Food Research & Action Center

Ellen Susan Teller

As chief government affairs officer, Ellen Teller directs the development and implementation of FRAC’s legislative agenda. Working with Congress, national organizations, and FRAC’s diverse state and local grassroots field network, Teller advocates for improved access and participation to domestic anti-hunger programs for low-income individuals and families.

Crystal Fitzsimons

Crystal FitzSimons is the President for the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), leading the organization to achieve its vision: A nation in which all people have the nutritious food they need to lead healthy and productive lives; and mission: To improve the nutrition, health, and well-being of people struggling against poverty-related hunger in the United States through advocacy, partnerships, and by advancing  bold and equitable policy solutions. 

Colleen Barton

Colleen Barton joined FRAC in October 2014, as communications director. In this role, she spearheads the development and implementation of a multi-faceted strategic communications framework to help advance the organization’s mission to end hunger in America.

Etienne Philbin

Etienne Melcher Philbin joined FRAC in November 2007 and serves as the organization’s Chief of Staff. In her previous role as deputy director, school and out-of-school time programs, she worked with a diverse group of national and state partners to expand access to the child nutrition programs, including school meals and Pandemic EBT. Before joining the child nutrition unit, she worked on FRAC’s legislative team, advocating for federal legislation to strengthen domestic anti-hunger programs for low-income individuals and families.

Alexandra Ashbrook

Kelly Horton

Polly Thibodeau

Polly Thibodeau joined FRAC in February 2013 and is Development Director. In this role, she crafts funding proposals and reports for institutional funders in support of FRAC’s breadth of work.

Ata-Ul-Salaam Bhatti

Luis Guardia

Naiha Anib

Diane Bacote

Diane Bacote has worked with FRAC since 2016 and was hired in March 2021 moved into the role of Staff Assistant, Administration and Regranting. She works closely with the Director of Human Resources and Operations and D.C. Hunger Solutions.

Jordan Baker

Jordan Baker joined FRAC in April 2020 as the senior communications manager. In this role, she is responsible for initiating and implementing media relations strategies and creating compelling content across a range of platforms. Most recently, she served as the Communications & Outreach Manager for the National Campus Leadership Council (NCLC), growing NCLC’s presence among student body leaders and the broader higher education policy community. In her role, she managed day-to-day digital, media, and advocacy activities on behalf of the organization. Prior to NCLC, she served as an Assistant Account Executive for JPA Health Communications, managing media opportunities, social media campaigns, and event planning on behalf of healthcare and wellness clients. She holds a Master of Arts in Professional Communication degree from Southern Utah University and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts as a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU). She is an active member o

Cherise Bathersfield

For more than 10 years, Bathersfield has worked as a marketing and communications writer and/or editor for national nonprofits and professional membership associations. Previous to that, she was a research editor at several national consumer magazines in New York.

Jacqueline Bavaro

Jackie Bavaro joined FRAC in August 2023 as the Project Manager of the New Jersey Food Security Initiative (NJSFI). She now serves as the Senior Program Manager. In this role, she is responsible for facilitating community-centered and collaborative efforts to increase food security and advance health equity in New Jersey.

Susan Beaudoin

Susan Beaudoin plays a vital role in FRAC work to ensure WIC policies contribute meaningfully to the health and wellness of families and communities, and that millions of families and children have equitable access to the nutrition their families need to thrive. She also supports FRAC’s WIC CIAO Project, Food As Medicine WIC efforts, and New Jersey Food Security Initiative. Beaudoin brings more than 15 years of anti-hunger research, advocacy, technical assistance, public education, and development experience. She previously supported FRAC’s cross-program projects, new nutrition and anti-hunger strategic initiatives, and efforts to address root causes of hunger.

Kelsey Boone

Kelsey Boone joined FRAC in July of 2020 as a policy analyst on the child nutrition team before becoming a senior policy analyst in September of 2022. In this role she is responsible for FRAC’s work on Pandemic EBT and Summer EBT, as well as supporting the team’s work on matters relating to summer and afterschool meals

Alexis Bylander

Alexis Bylander serves as the Child Nutrition Programs & Policy Director at FRAC, originally joining the organization in November 2020 as a Senior Child Nutrition Policy Analyst. In this role, she serves as a resource for state advocates lobbying on behalf of healthy school meals for all legislation.

Rashan A. Datcher

Datcher has a B.A. in business administration from Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta Georgia and an M.A. in human resource management from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

Andrea Dulanto

Andrea Dulanto joined FRAC in June 2021 as an Anti-Hunger Program Assistant. In this role, they assist with SNAP outreach through the Maryland Hunger Solutions hotline. They also support outreach through the development of relationships with community partners and other organizations.

Jessica Durovy

Jessica Durovy joined FRAC in July of 2020 as the State Initiatives Development Associate. In this role, she supports D.C. Hunger Solutions and Maryland Hunger Solutions in their development initiatives. She does this by drafting grant proposals and reports, maintaining funder relationships, and conducting research.

Michelle Griffin

Michelle Griffin joined FRAC in May 2016 and is a staff associate. She works closely with the Director of Human Resources and Operations and the Director of Finance. Griffin has over 15 years of bookkeeping, accounting, payroll, and accounts payable experience and has worked in both the nonprofit sector and in banking.

