To amplify the voices of the people it serves, the Capital Area Food Bank convenes a Client Leadership Council (CLC) each year.
Between 20-30 people who live in the food bank’s service area and who are experiencing food insecurity receive advocacy training through the Client Leadership Council. This 10-month training program supports their growth as advocates for themselves and their communities, and it enables them to effectively serve as agents of change. The council is named for one of the food bank’s founders, Father Eugene Brake, who dedicated his life to creating justice and social change through advocacy, action, and service.
The purpose of the CLC
Simply put, decision-making with the greatest consequences for our clients and historically underrepresented communities frequently exclude their own voices. The CLC is an opportunity for our clients to use the power of their lived experiences to change that, shaping public policy and the food bank’s programs.
What’s going on today doesn’t have to go on tomorrow. Sometimes you have to get people to look outside of the box to understand that opportunity is available.
Throughout the training cycle, CLC members take classes designed to:
- Provide information about hunger across the region, how the food bank operates, and the programs that run in their communities.
- Contribute to an understanding of policy and power structures;
- Build proficiency in the areas of public speaking, coalition building, and harnessing the power of sharing lived experience;
- Empower members to utilize their advocacy skills to create change
The composition of the CLC aims to reflect the diversity of the food bank’s service area. Participants live across the region in all four quadrants of the nation’s capital, northern Virginia, and Prince George’s and Montgomery counties in Maryland. Classes also reflect the varied ethnicities, races, genders, ages, lived experiences, and needs of our clients throughout greater Washington.
We provide each member with a monthly living wage stipend for the time invested in the program, including any transportation costs. CLC members are asked to attend monthly calls and at least three in-person convenings.
Applications & Nominations for the Client Leadership Council
The application and nomination period for our 5th annual CLC class (2024-2025) is now closed.
Meet the CLC
Corena Watkins
Demeke Shiferaw
Doris Casablanca
Eneshal Miller
Ericka Morro
Felicia Minick
Gilda Lopez
Jonathan Gibbs
Joshua Burris
Juana Cruz Martinez
Kim Lehmkuhl
Kisha McDougald
Laila McLaughlin
Lenina Bland
Mariam Zainab
Mary Simons
Nathaniel Jenkins
Nicole Turner
Osha Gant
Pamela Espinoza
Prokoshia Long-Opher
Tahjae Pitts
Tamicka Jackson
Tammie Jones
Thomas Cox
Tiajuana Perryman
Tomika Williams
Tselmuun Sandag
Yasmeen Abdul Latif
Tani Abdu
Mirian Andrade
Nyeelah Briscoe
Marilyn Brooks
Shawnte Brown
Carla Claure
Alicia Doe
Doretha Harrison
Annie Henderson
Ja’Tae Joyner
Cynthia Lomax
Lakiva Mcghee
Robert Moffitt
Ebonique Nicholson
Temidayo Ojo
Carmen Perea
Rachelle Price
Cherice Shannon
Heather Thomas
Lee Van Orden
Felicia Walton
Bernadette (Renee) Warren
Shanita Weeden
Chante Westfield
Shavanah Ali
Niya Beagle
Neijan Boyd
Carla Claure
Gaynell Conley
Wanda Dudley
Lamiaa Farrag
Beverly Flanagan
Sean Fleming
Helene Katz
Lazarus Ladson
Cheryl Lambert
Cesar Laragaibort
Chelsi Lewis
Delores Matthews
Joycene Moore
Bianca Nwahiri
Christopher Ortega
Andra Powell Henderson
Connie Price
Latisha Reid
Zulma Santos
Krystal Tapavalu
Salanda Thomas
Rebecca Williams
Nikkie Adeboye
Marvena Alston
In the news: The Miles to the Grocery Store Got Longer This Year, Slate.
Angela Alvarez
Travonna Brooks
In the news: With Continued SNAP Flexibility in Question, Thousands of D.C Families Could Lose Crucial Benefits, DCist.
In the news: The Future of SNAP: Moving Past the Pandemic, House Agriculture Committee.
In the news: Families Fighting to Feed Children as Coronavirus Pandemic Continues to Impact Jobs, Good Morning America
In the news: Biden Administration to Increase Food Aid, PEW
Kimberly Harris
Melody Lawson
In the news: Lawmakers Seek to Hold White House’s First Food Insecurity Summit Since 1996, KOSU.
In the news: Joussell and Congressman Jim McGovern on Student Hunger in America.
George Mathis
Keith Miller
Sharron Newman
Jocelyn Orr-Thompson
In the news: Jocelyn on the line with President Joe Biden.
In the news: Mother Who Received Child Tax Credit: ‘That’s my Grocery Budget,’ MSNBC.
In the news: As DC’s Hunger Crises Deepens, Volunteers Step Up, Washington Post.
Jerry Rogers
Michelle Rogers
Amanda Scott
In the news: Families Fighting to Feed Children as Coronavirus Pandemic Continues to Impact Jobs, Good Morning America.
Jacqui Seay
On the Blog
Kicking off the 5th class of our Client Leadership Council
Meet the Client Leadership Council (Part Two)