Barbara Stinson
Past President
The World Food Prize Foundation
Barbara Stinson served as president of the World Food Prize Foundation from January 2020 to January 2023, building on a career of championing policy, research and project innovations through collaborative solutions. She is the second president of the Foundation since it was established in 1986 by Dr. Norman E. Borlaug.
Inspired by Dr. Borlaug’s mission of increasing agricultural productivity and education globally, Ms. Stinson expanded the impact of the Foundation and its programs to address pressing global challenges. Under Ms. Stinson's leadership, three remarkable World Food Prize Laureates were identified and recognized. She also managed through two years of pandemic-related challenges and then pivoted back to a successful in-person 2022 Borlaug Dialogue and Laureate Award Ceremony. WFPF Youth Programs flourished in this challenging period, both virtually and in-person.
Ms. Stinson previously served as a co-founder and Senior Partner of the Meridian Institute, a renowned non-profit organization based in Dillon, CO and Washington, D.C. that guides collaboration and drives action to address our world’s complex challenges.
Ms. Stinson brought more than 30 years of experience in environmental public policy and business management, focusing the last 10 years on global food security and food safety. She successfully led collaborations addressing complex challenges, such as tackling food safety in sub-Saharan Africa and the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity.
Prior to Meridian, Ms. Stinson worked in the science and public policy program for The Keystone Policy Center, where she served as a neutral third-party mediator and facilitator. She earned a master’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts in environmental conservation from the University of Colorado, Boulder.