Julia Gross

Julia Gross joined Maryland Hunger Solutions, an initiative of FRAC, in October 2018. In her role as senior anti-hunger program associate, she works to support and expand participation in child nutrition programs around the state of Maryland through advocacy, community engagement, and the promotion of best-practices.

Clarissa Hayes

Clarissa Hayes joined FRAC in February 2015. As Deputy Director, Child Nutrition Programs and Policy, she works to expand access to the Summer Nutrition Programs, Afterschool Nutrition Programs, and CACFP.

Steve Hayward

Steve Hayward joined FRAC in March 2022. As Senior Communications Coordinator, he manages FRAC’s web properties, including FRAC.org, MDHungerSolutions.org, and DCHungerSolutions.org; coordinates email campaigns; and serves as technical support for webinars.

Erin Hysom

Erin Hysom joined FRAC in January 2023 as a Senior Child Nutrition Policy Analyst on the Child Nutrition Programs and Policy team. In this role, she serves as a resource to schools and partners seeking to expand participation in the School Breakfast and National School Lunch Programs.

LaMonika Jones

LaMonika Jones is the Director of State Initiatives, overseeing the work of D.C. Hunger Solutions, Maryland Hunger Solutions, and the New Jersey Food Security Initiative, all initiatives of FRAC.

Betsy Kerrigan

Betsy Kerrigan joined FRAC in July 2022 as a returning staff member. Previously she served as the field organizer and she has returned as the director of network engagement. In this role she is responsible for helping coordinate FRAC’s many conferences and strategically growing the network.

Timothy Klipp-Lockhart

Tim Klipp-Lockhart joined FRAC in January 2022 as the Government Affairs Manager. He now serves as the Senior Government Affairs Manager. In this role, he is responsible for communicating and maintaining the development and implementation of FRAC’s legislative agenda. Along with the rest of the Legislative Affairs team, Klipp-Lockhart works with Congress, the White House, national organizations, FRAC’s diverse state and local grassroots field network, to help improve the access and participation to domestic anti-hunger programs for low-income individuals and families.

Mary Maziarz

Mary Maziarz joined FRAC in December 2024 as the WIC Community Innovation and Outreach Project Senior Technical Assistance Mentor. In this role, she is responsible for providing technical assistance to WIC CIAO subgrantees.

Tommi-Grace Melito Alvaro

Melito Alvaro joined FRAC in January 2024 as the Senior Technical Assistance Mentor for the WIC Community Innovation and Outreach (CIAO) Project.  

Brielle Pinzini

Brielle Pinzini joined Maryland Hunger Solutions as an AmeriCorps VISTA SNAP Outreach Associate in June 2021. Her position with Maryland Hunger Solutions has evolved multiple times from her placement as AmeriCorps yearlong VISTA Associate to SNAP Outreach Intern, and is currently an Anti-Hunger Program Assistant. In this role, she focuses on providing technical assistance for SNAP clients and assists in the development and implementation of strategies that increase SNAP participation for eligible Marylanders. She also assists with training for partner organizations, and manages the organization’s Hunger-Free Campus Network.

Gina Plata-Nino

Gina Plata-Nino serves as Director of SNAP Policy and Advocacy. Previously, she served as a Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition and Agriculture in the Biden-Harris Administration’s Domestic Policy Council, where she helped lead the National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. In this role, she worked with federal agencies and private stakeholders to advance the goal of ending hunger and diet-related diseases by 2030.

Kate Scully

Kate Scully joined FRAC in February of 2025 as the Deputy Director for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

Nomi Small

Nomi Small joined FRAC in March 2020 as the Network and Events Coordinator. She now serves as the Network and Events Manager. In this role, she coordinates and supports FRAC’s network of anti-hunger advocates and manages logistics for FRAC’s events.

Maggie Snow

Maggie Snow joined D.C. Hunger Solutions, an initiative of FRAC, in November 2024. As an Anti-Hunger Program Associate, she is responsible for working to increase participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by providing direct assistance to DC residents calling to apply for SNAP benefits and coordinating outreach and advocacy efforts to partner organizations.

Marko Stankovic

Marko Stankovic joined FRAC in April 2012. As senior development associate, his job duties include doing research on prospective funders, maintaining communication with donors and grantmakers, submitting grant proposals and reports, processing all donations and grants, and event management.

Corey Thompson

Corey Thompson joined D.C. Hunger Solutions, an initiative of the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), in August 2025 as the SNAP & WIC Outreach Associate. In this role, she leads D.C. Hunger Solution’s outreach efforts for SNAP and WIC in Washington, D.C., working to increase program participation. She also engages community members through events and trainings, collaborates with partner organizations, and works to expand food access by strengthening the broader food system in the District.

Muhammad Usman

Muhammad Usman joined FRAC in June 2023 as a Financial Analyst. In this role, he is responsible for planning and preparation of the budgets for the entity and for individual funders.

Eli Yussuf

Eli Yussuf joined FRAC in May 2023 as the Grants Administrator. In this role, he is responsible for providing financial and administrative support throughout the life cycle of a wide variety of internal programs and Externally Funded Programs (EFPs), specifically in the areas of project development and implementation and monitoring.

Claudet Miranda Zambrano

Claudet joined FRAC in July 2025 as the Senior Anti-Hunger Program Associate for Maryland Hunger Solutions. In this role, she is responsible for working to increase participation in and the quality of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in Maryland, as well as addressing related community food security issues.