Hunger Notes is an online publication of the World Hunger Education Service (WHES), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization governed by a Board of Directors.
WHES has approved consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
Board of Directors
Steve Hansch, Chairman of the Board
Steve Hansch teaches courses related to humanitarian aid at several universities in the D.C. area. He has a career spanning decades in the non-profit sector, with extensive experience in humanitarian aid, notably as a field nutritionist during the 1985 Ethiopian famine. He has been deeply involved in field nutrition, program management, and promoting inter-agency collaboration. In addition to his role on the board of World Hunger Education Service, he serves as a trustee for Relief International and Partners for Development (PfD). Read full bio.
Kathy Pomroy, Treasurer
Kathy Pomroy is an organizing consultant. She has extensive experience in non-profit and religious organization consulting, served as the Director of Organizing for Bread for the World for 23 years. Her work focuses on advocacy for hunger alleviation and organizational leadership. Kathy’s background includes roles in education, youth services, and campaign management, complemented by her education in International Relations and Public Affairs from the University of Minnesota. Read full bio.
Sarah Polaski, Social Media Editor
Sarah Polaski, a seasoned project manager, brings over two decades of experience in the international development sector. Currently, she serves as the Development Policy Monitoring and Clearance Manager at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, where she is responsible for various critical tasks related to development policy, monitoring, and clearance processes. Previously, she held positions at the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service and CRDF Global.
Peggy Carlson, Board Member
Peggy Carlson is a specialist in agriculture, food security, workforce development, and economic growth, with over 25 years of experience in international development. She currently serves as a Program Manager for the Bureau for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Peggy holds a Master of Arts in International Development from American University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Furman University. Read full bio.
Lani Marquez, Board Member
Lani Marquez, MHS, is the Knowledge Management Director at University Research Co., LLC (URC). Lani has worked for over 40 years in international health systems strengthening. For the past 20 years, she has led URC’s efforts to apply knowledge management concepts and techniques to strengthen the implementation of health service delivery programs. Lani studied biology at Stanford University and is a skilled technical writer and editor. Read full bio.
Kathy Goss, Board Member
Kathy Goss, MA Applied Economics, is the Vice President of the Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning Team at Compassion International, an international development organization serving children and youth living in poverty. She leads a team in conducting data collection, data analysis, and evaluations in the 29 countries in which Compassion operates. Read full bio.
Steve Sellers, Board Member
Steve Sellers has worked for over 25 years in strategic and operating roles in both for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations, in the government sector, and as a strategic consultant. He is currently the CEO of SFMade and 150 Hooper, nonprofits focused on bringing small businesses (particularly those started by members of disadvantaged communities) back to the Bay Area. Read full bio.
James Phillips, Board Member
Jim is an accomplished agricultural economist who has worked extensively in Africa and Asia and supported NGOs in West Africa. He has led evaluations and monitoring of diverse food security programs in many countries for different donors.
Eric S. Anderson, Board Member
Eric is a public health nutrition specialist with over 20 years of experience supporting humanitarian and development programs primarily in Latin America and Africa. He worked at implementing programs, shaped programming guidance and normative practice through his work as a donor with USAID and provided specialized technical assistance through varied consulting roles to NGOs and UN agencies. He was senior nutrition advisor at USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, where he provided technical leadership across the agency’s emergency and development nutrition portfolio, including oversight of major food security activities and guidance on management of acute malnutrition. He holds MPH and MS-Nutrition degrees from Tufts University and a BA-Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Kirsten Roe, Board Member
Kirsten is a Research Scientist at the Seafood Economic and Marketing Program at the Virginia Tech Seafood Agricultural Research and Extension Center. She uses her education in aquaculture, agriculture, economics, data analysis, international development, and marketing to help design, innovate, evaluate, and improve development projects in her skillset areas. She received her PhD in Aquaculture, MS in Agricultural Economics, and MS in Entomology at Purdue University. Her goal is to use her education and experience to further advance research, innovation, and progress in global food security, combining the science, economics, and social aspects to solve global problems.
