HUNGER AND POVERTY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Board of Advocates
- Deputy Director for Financial Operations
- Retired
Ambassador Eric Bost, retired, is the Deputy Director of the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture effective Sept. 1. As Deputy Director, he works to continue the legacy of Norman Borlaug, Ph.D., often called the "Father of the Green Revolution." Like its namesake, the Borlaug Institute seeks to elevate small-holder farmers out of poverty and hunger through agricultural science.
Bost has served as the deputy director for financial operations and external relations for the Borlaug Institute since 2012. He takes over the director role from Elsa Murano, Ph.D., who has held the role since 2012.
Bost brings many unique perspectives to the Borlaug Institute and the effort to improve lives through agriculture.
Beginning in 1997, he served Texas as the Commissioner and CEO of the Texas Department of Human Services, where he oversaw programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP. He served as the U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary of Food, Nutrition and Consumer Service beginning in 2001. In that role, he managed nutritional programs that served one in every six Americans, including the Women, Infants and Children, WIC, program and the school lunch program.
In 2006, Bost was also appointed by then Pres. George W. Bush as Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa. There he focused on improving childhood education and health conditions and implementing the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. This experience, plus Bost's lifetime of world travels, has given him a unique perspective on agriculture's role in diplomacy.
"As Dr. Borlaug said, peace can't be built on empty stomachs," he said. "Dissent and problems and violence and conflict in some places around the world occur because, or is exacerbated by, people's inability to have enough to eat. So, agriculture is critically important."
Job Titles:
- Project Manager, Save the Children
Anne MacDonald serves as Edelman Global Advisory's Managing Director for Political Risk, helping Fortune 100 corporations prepare for and respond to geopolitical issues that could affect their brand and business. Since 2018, she has served as Edelman's geopolitical advisor to Starbucks Corporation and leads EGA's political risk practice. Her policy work began in the Bush Administration, where she was an appointee in the White House, Pentagon, and State Department. She also served as the post-presidency chief of staff to Mrs. Laura Bush through the launch of the Bush Presidential Center and Institute. Prior to rejoining the Bushes in Dallas, Anne lived and worked in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in one of the world's first organizations dedicated to the fight against HIV/AIDS and a critical component of President Bush's PEPFAR initiative, GHESKIO Centers. Anne is on the advisory board of North Avenue Capital, a bank dedicated to rural development, and is a senior advisor to the Center on Conflict and Development in the School of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M. She has served on non-profit advisory boards of organizations operating in Burma, Ghana, Haiti, Kenya, and Uganda, as well as at home in Dallas. Anne is a graduate of Harvard Kennedy School (MPA) and Rhodes College (BA).
Job Titles:
- Research Professor, Human Development & Family Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana
Barbara H. Fiese, Ph.D., is a clinical and developmental psychologist whose research focuses on family factors that promote health and wellbeing in children. From 2008-2020 she held the Pampered Chef, Ltd., Endowed Chair in Family Resiliency and was Director of the Family Resiliency Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with affiliated appointments in the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychology. She is considered one of the national experts in the role that shared family mealtimes may play in promoting health.
She is a Principal Investigator or co-Investigator on multiple federally funded projects aimed at examining environmental and biological factors contributing to early nutritional health including the STRONG Kids2 Project which takes a cell-to-community approach to dietary habits from birth and the ITOPP program, an innovative transdisciplinary MPH/PhD training program in obesity prevention. She is also the PI on several projects aimed at increasing the efficiencies of summer and after school feeding programs for food insecure children and youth.
She is Past-President of the Society of Family Psychology, Editor of the Journal of Family Psychology, and Inaugural Editor of Advances in Child and Family Policy and Practice.
Job Titles:
- Board of Advocates
- Chief Executive Officer for Sodexo Live
Belinda Oakley is the Chief Executive Officer for Sodexo Live! North America where she leads 20,000+ team members at more than 150 partner venues throughout the U.S. and Canada, including stadiums, convention and conference centers, museums, zoos, aquariums, ski areas, and more.
