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The World Food Prize Foundation announced today that Kyle Poorman has joined the organization as Director, International Dialogues.
“In selecting Kyle for his role, the Foundation was impressed with this vast experience in food and agriculture policy, domestically, here in Iowa and globally,” said Barbara Stinson, President, World Food Prize Foundation. “As the Foundation expands its international programming, it is essential that we have members of our team that serve as senior agriculture professionals. I am truly excited to share his knowledge and expertise with our partners around the world.”
In this position, Mr. Poorman helps to manage major programs for the Foundation, such as the Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue and Digital Dialogues. In addition, Mr. Poorman will supervise the implementation of the Iowa Hunger Summit, taking over for Madeline Goebel who is departing the Foundation for graduate school in August. The Iowa Hunger is an annual event that focuses the conversation around challenges Iowans face each day. This conference brings together leaders from around Iowa to discuss pressing issues related to hunger, poverty and food security.
“I have been fortunate to work on food system innovation across the world, but at no time did I imagine that I'd be part of the World Food Prize Foundation,” said Mr. Poorman. “This team is built around and entrusted with advancing Norman Borlaug's legacy. I am so excited to bring my global agriculture background to both convene and inspire others to tackle the globe's most intractable food issues. It is an honor and a privilege to work to advance our collective well being and help to eventually ensure that everyone has access to healthy food.”
Prior to joining the World Food Prize Foundation, Mr. Poorman was the Communications Manager and Policy Lead at Iowa State University with the Consortium for Innovation in Post-Harvest Loss and Food Waste Reduction. In this position, Mr. Poorman helped steer a global agriculture and food organization with major international members and funders.
Mr. Poorman has worked in the U.S. in Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, New York, and Ohio, as well as in Europe in France, Italy and the Netherlands. His work has primarily focused on sustainability, conservation, research, education and unification across issues related to agriculture and climate change. He previously held an Associate Professional Officer position for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN. In this role, he brought together Fortune 500 businesses, world class universities, NGOs and governments to amplify the conversation around sustainable agricultural improvements.
In 2012, Mr. Poorman graduated from Yale University with dual Master’s Degrees, one in International Relations and the other in Environmental Management. He won the Miguel Ferreyros Award for his academic excellence at Yale’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.
Mr. Poorman received his Bachelor’s Degree in History with a minor in Political Science at Iowa State University in 2004, where he graduated with Distinction.