White House Author

Oregon Health Sciences University Rachel began her work in hunger prevention in 1983 as a VISTA volunteer with Oregon Food Share in Portland. At the end of her VISTA term, Rachel joined the staff as the VISTA supervisor developing regional food banks in the nation’s first statewide food bank network. She became Acting Executive Director in 1988 and helped manage the merger of the Oregon Food Share with the Interagency Food bank, forming the Oregon Food Bank (OFB). In 1990, Rachel was named the Executive Director and CEO of the OFB until her retirement in 2012. She guided the vision, strategic planning and development of the organization into a highly respected, national model of collaboration and innovation in addressing hunger and its root causes. Since retirement, she has continued to serve as a consultant to OFB and has led the Nutrition Consortium Committee for the Moore Institute on Nutrition and Wellness at Oregon Health Sciences University to help people better manage their health and nutrition.