A proven international business leader with two decades of foodservice management experience, Belinda has a track record of successfully leading enterprise growth strategies through operational excellence, innovation and the development of high performing teams. Her background in food service operations leadership spans multiple countries including the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom and Australia.
She's held executive roles in franchised retail, quick-service restaurants and the corporate services sector for companies including Famous Brands International (Mrs. Field and TCBY), Brumby's Bakeries and Benugo. Prior to joining Sodexo Live! in January 2023, she was the CEO of Chartwells K12 School Dining, leading 16,000 associates in 4,400 schools across the U.S.. Today, she is a member of the Sodexo Live! Global Executive Committee where she works in tandem with Sodexo Live!'s international teams to ensure growth, collaboration and new levels of success.
Job Titles:
- Associate Chair, Professor, and Director of MPH in Community Health Science Program, Baylor University
- Professor, Associate
Beth Lanning is a Professor, Associate Chair, and MPH - Community Health Science Director in the Department of Public Health at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. She received her Master of Science in Education in Community Health from Baylor University in 1991 and her Doctor of Philosophy in Health Education from Texas A&M University in 1997. She is a Master Certified Health Education Specialist.
Professor Lanning's research is in two primary areas: 1) sexual health including sexual violence prevention and 2) human-animal interventions especially equine-assisted services for trauma recovery, veterans with PTSD and depression, and children with Autism. She has also conducted research in health literacy, medically underserved populations, and global health. She leads the Baylor-Africa New Life Initiative and is the faculty advisor for BUILD at Baylor student group.
Betty Bauer is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where she holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology. She serves on the boards of Waco Foundation, Communities in Schools, Caritas, Inspiracion Waco, MCC Foundation, WISD Education Foundation and Planned Parenthood. Betty and her family are also actively involved in the organizations, Talitha Koum and Habitat for Humanity. Betty has been honored for her volunteerism, including the Associated Fundraising Professionals Philanthropist of the Year in 2019 with her husband Benjy. Betty has been a founding member of Women United since its inauguration in 2017.
Job Titles:
- Child Hunger Outreach Specialist, West Texas
Betty Teston is the Child Hunger Outreach Specialist for the San Angelo region of the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty. Prior to joining The Collaborative, she was the district Nutrition and Wellness Coordinator for San Angelo ISD. Betty has over 30 years of experience in food service management in hospitals, business and industry and the Head Start program. She graduated from Texas Tech University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition and is a Licensed Dietitian and member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Bob Barkley graduated from Baylor with a BBA in 1978 and graduated from the Baylor School of Law in 1980. Bob was hired by Goldman, Sachs & Co. and was initially based in Goldman's New York City headquarters. He then transitioned to the firm's Houston office where he helped build the firm's asset management business in the southwest. He retired in 2018 as a Managing Director and Partner of Barrow Hanley Global Investors in Dallas. Bob served as he the Head of Client Development for 23 years and was responsible for the firm's worldwide marketing activities with major corporate and public pension funds, foundations, endowments, sovereign wealth funds, and mutual funds.
Bob has served on the Executive Committee of the Baylor Alumni Association, President of the Baylor Law School Alumni Association, and on the President's Council of Baylor. Additionally, he has served on the boards and advisory boards of non-profits and ministries including the Dawson McAllister Association, the West Dallas Community School, the National Christian Foundation of North Texas, Northrise University in Zambia, the Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP), The Root Cause, and the One Heart Project. In 2020, Bob provided a major gift to establish a new collaborative effort at Baylor that will work on the replication of the successful Texas-based Prison Entrepreneurship Program for incarcerated men and The One Heart Project for incarcerated youth in additional states across the US.
