The Food is Medicine Institute Advisory Council

Afsaneh Mashayekhi Beschloss is Founder and CEO of RockCreek. Previously, she was Managing Director and partner at the Carlyle Group and the World Bank’s Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer. Prior to this, she led the World Bank’s investments and policy work for renewable energy, power, and infrastructure, as well as pioneering investments in wind and solar energy. Previously, she worked in corporate finance at JP Morgan. Afsaneh holds an MPhil (Honors) in Economics from the University of Oxford, where she taught international trade and economics.

Dion Dawson is a food-fighting social entrepreneur, philanthropic leader, and founder focused on health equity through an innovative and logistical lens. Dion’s penchant for challenging the solvency of food insecurity through the stabilization of the supply chain has reinvigorated the traditional food distribution model and been met with worldwide attention. With data-driven operations, consistent quality, and a deep commitment to a resident-informed process that meets residents and recipients where they are, he prioritizes the end-user experience.

Senator William H. Frist, MD is a heart and lung transplant surgeon, the co-founder of the Vanderbilt Transplant Center, and a former United States Senate Majority Leader, representing Tennessee in the U.S. Senate from 1995 – 2007. Today, Senator Frist serves as Chairman of the Global Board of The Nature Conservancy, the largest conservation organization in the world, and is building dynamic, value-driven healthcare companies through his partner roles at Frist Cressey Ventures and Cressey & Company.

Dan Glickman is a Bipartisan Policy Center senior fellow and co-chairs its Commission on Political Reform, Democracy Project, Prevention Initiative, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Task Force. He served as the secretary of agriculture from March 1995 until January 2001. Under his leadership, the Department of Agriculture administered farm and conservation programs, modernized food-safety regulations, forged international trade agreements to expand U.S. markets, and improved its commitment to fairness and equality in civil rights. Prior to becoming the secretary of agriculture, Glickman represented the 4th Congressional District of Kansas for 18 years in the House of Representatives. During that time, he was a member of the House Agriculture Committee, including six years as chairman of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over federal farm policy issues. He was also an active member of the House Judiciary Committee, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and was a leading congressional expert on general aviation policy.

Dr. J. Nadine Gracia is the President and CEO of Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), a nonprofit, nonpartisan public health policy, research, and advocacy organization committed to promoting optimal health for every person and community and making prevention and health equity foundational to policymaking at all levels. She is a national health equity leader with extensive leadership experience in federal government, the nonprofit sector, academia, and professional associations. Prior to joining TFAH, Dr. Gracia served in the Obama Administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health and Director of the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Noosheen has decades of experience building the leadership/execution capabilities of early stage companies to drive growth and profitability at global scale. During her 10 years at Oracle, she helped scale company sales from $26m to $3b. She has led and invested in numerous startups and nonprofits and is an active advisory board member of multiple institutions. Noosheen is a Stanford GSB graduate.

Dr. Yvonne T. Maddox, Ph.D. is President and Chief Executive Officer of the T. A. Thornton Foundation, a family foundation dedicated to promoting the health and wellness of underserved populations. Dr. Maddox previously served as Vice President for Research and Professor of Allied Health Sciences at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) and at the National Institutes of Health (NIH),where she was Acting Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, Deputy Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and Acting Deputy Director of the entire NIH.

Radha Muthiah oversees the Capital Area Food Bank’s work to help people across greater Washington thrive by creating more equitable access to food and opportunity through community partnerships. With an eye toward long-term hunger solutions that enable greater economic stability for the food bank’s clients, Muthiah has also led the creation of multiple groundbreaking initiatives designed to address hunger’s root causes and build greater equity and inclusiveness across our region. This includes expanding the scope and nature of the food bank’s programming to include partnerships with health care facilities, job training centers, and institutions of higher education that bundle food and other critical services.

Brooks Tingle is President and Chief Executive Officer of John Hancock, the U.S. segment of Toronto-based Manulife Financial Corporation. In this role, Tingle leads one of the largest life insurers in the United States, supporting more than ten million Americans with a broad range of financial products, including life insurance and annuities. He previously served as President and CEO of John Hancock Insurance and led the company to embrace and implement the now market-leading behavioral insurance solution.