Monica Munn joined The Rockefeller Foundation in 2014. As a member of the Strategy and Strategic Planning team, she supported the design and implementation of new programmatic initiatives. Ms. Munn had significant experience developing programs focused on sustainability and economic development issues, including food waste and loss, equitable urban development, and energy access. She drove efforts to reduce food waste in the U.S. as part of the Foundation’s global YieldWise initiative. She had previously worked on Foundation initiatives to address energy poverty, improve access to health services and information for the urban working poor, and catalyze employment opportunities for African youth.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Ms. Munn was responsible for corporate strategy and investor relations at Next Street, an advisory firm focused on accelerating economic development in U.S. inner cities. As part of Next Street’s strategy practice, she advised urban small businesses and nonprofits on growth challenges and partnered with municipal and state agencies to develop and implement economic development strategies, such as small business capacity building programs, business incubators, and local procurement policies. Earlier in her career, Munn worked on strategy and corporate development at Citigroup.
Munn holds a B.Sc. in International Politics from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and is currently pursuing a M.Sc. in Sustainability Management at Columbia University.
Apr 17 2017 Blog Post Growing Food Waste Leadership from the Ground Up The first few months of 2017 have shown encouraging signs that last year’s momentum on food waste continues to grow. Voluntary guidelines to clarify date labels have been launched by industry associations, cities are incorporating food and organic waste strategies into their sustainability plans, and more companies are setting zero food waste targets. We know, […]
Nov 01 2016 Blog Post 2016: The Birth of the U.S. Food Waste Movement? The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 – which calls for halving food waste and reducing food losses globally by 2030 – may be an ambitious goal, but it’s one The Rockefeller Foundation believes is fully achievable. Our YieldWise initiative, which we launched in January, commits $130 million to prove this goal is within reach. […]
Jul 21 2016 Blog Post Americans Hungry for Change, Feedback Fills Their Plates In the spirit of collaboration of the growing global movement against food waste, Feedback, an environmental organization dedicated to ending food waste at every level of the food system, has partnered with The Rockefeller Foundation to shed light on this worldwide issue for U.S. consumers, government, and businesses, and to positively promote the delicious solutions […]
Jul 14 2016 Blog Post The Future of Food Security is in the Trash—And in Technology Food waste and spoilage is one of the biggest—and most preventable—issues plaguing food security today. The stats are staggering: in developing countries, 40 percent of losses occur before the food even hits the market, amounting to $310 billion in lost revenue. In Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania alone: almost half of all fruits and vegetables grown […]
Mar 28 2016 Blog Post ReFED: The Roadmap to Reduce US Food Waste In the US, 63 million tons of food goes to waste every year, which represents $218 billion spent on growing, processing, transporting, and disposing of food that is never eaten. And reducing this food waste could avoid nearly 18 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually. Unlike in sub-Saharan Africa, where food loss occurs primarily […]