Job Titles:
- Research Assistant Professor, Institute for Research and Education to Advance Community Health, Elson S Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University
Cassandra J. Nguyen has formal training in human nutrition and promoting healthy behaviors, having completed a PhD and MS in nutrition at the University of Illinois after earning a BS in dietetics from Central Washington University. Dr. Nguyen was a first-generation college student and the first in her family to earn a graduate degree. The long-term goal of her research is to bridge the gap between "what we know" and "what we do" about food insecurity. Studies she leads broadly align with one of three areas of interest: 1) revitalization of local food systems to increase diet quality and wellbeing among Native communities and families, 2) integration of food insecurity screening into healthcare services to better address chronic diseases, and 3) advancements in the charitable food system to increase equity and empowerment of clients. Dr. Nguyen uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to address research questions related to each of these interests.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor, Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Christopher Long is a research psychologist and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Dr. Long's research focuses on interventions to improve access to healthy food for people who are food insecure. He leads studies funded by NIH and USDA to examine the effectiveness of home delivery of diabetes-appropriate groceries in improving diabetes management with people who are food insecure and have type 2 diabetes. Dr. Long's work also involves community-engaged program evaluation focused on nutrition and chronic disease, including program evaluations several multi-year projects funded by the CDC to improve nutrition and physical activity in communities across Arkansas. He has studied nutrition interventions in food pantries, community meal programs, school districts, and churches. He also serves as co-investigator on trials comparing the effectiveness of family-based diabetes prevention and management interventions with clinic patients and with Marshallese communities in the U.S.
Job Titles:
- Program Director of the Innovation Hub at the Baylor Collaborative
- Program Director, Innovation Hub
Codie Robinson is the Program Director of the Innovation Hub at the Baylor Collaborative. Codie helps oversee and implement the processes necessary to help run effective and impactful programs. She received her bachelors degree in Biology from Abilene Christian University, and has previously worked within Spiritual Life at Baylor, as well as a local non-profit in Waco. During her free time, Codie loves reading, baking, and spending time with her family!
Job Titles:
- Research Associate, Global Initiatives
Colin Arnold is part of the Baylor Collaborative's Global Initiatives team, and comes to the Collaborative following the better part of a decade in and around Washington, D.C. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in political science and history from Loyola Marymount University and his Master of Arts in sociology from the University of Virginia where is currently a Doctoral candidate.
Colin's research sits at the intersection of political and economic sociology, focusing more specifically on the role of social movements, organized interest groups, and political institutions in shaping long-term policy outcomes and the trajectory of global capitalism more broadly. Colin's work has appeared in multiple academic journals, including Mobilizations and the Journal of World-Systems Research, and has been presented at numerous academic and non-academic conferences.
Colin currently resides in Austin with his partner and small K9-American, and can often be found reading, writing, or guiltily rambling about how he should be writing. He is an avid musician, tattoo enthusiast, and an overly competitive amateur softball player. A lifelong sports fanatic and native Southern Californian, Colin is a committed fan of the Los Angeles Lakers and, while excited to embrace the history and tradition of Baylor athletics, will forever live-and-die by his most beloved Dodgers.
Courtney Haworth has worked on the Research Team at the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty since October 2020. She is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) and PhD student who is passionate about research, social justice, and ensuring equity for all people. Her current research interests include food security/sovereignty, effective interventions to increase food security, integration of faith and social work practice, and mental health. Courtney's work with the Baylor Collaborative includes completing research projects, evaluations, grant proposals and reports, and other research-related needs. She collaborates with colleagues to analyze data, evaluate research studies, and present findings at forums and conferences. She also serves as a liaison between the Baylor Collaborative and external partners for evaluation and research.
Courtney has presented research at the Rhetoricians of Health and Medicine (RHM) Symposium, the Rhetoric Society of America (RSA) Conference, Waco Family Medicine's Health Research Forum, the Baylor Collaborative's Together at the Table: Hunger and Poverty Summit, and the North American Association of Christians in Social Work (NACSW) Convention. She has also published in the Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work.
She earned her Master of Social Work (MSW) from Baylor University's Diana R. Garland School of Social Work and her Master of Divinity (MDiv) from Baylor University's George W. Truett Theological Seminary. Courtney earned her Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Southwest Baptist University and is currently a student in the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Social Work program at Baylor University's Diana R. Garland School of Social Work.
