PLATINUM2023

FOOD RESEARCH & ACTION CENTER INC

The premier anti-hunger group in Washington

aka Campaign to End Childhood Hunger   |   Washington, DC   |  www.frac.org

Mission

To improve the nutrition, health, and well-being of people struggling against poverty-related hunger in the United States through advocacy, partnerships, and the advancement of bold and equitable policy solutions.

Ruling year info

1972

President

Mr. Luis Guardia

Main address

1200 18th Street NW Suite 400

Washington, DC 20036 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

23-7200739

NTEE code info

Nutrition Programs (K40)

Alliance/Advocacy Organizations (W01)

Alliance/Advocacy Organizations (O01)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

While the COVID-19 public health emergency has officially ended, families and individuals struggling against hunger and poverty continue to face a different emergency as the accumulation of COVID-era social safety net expansions comes to an end. The onslaught of these changes is alarming, especially given that hunger is on the rise across the country. Increases in the price of most goods, including food, rent, and medical care, continue to put pressure on household budgets and the risk for food insufficiency. These top-line figures mask deeply disparate rates of food insecurity that Black, Latinx/Hispanic, and households from other communities of color experience compared to White families, reflecting systemic injustices in equitable access to food and economic resources.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

SNAP

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) is the nation’s most important direct defense against hunger. SNAP helps 42.1 million people put food on the table—particularly children, parents, working families, older adults, people with disabilities, and more.

Research demonstrates the effectiveness of SNAP in alleviating poverty; reducing food insecurity; improving health, nutrition, and well-being; reducing health care costs; and boosting the economy.

SNAP’s structure is fundamentally sound, but key improvements are needed to strengthen its impact. Working at the national, state, and local levels, FRAC engages in advocacy, research, communications, and partnerships to ensure access to SNAP is maximized, eligibility is expanded, participation meets need, and benefit levels are adequate for good nutrition and health.

Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Seniors
Children
Parents
Women

FRAC is the leading advocacy group working to ensure that school meals (breakfast and lunch), afterschool and summer meals, and Summer EBT have the most profound impact on childhood hunger and poverty, health, development, and learning. Working at the national, state, and local levels, FRAC engages in advocacy, research, communications, and partnerships to ensure access to the school-aged child nutrition programs is maximized, eligibility is expanded, participation meets need, and nutrition standards support good nutrition and health.

Population(s) Served
Children
Adolescents
Preteens

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides pregnant and postpartum mothers, infants, and young children with nutritious foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and referrals to health care. Research shows that WIC improves health and well-being, dietary intake, and birth and health outcomes; protects against obesity; and supports learning and development.

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) helps provide nutritious meals and snacks for eligible children and elderly or disabled adults at child care centers, family child care homes, afterschool programs, Head Start programs, adult care centers, and homeless shelters.

Working at the national, state, and local levels, FRAC engages in advocacy, research, communications, and partnerships to ensure access to the early childhood programs is maximized, eligibility is expanded, participation meets need, and nutrition standards support good nutrition and health.

Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Infants and toddlers
Women

Where we work

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of requests for advocate products or information, including downloads or page views of online material

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Economically disadvantaged people

Related Program

School-Aged Programs

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

Number of page views of FRAC's Pandemic EBT webpage alone in a year.

Number of list subscribers

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Economically disadvantaged people

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of research or policy analysis products developed, e.g., reports, briefs

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Economically disadvantaged people

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

Number of policy reports, issue briefs, infographics, and blogs produced in a year.

Number of audience members willing to take action on behalf of a specific issue

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Economically disadvantaged people

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

The FRAC Action Network allows advocates to contact their members of Congress directly to urge them to support and pass urgently needed legislation. This is the number of emails sent to Congress.

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

1. Strengthen the federal nutrition programs to ensure they provide sufficient and dignified access to nutrition to individuals and families with low-incomes in the U.S.
2. Guarantee that federal nutrition program implementation at the federal, state, and local levels maximizes available benefits.
3. Support policies and programs that reduce poverty and other root causes of hunger.
4. Reduce the racial hunger gap by embedding equity in the Federal Nutrition Assistance Programs.
5. Build a national commitment in support of just and effective anti-hunger policies.

FRAC engages in a broad range of strategies at the national, state, and local levels to strengthen and improve participation and benefits in the federal nutrition programs, including: policy analysis; research; advocacy; lobbying; outreach; dissemination of best practices and other materials; annual conferences, webinars, and other training opportunities; intensive technical assistance to state and local groups and public and private non-profit service providers; public education; messaging; work with media and digital media; coalition building; regranted funding; and similar work. As a key part of this work, FRAC informs, mobilizes, and empowers a network of national, state, and local organizations and policymakers.

For many years FRAC has been the epicenter of thought leadership, technical assistance, training, information dissemination, policy analysis, research, and coalition-building involving the federal nutrition programs. FRAC’s position in the anti-poverty and anti-hunger sphere is unique in many respects. Focusing on public programs, we integrate national, state, and local anti-hunger efforts into a comprehensive strategy and work in a bipartisan manner to shore up support for program expansion and improvements.

FRAC staff have decades of experience working on these efforts and are acknowledged experts and leaders on the workings of the federal nutrition programs. FRAC senior staff bring to bear their deep knowledge and wealth of experience to the leadership roles they serve in numerous leading coalitions and collaborations, including the Breakfast for Learning Education Alliance, the Child Nutrition Forum, the Coalition on Human Needs, the eGovernment Payments Council, the Hunger Vital Sign Community of Practice, the National CACFP Forum, the National Academy of Medicine Roundtable on Obesity Solutions, and the Protecting Immigrant Families Campaign.

FRAC has worked to expand access to, participation in, and benefits in the full range of nutrition programs, and to protect and improve nutrition quality in the programs as the means to address the complex set of problems of hunger, poverty, and poor health. This approach by FRAC has come to define the field of work.

1. Advocated for Increased SNAP Benefits.
2. Raised Our Hands for Healthy School Meals for All
3. Advanced Legislation to Mitigate the Alarming Spikes in Hunger
4. The FRAC Action Network Connected Advocates and Policymakers
5. Made Strides in Centering Our Work in Racial Equity
6. Fought Fear with Facts Once the Public Charge Rule was Blocked
7. Highlighted the Link between Hunger, Poverty, and Equity During the Pandemic
8. Served as a Go-To Resource During Disasters

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.
  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

Financials

FOOD RESEARCH & ACTION CENTER INC
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

FOOD RESEARCH & ACTION CENTER INC

Board of directors
as of 11/06/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Ms. Mayra Alvarez

The Children's Partnership

Term: 2023 - 2026

Mayra E Alvarez

The Children's Partnership

Dave Carlin

International Dairy Foods Association

Molly Fogarty

Nestle Corporate Affairs

Dan Glickman

The Aspen Institute

Ronald F Pollack

Luis Guardia

Food Research & Action Center

Eric Rodriguez

UnidosUS

Elizabeth (Beth) Johnson

Food Directions LLC

Kellie Adesina

KraftHeinz

Sherry Brennan

Media Consultant

Jeff Davidoff

The Idea Monkeys

Kofi Essel, MD, MPH, FAAP

Elevance Health

Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach

Northwestern University

Eric M Bost

Texas A&M University

Ellen Buchman

The Opportunity Agenda

LaQuita Honeysucker

United Food and Commercial Workers International Union

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 11/6/2023

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx
Gender identity
Male, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 11/06/2023

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.