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Sophie is excited to serve as the 2021 Harvest VISTA program leader and bring her passion for food justice to Seattle, Washington from her hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. Her time in Baltimore volunteering with a local grocery distribution nonprofit during the Covid-19 pandemic reinforced for her that food insecurity is a weapon of oppression that disproportionately targets Black, Indigenous and immigrant communities. Prior to this, Sophie worked for two years with refugee and immigrant communities as an Americorps VISTA in St. Paul, Minnesota and abroad in Paris, France. She studied anthropology and African studies at Macalester College in St. Paul and abroad in Dakar, Senegal.

In its Harvest VISTA program with Americorps, Harvest Against Hunger expands its mission of ending food insecurity and waste beyond Washington to include sites across the country. Rather than seeking temporary fixes to the hunger problem, the Harvest VISTA program provides sustainable solutions that shift traditional food systems by prioritizing healthy food and local organizations. Harvest VISTA members support communities by recruiting volunteers, fundraising, improving supply chains, developing new programs and more. They receive training, mentorship, tools and resources from Harvest VISTA program leadership so that their solutions last for years to come.