Knoxville, TN — Inshira Bediako, a May 2023 graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has been awarded the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship. This esteemed fellowship is a leadership development opportunity designed for professionals eager to gain skills and experience in anti-hunger, anti-poverty policy, and social justice work.

Bediako, who majored in Global Studies and minored in Africana Studies at UT, received support throughout her application process from the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowship (OURF).

Her academic journey at UT was marked by significant achievements, including recognition at EUReCA (Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement) for her project on reproductive justice in Knoxville’s Black community. Additionally, she won first place for her PSA on Black Maternal Mortality from the UT Department of Public Health.

“I am very grateful and eager to begin the Emerson Hunger Fellowship program,” said Bediako. “I believe working with various non-profits and policy centers dedicated to ending poverty and hunger in the United States will be an invaluable learning opportunity, enabling me to better understand how I can contribute to dismantling poverty and inequality in this country.”

For the first half of Bediako’s fellowship, she will be working at Hunger Free Oklahoma (HFO) in Tulsa, Oklahoma to support the implementation of HFO’s first lived-experience cohort that will center Oklahomans who have navigated food insecurity. She will also assist with efforts to increase the 2025 Summer Meal program participation in rural communities across Oklahoma.

For the second half of her fellowship, she will be in DC working with a public policy organization to think about national approaches to end hunger.

“To be invited to join the Emerson Hunger Fellows is a great honor, and it is fabulous to see Inshira’s hard work recognized in this way,” said Laura DeFurio, Associate Director of OURF. “I have no doubt that, over the next year, Inshira’s dedication, humor, and intelligence will prove an asset to the policy-makers and community leaders working to address hunger, housing access, and poverty at local and national levels. Whether on Rocky Top, in Tulsa, or in Washington DC, Inshira continues to inspire others and work tirelessly for change.”

The Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship trains and inspires new leaders in the movement to end hunger and poverty in the United States. Fellows gain vital firsthand experience through placements with community-based organizations across the country and policy-focused organizations in Washington, D.C. The program bridges the gap between local efforts and national public policy, supporting partner organizations with program development, research, evaluation, outreach, organizing, and advocacy projects.

The fellowship serves as a living legacy to Bill Emerson (January 1, 1938 – June 22, 1996), a Congressional leader who brought people together across political lines to combat hunger. Emerson’s tireless, bipartisan work in Congress advanced numerous anti-hunger initiatives, including The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). His steadfast leadership and bipartisan approach during his fifteen years in Congress form the foundation of the Congressional Hunger Center’s anti-hunger efforts.