The World Food Prize Foundation

Washington Leadership Symposium

The Wallace-Carver Fellows participate in a week-long leadership symposium in Washington DC, hosted by the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

The Washington Leadership Symposium is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for college students to examine key domestic and global challenges, and explore the exciting opportunities available to impact agriculture, the environment, human health and science through public service.

The Wallace-Carver Fellows participate in a series of high-level briefings, tours, leadership development activities, and discussions in Washington DC with a diverse array of key government officials and American thought leaders, including in recent years: 
 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture

Sonny Perdue, Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture

Dr. Gregory Parham, Former Assistant Secretary for Administration

Krysta Harden, Former Deputy Secretary of Agriculture​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Kathleen Merrigan, Former Deputy Secretary of Agriculture

Ted McKinney, Former Under Secretary for Trade & Foreign Agricultural Affairs​​​​​​​

Bill Northey, Former Under Secretary for Farm Production & Conservation​​​​​​​

Ann Bartuska, Former Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics

​​​​​​​Dr. Cathy Woteki, Former Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics​​​​​​​

Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young, Acting Chief Scientist and Agricultural Research Service Administrator

Dr. Mary Bowman, Former Administrator of the Economic Research Service

Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy, F​​​​​​​ormer Administrator of the USDA National Institute of Food & Agriculture

​​​​​​​Phil Karsting, Former Administrator Foreign Agricultural Service​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Dr. Dionne Toombs, Director of the Office of the Chief Scientist

Dr. Richard Derksen, Deputy Director of the Office of the Chief Scientist

Mark Jekanowski, Chair of the World Agricultural Outlook Board

Dr. Donald McLellan, Former Director of the ARS Office of Outreach, Diversity & Equal Opportunity, 

Shannon Nally Yanessa, USDA National Organic Program Assistant Director

Torey Powell, Former Office of Partnerships & Public Engagement Youth Programs Manager

Josh Stull, National Institute of Food and Agriculture Congressional Affairs Officer 

Dr. Carlos Ortiz, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Institute of Youth, Family, and Community Program Specialist

 

WHITE HOUSE 

Doug Hoelscher, Deputy Asst. to the President & Director of Intergovernmental Affairs

Dr. Charles Santerre, Former Senior Policy Advisor for Agriculture & Rural Prosperity

Dr. Jeff Weld, Former Senior Policy Advisor and Assistant Director for STEM Education, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Doug O'Brien, Former Senior Policy Advisor for Rural Affairs​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​Deb Eschmeyer, Former Senior Advisor for Nutrition Policy & Executive Director of the Let's Move Initiative

Lisa Nichols, Former Assistant Director for Academic Engagement, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
​​​​​​​

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​Manisha Singh, Assistant Secretary of State ​​​​​​​

Charles Rivkin, Former Assistant Secretary of State​​​​​​​

Patrick Dunn, Former Director, Office of Agriculture Policy

Eric Luftman, Former Director, Office of Agriculture Policy

Dr. Diane Szymanski, Deputy Director, Office of Agriculture Policy
 

U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT​​​​​​​

Mark Green, Former USAID Administrator

Dr. Rajiv Shah, Former Deputy Administrator

​​​​​​​Bonnie Glick, Former USAID Deputy Administrator​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Dr. Robert Bertram, USAID Bureau for Food Security Chief Scientist​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​Dr. John Bowman, USAID Bureau for Food Security Senior Agriculture Advisor​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Dina Esposito, Former USAID Food for Peace Director​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Christie Vilsack, Former USAID Senior Advisor for International Education​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

 

U.S. FOOD & DRUG ADMINISTRATION

Dr. Stephen Ostroff, Former FDA Deputy Commissioner

Dr. Patrick Cournoyer, Consumer Safety Officer, Office of Food Additive Safety​​​​​​​

 

NATIONAL OCEANIC & ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Stephen Zepecki, NOA​​​​​​​A Educational Outreach C​​​​​​​oordinator​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

 

​​​​​​​BELTSVILLE AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH CENTER​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​
Dr. Dariusz Swietlik, ARS Northeast Area Director​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Dr. Charles Onwulata, ARS Northeast Area Associate Director​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​
Dr. Jay Evans, USDA Bee Laboratory ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Dr. Naomi Fukagawa, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center Director​​​​​​​​

Dr. Thomas Wang, ARS Diet, Genomics ​​​​​​​& Immunology Laboratory Research Leader​​​​​​​

 

U.S. NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL LIBRARY

Susan Fugate, Head of Special Collections​​​​​​​

Chris Cole, Business Development Manager​​​​​​​ 

​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​U.S. NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS​​​​​​​

Dr. Sahara Moon, Executive Director 

Dr. Ari Novy, Former Executive Director

Devin Dotson, Communications Director​​​​​​​

 

U.S. NATIONAL ARBORETUM

Dr. Richard Olsen, Director of the US National Arboretum

 

U.S. SENATE & HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Ambassador Tony Hall, Former U.S. Representative (Ohio) & Chair of the Congressional Hunger Caucus

Joni Ernst, U.S. Senator (Iowa)​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Ed Cooney, Former Congressional Hunger Center Executive Director

 

UNITED NATIONS & INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Vimlendra Sharan, UN Food & Agriculture Organization Director​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Gabriel Laizer, UN Food & Agriculture Organization Liaison Officer​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Kelly Herman, UN Foundation Nothing But Nets Partnerships & Development Officer

Dr. Shengen Fan, International Food Policy Research Institute Director General

Marshall Matz, World Food Program USA Co-Founder

 

 

WORLD FOOD PRIZE LAUREATES

Rev. David Beckmann, 2010 World Food Prize Laureate & Bread for the World President

Catherine Bertini, 2002 World Food Prize Laureate & Former Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme ​​​​​​​

Howarth Bouis, 2016 World Food Prize Laureate & Former HarvestPlus Director

Hans Herren, 1995 World Food Prize Laureate​​​​​​​ & Millennium Institute President

 

The Fellows participated in service learning activities at the University of the District of Columbia: 

Matthew Gardine, Assistant Farm Manager

 

The Fellows explored Washington DC and toured the National Mall and Monuments: ​​​​​​​

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial​​​​​​​
Washington Monument
World War II Memorial​​​​​​​
Lincoln Memorial
Vietnam War Memorial
Korean War Memorial​​​​​​​
Einstein Memorial 
 

 

 


 

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