  We have two junior high school aged kids.  I helped start the BackPack ProgramTM in Ankeny where we used to live and realized that I had a passion for feeding kids 

Lyn Marchant

Community School Coordinator for Des Moines Public Schools, located at Scavo Full Service High School, the first of its kind in the state of Iowa. After fifteen years as the Director of Community Based Services for Youth Services International, designing and implementing family centered and academic programming for youth across the Midwest, she accepted a consultation position with the United Way of Central Iowa. During this time she facilitated the implementation of Youth Venture, a service learning program for youth and consulted with several other Central Iowa organizations to implement positive youth development programming. 

Lyn’s passion for her community and youth inspired her to be a  co-founder of  a Des Moines based non-profit, Community Youth Concepts, in 2010.  This agency focuses on positive youth development programming and technical assistance. Born and raised in Iowa, and a graduate of Minnesota State University, she is committed to community betterment, resource development, and the wellbeing of our youth.

Courtney Long

Courtney Long is a design fellow with the Iowa State Community Design Lab and the Local Foods Team.  Courtney manages the development and implementation of the Agricultural Urbanism Toolkit; a joint program through the CDL, Leopold Center and ISU Extension working to design and implement local food system projects in communities around Iowa.  Community projects include: integration and design of local and regional food system practices, health and wellness opportunities, and sustainable infrastructure.

Courtney has been working with local food systems and design for access to healthy, local and regional foods since 2010 with various appointments and research: Farm to ISU + Sustainability Coordinator: ISU Dining; Design Fellow: Iowa State Community Design Lab, and current work with the Iowa State University Extension: Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR).

Nathan Magrath

Nathan Magrath serves as Manager of Communications and Outreach for the Alliance to End Hunger, a non-profit coalition of organizations committed to building the public and political will to end hunger in the U.S. and around the world. In his capacity, Nathan provides basic communications support for the Alliance, including social media, newsletter publication, and additional media outreach. Nathan also assists in advocacy activities, specifically—but not limited to—international food security policy and programs. Nathan holds a BA in Political Science from Hope College and an MA in International Development Administration from Western Michigan University. He lives in Fairfax, VA.