Community Food Advocates’ Executive Director Liz Accles knows firsthand that it takes all of us—parents, students, unions, educators, public health practitioners, and policy-makers—to create positive change for children who face adversity. With a 30-year career in pursuit of social and economic justice, Liz built Community Food Advocates’ “Lunch 4 Learning” campaign that successfully advocated for free school meals for New York City in 2017. And Community Food Advocates co-led the The New York Healthy School Meals for All Coalition, as New York fully funded universal free school meals in May 2025—a monumental win for 2.7 million students and their families across the state. Liz Accles is our June Newmanitarian® of the Month!

“Liz’s exceptional leadership was instrumental in securing Healthy School Meals for All New York kids. Liz and the CFA team (along with campaign co-leads Hunger Solutions NY) strategically connected organizations throughout the state with national groups, bringing together Newman’s Own Foundation grantee partners like Food Research & Action Center, National Farm to School Network, The Chef Ann Foundation, Wellness in the Schools, and FoodCorps. Through Liz’s visionary leadership, this victory will not only benefit children in New York but also serves as a replicable model for systemic change that other states can follow.” —Christina Chauvenet, Newman’s Own Foundation

Liz identified Community Food Advocates’ recipe for change:

  • Articulate your impact and vision to get people excited about your mission.
  • Stay laser-focused on what you do.
  • Coalition-building: bringing folks together who are not normally at the same table.
  • Address the subtext: what are critics really saying? Then flip it on its head.

Photo courtesy of Community Food Advocates.

What is your mission?

Community Food Advocates utilizes high-impact public policy that ensures all New Yorkers have access to healthy, affordable, culturally affirming foods within an equity-centered, sustainable food system. High-impact public policy change is what drives us.

Paul Newman was an actor, race car driver, activist, and a salad dressing philanthropist. In the spirit of Paul Newman, how are you “raising a little hell” in your community?

  1. Looking at what is being said, examining the subtext, and then challenging that. When I started working in school meals, it was seen as separate from the school system. But we know that it’s connected: when universal free school meals are put in place–kids do better in school. I thought, “who do we need in the room?” and we brought in not just anti-hunger advocates but students, parents, cafeteria workers, teachers, and principals. When you have the range of knowledge, analysis, and experience working towards the same thing–that’s when you can make big change.
  2. Taking on big, bold challenges and systemic shifts through Community Food Advocates. We’re a small organization, but I’m very proud to say we’ve had an extraordinary impact. How we do it—and how we do it well—is by bringing together folks who haven’t necessarily sat around the table together and building coalitions. We live by the adage “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”