Courtney resides in the Midwest and enjoys spending time with her husband, Ben, her kids, Wendell and Junia, and her dog, Timber. She loves reading, running, knitting, and being outside.
Job Titles:
- Snee Family Endowed Chair
- Snee Family Endowed Chair Professor, Department of Economics
Craig Gundersen is the Snee Family Endowed Chair at the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, and a Professor in the Department of Economics at Baylor University. He is also on the Technical Advisory Group for Feeding America, the lead researcher on Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap project, the Managing Editor for Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, a Round Table Fellow of the Farm Foundation, and a Faculty Affiliate of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) at the University of Notre Dame. His research concentrates on the causes and consequences of food insecurity and on the evaluation of food assistance programs, with an emphasis on SNAP. Gundersen is a Fellow of the Agricultural and Applied Economic Association (AAEA).
Dan Christenson joined PepsiCo in April of 2016 and is the Senior Director for Government Affairs based in Washington, DC. In this role, Dan leads PepsiCo's policy engagement with the Federal government. Previously, Dan served at the US Department of Agriculture from 2011 to 2016, where he was Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy to Secretary Tom Vilsack from 2014 to 2016. Before joining USDA, Dan served for several years as a Senior Professional Staff Member on the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee (2005-2011); first under Chairman Tom Harkin (2005-2009), and later to Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln (2009-2011).
Dan is a magna cum laude graduate of Luther College, and received his M.A. from Iowa State University. He resides in Kensington, Maryland with his wife Betsy and their two daughters, Hannah and Alice.
Job Titles:
- Professor, Child Health and Wellbeing, Boston University School of Medicine
Dr. Frank has written numerous scientific articles and papers, most recently on the developmental and behavioral correlates of food insecurity in childhood and adolescence.
Cited as a respected authority in her fields, Dr. Frank has given testimony to city, state and federal legislative committees on the growing problem of hunger and associated hardships in the United States and its effects on our youngest children. Dr. Frank was the sole physician appointed to the 10 member National Commission on Hunger in 2014. She was also recruited to serve on the Aspen Institute's Dialogue on Food Insecurity and Health Care Costs.
She is no longer active in clinical care, but always happy to support other researchers and child advocates in her own institution and else where.
Job Titles:
- Child Hunger Outreach Specialist, South Texas
Debra Franco is the Child Hunger Outreach Specialist in the Rio Grande Valley region of the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty. She is responsible for promoting and expanding participation in the USDA FNS programs in South Texas, with a special emphasis on child nutrition in school campuses within the border counties of Cameron, Hidalgo and Starr. She earned a bachelor's degree in business and has 14 years of experience in management with the private sector. Debra is also the President and Co-Founder of the South Texas Juvenile Diabetes Association, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving over 500 families of children living with diabetes. She is the recipient of multiple awards for her community service and participates in numerous local, state and national boards, including School Health Advisory Councils. She was recently recognized by Texas Senator Eddie Lucio, Jr., for her outstanding contribution to border health.
Deidra Emerson began her career in Public Administration in 1995 serving the City of Fort Worth. In 2015 she became Waco's Assistant City Manager and in that role provided leadership for multiple departments, including Water Utilities, Public Works, Waco-McLennan County Public Library, General Services, Waco Convention Center and Visitor's Bureau, Parks and Recreation and Waco Regional Airport. Her consistent record of success led to her promotion as Deputy City Manager. In this role, Deidra leads city efforts on equitable strategies, economic development and process improvement. She also oversees a diverse set of city services, including Development Services, Waco -McLennan County Health District, Waco Transit, Neighborhood Engagement, as well as manages the Prosper Waco Collective Impact Initiative and Creative Waco contracts.
Deidra is active in numerous professional and civic organizations. She is an alumna of Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management and later went on to earn a Master of Business Administration from Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas.
