Our Staff

As Program Analyst on the Community Health and Nutrition team, Carson maintains evaluation and monitoring of Nutrition Education at network food banks and builds out program analytics to inform strategy at the state and local levels. Carson was a former AmeriCorps VISTA with broad data experience to support affordable housing initiatives in the City of Austin and County of Ventura in California.

Celia Cole is an expert in food and nutrition policy with experience at the state and federal level. Prior to Feeding Texas, Celia was a senior policy analyst with the Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP) for 14 years, where she covered food and nutrition, welfare, and family economic security issues. She also has worked in a policy capacity with the Texas Department of Human Services and for Laurel Consulting Group, a private consulting firm in Washington, D.C. Celia serves on the advisory committees of the Partnership for a Healthy Texas and the Texas Food Policy Roundtable, and is actively involved as a board member of her local YMCA. Celia holds a bachelor’s degree in Art History from Columbia University and a master’s degree from the Institute of Latin American Studies at UT-Austin.

Amy Cuellar assists Feeding Texas’ social services outreach program focused on providing education and application assistance for public benefits through the Texas food banks. Amy has 28 years of experience in social services with the State of Texas most recently as the HHS Community Partner Manager over Volunteer Services as well as the Community Partner Interviewing Project. She was also a part of the team that developed the Community Partner Portal.

JC articulates organizational strategy and conducts civic engagement initiatives at Feeding Texas. Prior to living in Texas, JC gained expertise in U.S. poverty policy, food policy, national service and humanitarian relief working at organizations large and small in three states. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree in Applied Social Research from Hunter College.

Elizabeth provides support services and technical assistance to Community Partner Food Banks as part of Feeding Texas’s SNAP outreach contract with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Elizabeth previously served as the Senior Program Coordinator for the Middle School Matters program at Communities in Schools of Central Texas, as the Program Coordinator for the Community Partner Program at the Texas Association of Community Health Centers, and as a Certified School Counselor in a rural elementary school in North Carolina. She holds a Master of Science in Social Work with a focus in community administration and leadership, and a Master’s of Education with a focus in school counseling. In her free time, she enjoys her dogs giving her a good workout while she mountain bikes and spending quality time exploring the great outdoors with her two daughters.

Jeanie Escalona holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration-Accounting and a Master’s degree in Professional Accounting-Taxation from UT Austin. A native Austinite, Jeanie has more than twenty years of experience in various accounting arenas including public accounting, government contracts, property management, tax accounting, private school management and landscape architecture. Jeanie is excited to apply her experience to the nonprofit arena and further Feeding Texas’ effort for a hunger-free Texas.

As Senior Program Manager on the Community Health and Nutrition team, Jacqueline oversees administration, training, and management of SNAP-Ed and other statewide nutrition education projects. Previously, Jacqueline managed nutrition initiatives and school pantries at the Second Harvest Food Bank in New Orleans, Louisiana.

As a member of both the Communications and Civic Engagement team, Jonathan is responsible for strategically building, engaging, and tracking our targeted digital audiences.  Jonathan most recently worked with Feeding America member food bank, Philabundance. During his time at the food bank, he oversaw and maintained the organization’s website, social media channels, email and other external digital communications. Jonathan has a passion for art and technology and over 12 years of experience working in the nonprofit sector. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Emerging Media and Communications from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Greg Grace has over twenty years of nonprofit experience including the Austin Children’s Museum, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and American Heart Association. Greg earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from New Mexico State University, and his MBA from the University of Dallas.

As Program Manager, Leon works with member food banks and AmeriCorps VISTA service members to develop and implement capacity building programs that address the upstream causes and downstream consequences of food insecurity. Previously, Leon worked as the Manager of Operations for the Economic Empowerment Program at Sanctuary for Families, a NYC-based nonprofit serving survivors of domestic violence. A native Briton, Leon holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Exeter.

Rachel oversees the impact of programs and strategies that tackle hunger on four fronts – racial equity, social services, community health and nutrition, and special projects through the AmeriCorps VISTA Community Capacity Corp. As a public health dietitian, she is passionate about making health easier for all by addressing the root causes of hunger and illness. Her expertise comes from working with community organizations to improve health among refugees, people experiencing hunger, and children from underinvested communities. Rachel earned her MPH from the University of Texas School of Public Health with a focus on program design, implementation, and evaluation and completed her dietetic internship at the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.

As Communications Director, Anna plans, oversees and creates content for all of Feeding Texas’s internal and external communications channels. Anna has a passion for public health and food justice and has worked in a communications and community engagement capacity for the Literacy Coalition of Central Texas, UT Austin’s Dell Medical School and Whole Kids and Whole Cities Foundations. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Centenary College and a Master of Arts in Communication from UT Austin.

As Director of Government Affairs, Jamie focuses on federal and state policies around food, nutrition and economic development. Previously Jamie worked as Policy Analyst and as Supply Chain Manager for Feeding Texas and as Senior Program Associate at the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation. Along with a diverse background in both the non-profit and public sectors, Jamie holds a Master of Global Policy Studies with a specialization in Energy and Environmental Policy from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Temple University.

As the Community Voices Program Manager, Jen works to gather and promote voices of Texans from across the state who experience hunger. Jen manages a qualitative database of stories of hunger and collaborates with food banks throughout the Feeding Texas network to set standards for ethical story collection and community engagement. Prior to becoming the Community Voices Program Manager, Jen spent a year at Feeding Texas through the AmeriCorps VISTA program. Jen holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology from Southwestern University.

Theresa is currently working out of the Houston Food Bank, investigating the barriers faced by specific populations to help better serve all Texans. Not a native Houstonian, Theresa moved around enough that she doesn’t really know where she’s from. Previously, she served in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia as a Community Health Educator, where she drank lots of local coffee. Theresa attended Stephen F. Austin State University for her bachelor’s and earned her Master of Public Health from Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

Dawn is the Chief Development Officer, overseeing fundraising and development for Feeding Texas. She raises funds to ensure the sustainability of the organization and expand network initiatives through larger collaborative grants. Dawn brings more than 20 years of development and entrepreneurial experience with a variety of nonprofits and causes in the Washington, DC area and southern New Mexico. She has a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Austin College in Sherman, TX.

Summer Stringer manages Feeding Texas’s contracts with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to provide outreach and application assistance for HHSC benefits through the Texas food banks. Summer has over 15 years of community relations experience including 10 years of experience in capacity building and program compliance. Prior to Feeding Texas, she served as the Director of Outreach for the Tarrant Area Food Bank, as a health ambassador for Amerigroup Community Care, and as Program Director for the South Central Alliance of Churches. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Social Work and is a licensed social worker in the state of Texas.

As a member of the Civic Engagement team, Shaleia works with the Community Voices Program to facilitate advocacy bootcamps, ensure Feeding Texas policy priorities are informed by community input, and build systems of ongoing engagement opportunities for people around the state.

As Data Systems Coordinator, Heidi supports our network food bank staff in the implementation and use of client intake and reporting software. She has worked in public health and human services for the last 20 years after earning a Master’s in Human Services from St. Edward’s University.  For the last 9 years, she has worked specifically on health disparities with a focus on diabetes self-management education as a Health Services Consultant. Heidi loves to camp and plans to eventually visit every national park in the contiguous US.