Ertharin Cousin, the Frank E. and Arthur W. Payne Distinguished Lecturer at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, will present an Endowed Lecture at Bridgewater College on Wednesday, March 26, at 7:30 p.m. in Cole Hall. She will speak on her humanitarian work and the challenges of hunger—both acute and chronic—around the world.
Cousin has more than thirty years of national and international leadership experience focusing on food, hunger, humanitarian operations, political organizing, community development and resilience strategies. From 2009 until 2017 she was executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme, the world’s largest humanitarian organization serving 80 million beneficiaries in 75 countries.
In 2009, Cousin was confirmed as the U.S. Ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture in Rome. In this role Cousin served as the U.S. Representative for all food, agriculture and nutrition related issues and helped identify and catalyze US government investment in food security and nutrition activities supported by the USAID Feed the Future program.
Prior to her global hunger work, Cousin helped lead the U.S. domestic fight to end hunger while serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of America’s Second Harvest-now Feeding America. Previously, Cousin served as Senior Vice President for Albertson’s Foods. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of Georgia Law School and the University of Chicago Executive Management Finance for Non-Financial Executives program.
This endowed lecture is sponsored by the Anna B. Mow Symposium on Comparative Religious Ethics and the Harry W. and Ina Mason Shank Peace Studies Endowment. It is co-presented by BC’s Office for Community Engagement and Sustainability.
For the endowed lecture, doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the event starts at 7:30 p.m. The format for the event is a traditional lecture with a Q&A. The event is free and open to the public.
Media Contact:
Heather Cole
Editor & Director of Media Relations
hcole@bridgewater.edu
3/11/25
