Home About 2025 Iowa Hunger Summit Exhibitors

Exhibitors

Kassi Bailey

Deputy Director, Self-Help International

Kassi joined Self-Help International as Deputy Director in June 2023. Originally from Winterset, Iowa she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and International Studies with minors in Math and Spanish from Iowa State University. Kassi has worked in the non-profit realm for the last 10 years and the last 8... [ View ]

Deborah Bunka

Membership and Fundraising Director, Iowa Farmers Union

Deborah comes to Iowa via Canada, where she worked for various non-profits including serving as Executive Director of the Tamarack Foundation for learning disabled children in Saskatchewan and editing an arts newspaper in Hamilton, Ontario. Relocating to Ames in 1996 with her family, she wrote a monthly column on food... [ View ]

Maggie Carstensen

Mission Trip Coordinator, GoServ Global

Maggie Carstensen has served as the Mission Trip Coordinator for GoServ Global since November 2024. Maggie oversees the organization and planning of international mission trips as well as the financial bookkeeping for the organization. Additionally, she loves to connect with donors, volunteers and community leaders. Her passion is to mobilize... [ View ]

Paige Chickering

Iowa State Manager, Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) and Board Member, Iowa Hunger Coalition

At SCAN Paige uses her background in policy, research and campaigns to support policy change that improves the lives of children and families in Iowa. SCAN’s focus on childhood food insecurity and early learning aims to give kids a strong start in life so they can succeed and thrive. Paige graduated... [ View ]

Mark Doss

Ministry Director, GoServGlobal

Mark Doss has served as the Ministry Director for GoServ Global since July 2022. Mark enjoys communicating with and supporting the Country Directors and USA Directors who oversee the various mission efforts of GoServ Global. Additionally, he looks for new mission opportunities and partnerships. Mark previously served in church pastoral... [ View ]

Luke Elzinga

Board Chair, Iowa Hunger Coalition

Luke Elzinga is the policy and advocacy manager at the Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC) Food Pantry Network, which last year assisted over 75,000 people facing food insecurity in Greater Des Moines. Luke is the current board chair of the Iowa Hunger Coalition and co-leads the Iowa Food System... [ View ]

Natalie Estrem

Market Supervisor, LSI Global Greens

Natalie is the Market and Programs Supervisor for LSI Global Greens. She has been working in nonprofits in Des Moines her whole career in a variety of roles including volunteer and event management. You can find her every Saturday in the summer running the Global Greens International Market. [ View ]

Lendie Follett

Associate Professor of Business Analytics, Drake University

Lendie Follett is an Associate Professor of Business Analytics and chair of the department of Actuarial Science, Information Management, and Business Analytics at Drake University. Dr. Follett received a PhD in Statistics from Iowa State University. Her research primarily focuses on food insecurity; she has co-authored several papers related to... [ View ]

Jeff Hafner

Owner, Early Morning Harvest

Jeff Hafner has been farming all his life growing organic grains for over 25 years. For nearly 15 years he has been stone-grinding grains on his farm and producing vegetables in aquaponic, hydroponic and seasonal greenhouses and gardens. Most recently he acquired a distribution business creating a vertically integrated system... [ View ]

Katheryn Hamilton-Hammer

Co-Founder and Secretary, The Outreach Program

Kathy began her career in business focusing on manufacturing and distribution. Her career shifted when she formed Healthy Life Link, an organization to practice hypnotherapy and counseling. Kathy became a Certified HypnoBirthing Practitioner in 2000. Kathy and Floyd combined their skills on the trip to Tanzania in 2003 that was the... [ View ]

Heath Henderson

Associate Professor of Economics, Drake University

Heath Henderson is an associate professor of economics at Drake University and an associate editor of the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities. He attended graduate school at American University in Washington, DC where he received a PhD in economics and an MA in international politics. Heath recently finished his... [ View ]

Mark Henderson

Executive Director, GoServ Global

As the Executive Director at GoServ Global in Ankeny, Iowa, I have had the joy of bringing my experience as an Executive Pastor to this great organization. GoServ Global is on a mission to share God’s love by responding to disasters, empowering sustainable community development and creating world change through... [ View ]

Jonathan Lawrence

Education Program Director, Iowa Farmers Union

Jonathan was born and raised in Lansing, MI, where he graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Business Management. Looking to build upon this degree, Jonathan pursued further education at Maharishi International University to explore the emerging field of sustainability. He soon discovered how interconnected agriculture is with... [ View ]

Greta Lee

STEM Committee Member, State of Iowa Youth Advisory Council

Greta Lee serves as a member of the State of Iowa Youth Advisory Council (SIYAC) serving on the STEM Committee where she helped create a "Food Waste and Recycling" guide for schools to help avert food waste to help feed children. Greta also had the opportunity to attend the World... [ View ]

Chris Schwartz

Executive Director, Iowa Food System Coalition

Chris Schwartz is the Executive Director of the Iowa Food System Coalition and the current Chair of the Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors. For more than 25 years, Schwartz has been a community and political organizer, having worked on nearly every progressive cause of our time. Prior to joining... [ View ]

Mark Swanson

Regional Director, Growing Hope Globally

Mark Swanson is a Regional Director for Growing Project Development for Growing Hope Globally, stewarding their work across the Upper Midwest and West Coast. Previously he was a pastor serving churches in South Dakota and Washington state, where he led a Growing Project with Growing Hope Globally. He has extensive... [ View ]

Rod Swoboda

Editor Emeritus, Wallaces Farmer

Raised on a farm in Illinois, Rod Swoboda is a University of Illinois College of Agriculture graduate. After working in Washington, D.C. as an ag journalist for a couple of years he returned to the Midwest. He joined the staff of Wallaces Farmer magazine in Des Moines in 1976 as... [ View ]

Andrew Thomason

Outreach Coordinator, USDA-NRCS

Andrew Thomason is the Outreach Coordinator as part of the Partnerships division for USDA-NRCS in Iowa. Andrew began his NRCS career in 2020 as a Public Affairs Specialist in Huron, South Dakota, writing and photographing NRCS' successes and sharing program and other information with the public. After over 4 years... [ View ]