Alliance to End Hunger

Background

The Alliance to End Hunger educates and advocates for policies and programs to combat hunger and poverty in the United States and globally, working to make this a federal government priority. It supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 1 to “end poverty in all its forms everywhere” and Goal 2 to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.” ²

The Alliance focuses on “greater equity in anti-hunger policies,” claiming that people of color are more vulnerable to hunger and poverty due to “systemic racism.” ³

Alliance to End Hunger was established in 2001 by Bread for the World and became an independent nonprofit organization in 2004. ⁴

The Alliance is a client of Washington, D.C. based Freedman Consulting, a consulting firm for left-of-center philanthropists, public interest organizations, and policymakers that provides strategic planning, coalition management, and policy development consulting services. Other Freedman Consulting clients include Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Democracy Fund, Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. ⁵

Advocacy

In 2023, the Alliance lobbied Congress for the continued funding for U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) programs, for the international food assistance budget, and other food security and resilience programs. ⁶

In 2024, the Alliance lobbied to ensure that the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) was funded sufficiently. It lobbied to support the continued purchasing power of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the extension of the Farm Bill. ⁷ The Alliance encouraged the expansion of SNAP to on-demand delivery services such as DoorDash. ⁸

In 2025 the Alliance published a letter to Congress urging it to “fully fund federal food and nutrition programs,” including SNAP, WIC, the Emergency Food Assistance Program, and school meals. It also voiced its support for a Child Tax Credit. ⁹

In February 2025, the second Trump administration announced cuts to USAID foreign aid programs in order to reduce overseas spending and focus on programs that “benefit the American taxpayer.” ¹⁰ The Alliance has published statements on social media strongly opposing these cuts. ¹¹

Programs

The Alliance created a Hunger Free Communities (HFC) Network that awards grants to organizations that address hunger and malnutrition and it hosts events on the current state of food and nutrition insecurity. ⁶ In 2024, it awarded almost $50,000 in grants ⁷ and it has secured $50,000 in grant funds for its 2025 Zero Hunger Grants programs to be used for “building organizational or network capacities to engage in systemic change work rooted in equity and community engagement.” ¹² The Network currently includes over 50 coalitions across 31 states. As part of the program the Alliance hosts an annual HFC Summit. ¹³

The SDG2 Advocacy Hub is a program to support United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Goal 2 “to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture by 2030.” The Hub brings together groups and provides direction and support for campaigning and advocacy. Paul Newnham founded the Hub in 2015. ^{14 15} It is a project of the Alliance to End Hunger. ¹⁶

Members

The Alliance to End Hunger has a coalition of approximately 100 members, including commercial companies, nonprofit organizations, faith-based organizations, universities, foundations, and individuals. ¹

Commercial organizations include Amazon, Cargill, and Walmart. ¹

Nonprofit organizations include the AARP, the Clean Slate Initiative, Feeding America, the National Farmers Union, Opportunity International, Save the Children, the No Kid Hungry campaign through Share Our Strength, and UnidosUS. ¹

Faith-based groups include Bread for the World, Church World Service (CWS), Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Islamic Relief USA. ¹

Funding

The Alliance to End Hunger reported 2023 revenues of $2,167,356 and expenses of $3,531,964 with almost $4 million in net assets. ¹⁷

The Alliance to End Hunger gets most of its funding from its membership. ⁶ Additional donors include the United Nations Foundation, Share Our Strength, Americas Charities, the National Philanthropic Trust, and Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund. ¹⁸

Leadership

Eric Mitchell was named president of the Alliance to End Hunger in January 2024. ¹⁹ He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from Howard University. After graduation Mitchell worked for former U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA) in the U.S. House of Representatives for 7 years. He then became vice president of government relations at Russ Reid Company, a marketing agency that helped nonprofits raise funds. He was also director of government relations for Bread for the World for 6 years. He joined the Alliance as executive director in 2020. ^{20 21}

Lisa Davis is board chair of the Alliance. She earned a law degree from the Washington College of Law at American University. She was a senior analyst on the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare for 6 years. She was a senior vice president at the AARP, Feeding America, and Share Our Strength. Davis also sits on the board of think tank Convergence Center for Policy Resolution. ^{22 23}

Minerva Delgado is director of coalitions and advocacy. She earned a master’s in policy analysis and urban affairs at The New School in New York City. Before joining the Alliance in 2015 she was executive director of the Manna Food Center in Maryland and held senior positions at the Food Bank for New York City, the Children’s Defense Fund, and LatinoJustice PRLDEF. ^{24 25}