UB hosting two Emerson fellows

UB is hosting two individuals this fall as part of the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship Program, which trains participants to fight hunger and poverty through placements in community-based organizations across the U.S.

Emerson Fellows Cassandra Granville, a graduate of the University of Michigan, and Megan Veronica Smith, a graduate of Davidson College, are jointly housed at the UB Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab (UB Food Lab) within the School of Architecture and Planning and the United Way of Buffalo & Erie County.

Granville and Smith, who both arrived on campus in early September, will work with the UB Food Lab, United Way and 13 area community food organizations on a program that aims to promote food equity and food sovereignty in Buffalo by strengthening collaboration within the food security network, improving access to healthy foods, creating food-related job opportunities, and promoting food entrepreneurship.

The project will allow both Emerson Fellows to directly contribute to food-related issues in Buffalo by helping to craft recommendations for how community food organizations can foster a more equitable food system, and how local governments can facilitate this work.

“We are fortunate to have two Emerson Fellows working with us to address the issue of food insecurity in our community,” said Michael Weiner, president and CEO of the United Way of Buffalo & Erie County. “Cassandra and Megan are tremendous additions to this initiative and we look forward to collaborating with them.”

Each year, 18 to 22 participants are selected from around the country for the year-long program. They gather in Washington, D.C., in August for a comprehensive orientation and field training, where they learn about hunger, poverty and social inequality in the United States, the local and national programs designed to address the issues, and the various approaches to social change.

Emerson Fellows are placed for the first five months with community-based organizations across the country.

“We look forward to learning more about the impact that community organizations in Buffalo can make as they address issues of hunger, poverty and inequities in the food system,” said Jon Wogman, Emerson program director at the Congressional Hunger Center.

In mid-February, the fellows will regroup in Washington to debrief and share their field experiences and participate in an extensive policy training to learn about national anti-hunger and anti-poverty policy work.

Fellows then work at national policy organizations working on hunger and poverty policies at the national level.

Granville received a Bachelor of Arts in community and global public health at the University of Michigan, where she served as a research assistant at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and made recommendations to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on two-generation approaches to poverty alleviation.

While in Buffalo, Granville will focus her work on understanding the role of the West Side Bazaar on the livelihoods of refugee and immigrant entrepreneurs.

Smith received her bachelor’s degree in political science and a minor in international relations from Davidson College in North Carolina. Her undergraduate experience includes stints as a program assistant with the US-Asia Institute in Washington, D.C., and an intern with the World Affairs Council of Charlotte and the Amy Biehl Foundation in South Africa.

While in Buffalo, Smith will focus on understanding ways to promote racial equity in youth-based food systems work in partnership with the Massachusetts Avenue Project.

UB Food Lab Director Samina Raja, said the “Emerson Fellowship offers an opportunity to deepen community-university partnerships. Our outstanding Emerson Fellows are simultaneously embedded in both the university setting and the community setting, allowing for co-production of community-relevant and evidence-based insights on how to create more equitable food systems. We are lucky to have Cassandra and Megan with us in Buffalo.”