Webinar 1 - How Partners are Safely Getting Food to School-age Children and Their Families

Webinar 1: How Partners Are Safely Getting Food to School-age Children and Their Families

Through this session, GCNF highlights what our partners are doing in this space to ensure governments avoid reinventing the wheel and can quickly adapt practices to local context.

Carmen Burbano

Director, School Feeding Division
World Food Programme

During her 14 years of experience with WFP, Carmen Burbano de Lara has specialized in supporting
governments to strengthen their national social protection and safety net policies and programmes and to tackle malnutrition and food insecurity.

She has held management positions in Peru, Rome, Colombia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania; and provided temporary support to earthquake relief efforts in Haiti and Nepal. Ms. Burbano de Lara is WFP’s world expert in school feeding and a member of the Technical Committee for School Feeding of the Partnership for Child Development at the Imperial College in London. In this capacity, she has advised the governments of China, Colombia and Kenya, Ghana, among others, often in partnership with the World Bank. She is the co-author of the most influential publications on school feeding over the last ten years including “Re-imagining school feeding: a human capital investment in health, education, social protection and agriculture” (2018); “The School Feeding Sourcebook” (2016); and “Rethinking School Feeding” (2009), published by the World Bank. She has authored WFP’s flagship publication “The State of School Feeding Worldwide” (2013) and conceived and drafted WFP’s Global School Feeding Policy (2013). Prior to assuming her current position in July 2018, she was WFP’s Representative and Country Director in Peru. She has also worked in UNDP’s Executive Office, providing policy support on social protection to Administrator Helen Clark.

Carmen is Ecuadorian and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University and Bachelor in Latin-American Studies and Comparative Literature from New York University.

Rafael Fábrega

Director, Food for Development
Tetra Laval

Rafael Fábrega is the Tetra Laval Food for Development Director, based in Stockholm, Sweden. In his role, he is responsible for leading the global Food for Development team in providing value-added support and technical assistance to Tetra Pak’s customers in collaboration with Governments, NGOs, UN and International Development Agencies with the objective of implementing sustainable school feeding and nutrition programmes linked to local agricultural development.

Rafael has a Master’s Degree in International Business Administration from the Wayne Huzienga Business School at Nova Southeastern University and a BBA Degree from Loyola University New Orleans. He has more than 20 years of experience in international business development with a specialization in creating public-private partnerships to address food security and nutrition challenges.

The company has a long history and tradition of active participation in the development of school feeding programmes and sharing their experiences and best practices used around the world. Today, more than 68 million children in 56 countries receive milk and other nutritious beverages in Tetra Pak packages at school.

To learn more about Tetra Pak’s work in school feeding programs, visit this link.

Daniel Mumuni

Chief of Party, Sierra Leone
Catholic Relief Services

Daniel is currently CRS’ Chief of Party for the USDA Funded McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program in Sierra Leone where he has worked since 2016 with CRS. Prior to coming to CRS, Daniel served as the West Africa Regional Director, Imperial College London, Partnership for Child Development (PCD) and an adviser at GCNF.

With a long-standing commitment to international and community development, Daniel has dedicated the last 15 years working to advance programs and partnerships with organizations in the US, Europe and Africa. He brings to the table a strong background of strategic leadership of multidisciplinary teams, integrated project management, and donor engagement with thematic focus on education, child nutrition, governance, livelihoods, local agriculture, rural development and food security. In his various positions, he has developed strong relationships with government partners, supporting programs to strengthen government and local partner capacity that led to sustainable outcomes for program continuation. In partnership with the World Bank and World Food Program, he has advanced school feeding policies and strategies, and advised several governments including Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Sierra Leone on school feeding programs.

Daniel is trained in international development, law and management with vast experience working in the West Africa region. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology/Psychology from the University of Ghana and a Master of Science degree in International Development from the University of Amsterdam. He also holds a Law degree from the VU University, Amsterdam and a Post Graduate certificate in Sustainable Environmental Management from University of California, Berkeley.

Cindy Long

Deputy Administrator, Child Nutrition Programs
USDA Food and Nutrition Service

Cindy Long is the Deputy Administrator for Child Nutrition Programs of the Food and Nutrition Service, USDA. She is responsible for all aspects of federal administration of the Child Nutrition Programs, including the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, Summer Food Service Program and the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. These programs provide over $20 billion in nutrition assistance to children and families. In this role she has led FNS’ implementation of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act, the most significant restructuring of these programs in decades and a legislative centerpiece of the Administration’s nutrition initiatives. She has also led a major restructuring of Child Nutrition program staff and resource management.

Ms. Long has served FNS in various positions since joining FNS in 1991. Prior to joining the Child Nutrition programs in 2008, she served in the Office of Analysis, Nutrition and Evaluation (OANE), providing leadership to FNS research and analysis efforts in support of all of the domestic nutrition assistance programs. She began her federal government career in 1988 with the Office of Management and Budget.

Ms. Long has a MPA in public policy and economics from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and a BA in economics from the University of Notre Dame.

Alesha Miller

Nonresident Fellow, Global Food and Agriculture Program
Chicago Council for Global Affairs

Alesha Miller has over 13 years of experience in global food and nutrition security and is a long-time supporter and champion of school meals and the Global Child Nutrition Foundation. She previously worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Chicago Council on Global Affairs, where she remains a non-resident fellow. Currently, she works as an independent consultant advising a range of organizations, including GCNF.