Dr. Alonso Aravena received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Baylor University in 2022, specializing in Community Analytics. He obtained his Sociology BA and his Communication MA from Universidad de Playa Ancha in Valparaiso, Chile. He has worked in applied social research projects for Chilean universities and has taught social science college courses for international students, mostly focused on Sustainable Development and Latin American studies, from 2014 to 2018. His research interests include social inequality, stratification, and exclusion, as well as their applications on local development and higher education. His Master's thesis examined how gender inequality and social class in Chile were affected by the 2015 national education law, which explicitly banned profiting for University administrations, as well as guaranteed full funding for incoming students who belong to the sixty percent lowest income households in the country.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate Dean, College of Arts & Sciences Senior Lecturer, Public Service, Baylor University
Dr. Andy Hogue serves as Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences and directs the Office of Engaged Learning, which facilitates for students and faculty programs in undergraduate research, civic engagement, global involvement, internships, and major fellowships and awards. Andy teaches courses on a range of public affairs, including philanthropy and civil society, social innovation, and politics, and has twice served as director of the Baylor in Maastricht program. Between 2014-2019, his courses on philanthropy raised over a million dollars and awarded those funds to nonprofit organizations locally and around the world. His greatest professional joy is helping students discover ways to orient their ambitions and maximize their learning to promote human flourishing.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Associate Professor, Statistical Science, Baylor University
Dr. David Kahle is an associate professor in the Department of Statistical Science at Baylor University, where he has been since 2011. A mathematical statistician by training, his research interests are broad but generally focus on computational aspects of statistics, from foundational concepts of statistical computing to data science software development. He began working with the Baylor Collaborative in 2013 through the Texas Hunger Initiative, and has worked on problems ranging from breakfast in the classroom to the emergency Meals-to-You (eMTY) program that took place during the 2019 COVID-19 pandemic. He holds a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Richmond and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Statistics from Rice University.
Job Titles:
- Board of Advocates
- Community Development Consultant and Lead Animator for the Center for Formative Action
Dr. Don D. Arispe is a Community Development Consultant and Lead Animator for the Center for Formative Action and Reflection (CFAR), and owner of CFAR Consulting. He is also an adjunct faculty member at Oblate School of Theology and the University of the Incarnate Word. For over 40 years, Don has served his community either as a full time, volunteer or professional lay minister, trainer, social worker, educator/trainer or community development specialist.
Don is married to Kim Arispe, Director of Family Service Association's Financial Empowerment Centers in San Antonio's West, South and Eastside. He is the proud father of 3 young adults and became a grandfather for the first time in Feb 2017. He is the 4th of 6 siblings and a native of San Antonio. His father's family has resided in San Antonio since the late 1700's and are decedents of the Canary Islands and Mexico. His mother's family is originally from South Texas and Mexico. Don was the first in his nuclear family to earn a bachelor's degree.
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Strategic Initiatives at Texas a & M University
- Board of Advocates
Dr. Elsa Murano is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Strategic Initiatives at Texas A&M University, where she previously served as President. She was a member of the George W. Bush administration, where she served as Undersecretary for Food Safety at the United States Department of Agriculture, the highest-ranking food safety official in the U.S. government.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Professor of Biology in the Honors College at Baylor University
- Clinical Professor of Biology, Honors College, Baylor University
Dr. Erika L. Abel is a clinical professor of biology in the Honors College at Baylor University. She earned a Ph.D. from the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Department of Environmental Health's program in Toxicology at the University of Washington in 2003. Subsequently, she was an NIH-supported postdoctoral fellow and then a research professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where she studied genetic and environmental factors that contribute to skin and pancreatic cancer risk.
Since joining Baylor in 2011, Dr. Abel has continued to conduct research on a variety of topics with Baylor undergraduates, and she has taught courses in molecular cell biology, biochemistry, genetics, and biological research design. She serves on multiple task forces and committees, including the Prehealth Advisory Committee for the College of Arts and Sciences and the implementation team for the Baylor Life Sciences in Dublin study abroad program.
