User:Vakwei/Capital Area Food Bank

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Client Leadership Councils at the Food Bank

The Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) is notable for pioneering the use of Client Leadership Councils (CLCs) in their programming efforts. CLCs are steering committees composed of two-dozen food insecure people in the greater D.C. area that rely on CAFB and their network of partners for consistent access to healthy and nutritious foods. Over the course of 9 months, CLC members are put through a series of training programs designed to teach them how to tell their story, contribute to advocacy efforts, interface with the press, and influence CAFB and governmental policy and programming.

CLC members are selected through a thorough application and interview process. Any individual over the age of 18 who resides in the food bank's service area, faces food insecurity, and uses CAFB’s services (or those of their distribution partners) is eligible to participate. CAFB works with their non-profit partner network to solicit applications from a wide variety of eligible candidates. Each applicant is then interviewed to ensure they meet the criteria, and that the group at large is widely representative of the larger clientele population.

CLC meetings begin in September and run through May, with members participating in 3-day-long training sessions on a monthly basis. During each session members participate in skill-building workshops, hear from experts working on food security issues, and ultimately make programmatic and policy recommendations to CAFB staff and local public officials. As the months progress, they then work collaboratively with CAFB staff members to implement approved changes. All CLC members are paid a living wage for time spent in program events, and their transportation to all events and meetings is heavily subsidized or fully covered.

Thus far the CLC program has had a significant effect on the ways in which CAFB and local lawmakers combat food insecurity in the region. They have influenced policies like the Virginia Dream Act and secured funding in the DC Mayoral budget through initiatives like Fair Shot DC. Additionally, they have expanded and helped refine the CAFB distribution network, facilitated the introduction of fresh produce to complement monthly food boxes, and have helped CAFB better understand nutritional needs as they vary by age and ethnicity within the clientele population.