Meet Our New Team Members
Newman’s Own Foundation is excited to introduce our three newest team members. Emily Yu, Jackie Blackbird, and Christina Chauvenet join existing staff in leveraging their experience and expertise to expand the Foundation’s partnerships, amplify and measure its impact, and continue to deepen and expand its work in Indigenous Food Justice.
In 2024, their efforts will be centered on:
- Launching an upcoming open application prize to identify new grantee partners and continue work with current grantee partners—including through the engagement of Newman’s Own Community Fund members;
- Identifying like-minded funders and strategic partners who can join forces with the Foundation and amplify the impact of its grantees;
- Deepening the Foundation’s programmatic work in Indigenous Food Justice and Nutritious Food in Schools through working with existing grantee partners and identifying new ones;
- Co-creating the Foundation’s Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning processes and system to support grantee partners in monitoring, evaluating, learning about, and increasing their impact.
Jackie Blackbird, Indigenous Communities Officer
Jackie Blackbird is the organization’s first-ever Indigenous Communities Officer. In this role, she will broaden and deepen the Foundation’s commitment to Indigenous Food Justice. Jackie is a member of the Aaniiih tribe of Montana’s Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. With a history of impactful roles, she previously worked for the Minnesota Twins Baseball Club in Promotions. Jackie also worked for Nike (for almost two decades), most recently as a Global Diversity & Inclusion Program Manager. She contributed to the success of Nike’s N7 Fund through Indigenous partnership building, strategy, and grantmaking.
Christina Chauvenet, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Officer
Christina Chauvenet brings applied research and policy analysis expertise to the role of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Officer. She will work with grantee partners to develop an impact measurement system for mutual accountability and learning. Christina has a PhD in Public Health and has published several articles on child nutrition programs and food security. She has held a variety of food policy and systems roles, and most recently led research and evaluation at the National WIC Association, where she also worked with tribal WIC programs.
Emily Yu, Chief Partnerships and Program Officer
Bringing over two decades of social sector expertise, Emily Yu, filling the dynamic role of Chief Partnerships and Program Officer, will build out the Foundation’s partnerships and oversee the program team. Before joining Newman’s Own Foundation, Emily founded AI PRIORI®. She also served as the Executive Director of The BUILD Health Challenge® and Managing Director of Partnerships at the de Beaumont Foundation. These community-led and cross-sector partnerships resulted in more than 100 new legislative policies, organizational policies, and funding opportunities.
Jackie, Christina, and Emily bring deep talent and experience to complement the current, equally capable team at Newman’s Own Foundation. Sign up to read about their work—campaigns, projects, partnerships, and more—in Radically Good News, our monthly roundup of thought pieces, funding and event opportunities, and inspiration.