Dr. Abel has received multiple awards for her work with and on behalf of undergraduates, including acknowledgment as a Baylor Fellow, the Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Achievement Research Mentor of the Year for 2016, and a National Academies Education Fellow in the Life Sciences. She has collaborated with Texas A&M AgriLife researchers on work relating to USDA/FDA guidelines for veterinary drug use with regard to food safety as well as with groups considering water safety.
Research Interests:
Best practices in pre-medical education for bridging concepts in the hard sciences to an understanding of a) the role of governmental and non-governmental organizations in protecting health and b) the socioeconomic challenges faced by patients that impact health
Factors that influence public compliance with health guidelines and/or civic support of public health efforts, including awareness of how safe food, water, and pharmaceuticals are produced
Psychosocial and religious determinants of access to clean food, water, and medications, including a focus on vaccination rates
Socioeconomic factors that influence health outcomes in long-term cancer survivorship, including access to healthcare and nutritious foods
Dr. Abel is actively seeking collaborative opportunities and is highly interested in facilitating undergraduate honors theses on the topics listed above in service to organizations in need. In particular, Baylor has a significant number of talented pre-medical and pre-dental undergraduates routinely seeking opportunities to conduct internships or meaningful literature reviews and/or data analysis; Dr. Abel is happy to facilitate placing these students where need exists and ensuring that they are well-prepared in advance of the internship: Erika_abel@baylor.edu.
Dr. Juan Alejandro Jr. retired from Baylor University in June, 2019 as Vice President of Governance and Risk. Prior to his arrival at Baylor, he held similar roles at the University of Iowa and the University of Texas at San Antonio. In his VP role at Baylor, he had oversight responsibility for various departments and activities, including Internal Audit and Management Analysis, Risk Management, Protection of Minors Program, to name just a few. He also served as an adjunct professor in the Hankamer School of Business, where he taught courses such as Auditing and Assurance Services and Business and Professional Ethics for Accountants. Dr. Alejandro is a Certified Public Accountant.
Dr. Alejandro received bachelors and masters degrees from Texas State University and a Doctor of Education Administration from Baylor. He and his wife Sherry, also a Baylor graduate, have two daughters, Angela (MSEd '09) and Sarah (BSEd '13).
Dr. Thomas Hibbs is currently J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Professor of Philosophy at Baylor where he is also Dean Emeritus, having served 16 years as Dean of the Honors College and Distinguished Professor of Ethic and Culture. Hibbs has a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame and served as tutor at Thomas Aquinas College, Full Professor and Department Chair of Philosophy at Boston College, and President of the University of Dallas. At Baylor, Hibbs has also served as Director of Baylor in Washington, D.C.
Hibbs works in the areas of medieval philosophy, especially Thomas Aquinas, contemporary virtue ethics, and aesthetics. He has taught widely in interdisciplinary core programs at Boston College and Baylor. He has published more than 100 reviews and discussion articles on film, theater, art, and higher education in a variety of venues including First Things, The Dallas Morning News, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The New Atlantis, The Wall Street Journal, and National Review. He also has two books on film and philosophy.
Called upon regularly to comment on film and popular culture, Hibbs has made more than 100 appearances on radio, including nationally syndicated NPR shows "The Connection," "On the Media," and "All Things Considered," as well as local NPR stations in Boston, MA, Ann Arbor, MI, Dallas, TX, and Rochester, NY.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor, Social Work, Baylor University
Edward Polson joined the Baylor Social Work faculty in 2014. Before coming to Baylor, he served as Assistant Professor of Sociology at Messiah College in Grantham, PA and at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, LA.
Dr. Polson has been involved in applied research projects with nonprofit organizations in Texas, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- Senior Fellow in the Income and Benefits Policy Center at the Urban Institute
- Senior Fellow, Income and Benefits Policy Center, Urban Institute and Lecturer, University of Chicago
Elaine Waxman is a senior fellow in the Income and Benefits Policy Center at the Urban Institute. Her expertise includes food insecurity, nutrition, and the US safety net, as well as broader issues affecting families and communities with low incomes. Prior to joining the Institute, Waxman served for six years as the Vice President of Research and Nutrition at Feeding America. Waxman has co-authored numerous research and policy reports and articles in scholarly journals and received the 2019 Best Paper Award along with Craig Gundersen from the Agricultural and Resource Economics Review. She received her MPP and her PhD in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago, where she is currently a lecturer at the Crown School of Social Work, Policy and Practice.
Dr. Waxman has coauthored numerous research and policy reports and articles in scholarly journals, including Applied Economics Perspectives and Policy, Health Affairs, Social Science Review, Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition, Journal of Family and Economic Issues, and Journal of Food Law and Policy.
Job Titles:
- Strategic Partnerships Specialist for the Baylor Collaborative
Elijah Tanner is a Strategic Partnerships Specialist for The Baylor Collaborative. He received his bachelors degree from Baylor and his MBA and MDiv degrees from Baylor's Hankamer School of Business and George W. Truett Theological Seminary in 2021. Between his undergraduate and graduate work, he held positions in the Provost's and President's offices at Baylor. He is a Baylor Bear through and through.
Elijah's undergraduate work was in Philosophy and Chinese, which gave him a wide range of understanding how people from diverse backgrounds think. He pursued his graduate degrees in business and ministry based on his desire to develop community and to help non-profits find efficient models that center on the individual, even as they scale up to serve large groups of people. Elijah has been married for four years and welcomed his first child in December, 2020. He enjoys soccer, reading, running, and anything related to the Marvel Universe.
He loves helping good intentions become good business, and cares deeply about the pursuit of justice. Elijah is excited to see new programs grow and finding efficient and effective ways to serve others.
Emily is a Masters of Social Work intern at the Baylor Collaborative. Her role involves conducting a country landscape analysis of food systems in her home country Guatemala. She also supports the Baylor Collaborative on the local partnership with World Food Program Guatemala, specifically in a program evaluation of an integrated Resilience Program to improve Nutritional Outcomes in a western region in Guatemala.
She studied psychology in her undergrad at the University of San Carlos Guatemala and is currently pursuing a Masters in Social Work degree at Baylor with a specialization in Community Practice.
Emily appreciates the Baylor Collaborative as she shares her experience of the local context, and the openness to engage on global approaches and is looking forward to integrate different parts of the food systems in Guatemala in a collaborative effort to find solutions that improve nutrition safety in her country which has one of the highest stunting rates.
Erin Nolen is a current Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Texas at Austin.
Job Titles:
- Board of Advocates
- Chief of Staff of Waco Family Medicine
Fernando serves as the Chief of Staff of Waco Family Medicine where he supports healthcare workers to keep the community safe and healthy. He graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and an MBA. From there, Fernando pursued his Masters in Educational Administration at Concordia University. His interest in bettering the community was fostered through his experiences serving as a global business and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) consultant and advisor for a Fortune 50 high-tech firm, as well as a public and private school educator and administrator, an organizer who mobilized community members, and a nonprofit leader who catalyzed socioeconomic betterment initiatives.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate Research Scientist, Texas a & M University
Dr. Naufal is an associate research scientist and a research fellow at both the IZA
Institute of Labor Economics and the Economic Research Forum (ERF). He earned
his Ph.D. in Economics in 2007 from Texas A&M University and was an associate
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- Program Coordinator, Innovation Hub
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- Chief of Staff and Sr. Director, Public Affairs and Strategic Partnerships
- Director for Public Affairs and Strategic Partnerships at the Baylor Collaborative
Grace Norman is the Chief of Staff and Sr. Director for Public Affairs and Strategic Partnerships at the Baylor Collaborative. In this capacity, she supports the organization's policy work at the local, state, and federal levels. Previously she worked as the No Kid Hungry Campaign Manager, overseeing outreach for child nutrition programs across the state. She also served as Regional Director and Child Hunger Outreach Specialist in the Texas Hunger Initiative's Lubbock Regional Office. She earned her Bachelor's in Agricultural Leadership and Development from Texas A&M University and a Master of Public Service Administration from the Bush School of Government & Public Service.
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- Interim Chair & Professor, Computer Science, Baylor University
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- Associate Professor & S.J. Hall Faculty Fellow, Director of Graduate Studies in Economics, Department of Economics, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Ian McDonough received his PhD in Economics from Southern Methodist University in 2014 and is currently an Associate Professor and S.J. Hall Faculty Fellow in the Department of Economics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His current research interests are in the general area of applied microeconomics, with particular interests in microeconometrics and the economics of food security. His work has been published in journals such as Journal of Econometrics, Journal of Applied Econometrics, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, and Regional Science and Urban Economics.
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- Senior Lecturer, Political Science, and Director of the International Studies B.a. Program, Baylor University
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- Lecturer, School of Education, Baylor University
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- Director, Public Service and Innovation
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- Dean, Strome College of Business, Old Dominion University
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- Director, Hunger Outreach Empowerment Program
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- Professor and Dean, Social Work, Baylor University
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- Professor, Health Promotion and Community
Professor, Health Promotion and Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University; Founding Director, Program for Research and Outreach-Engagement on Nutrition and Health Disparities Solutions
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- Associate Librarian and Director of Data & Digital Scholarship, Baylor University
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- Director, Program on Religion / Latin American Studies
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- Associate Professor, Public Administration and International Affairs and Chair, Citizenship and Civic Engagement, Syracuse University
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- Director, Hunger Free Community Accelerator
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- Associate Professor, Public Health, Baylor University
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- Director of Family Service Association 's Financial Empowerment Centers
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- Doctoral Student, Community Analytics, Baylor University
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- Director of Community Engagement, Antioch Community Church
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- Associate Professor, Nutrition Sciences, Baylor University
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- Dean, College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences, Clemson University
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- Clinical Associate Professor, Economics, Baylor University
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- Professor, Anthropology, University of North Texas
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- Director, Education and Training Center
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- Assistant Professor, Sociology, Baylor University
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- Regional Director, West Texas
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- Associate Professor, Moral Theology & Social Ethics, Baylor University
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- Associate Professor, Higher Education Studies, Baylor University
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- Associate Professor, Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
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- Associate Professor, Public Administration and International Affairs, Syracuse University
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- Professor, Economics, Baylor University
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- Associate Professor, Global Health and Nutrition
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- Chairman and Associate Professor, University of Dallas
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- Director, Public Affairs and Strategic Partnerships
Mike Conaway served eight terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing 29 counties in Texas' 11th Congressional District, including the cities of Midland, Odessa, and San Angelo.
Mike ultimately served as Chairman of both the House Agriculture Committee and the House Ethics Committee. In the 111th Congress, he was selected by then-House Speaker John Boehner to serve on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HSPCI), a role he continued for 12 years. In the 110th Congress, then-Majority Whip Eric Cantor selected Mike to serve as a deputy Republican Whip, a position he held the remainder of his tenure with proceeding Whips Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise. In 2017 Speaker Paul Ryan tasked Mike with chairing the HSPCI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential elections. Mike also held various leadership positions in the House Committee on Armed Services serving as the Chairman of the Panel on Defense Financial Management and Auditability Reform and the Ranking Member of the Armed Service Committee's Panel on Defense Acquisition Reform. He was also appointed to the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point serving from 2012 to his retirement from Congress in 2021.
A native Texan, he grew up in Odessa and graduated from Odessa Permian High School in 1966 after playing on Permian's first state championship football team. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting from Texas A&M University-Commerce in 1970.
After serving in the Army at Fort Hood from 1970-1972, he rejoined Price Waterhouse & Co. in Dallas and became a Certified Public Accountant. He moved to Midland, Texas in 1979 with Price Waterhouse. After leaving Price Waterhouse he worked with George W. Bush as the chief financial officer for Bush Exploration. Soon after Bush was elected governor of Texas, he appointed Mike to the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy, where he served as chairman for five of his seven years on the board. Mike also spent six years in banking.
Job Titles:
- Program Director, Global Initiatives
Job Titles:
- Professor, Economics, Baylor University