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Our Chief People Officer Strives to Leave the World Better Than She Found It

on  November 19, 2019

Amy Lewis is relatively new to the Rise Against Hunger staff, starting as the organization’s Chief People Officer this past summer. In the short time she’s been with the organization, she’s already experienced a lot.Amy began working for Rise Against Hunger in July 2019. “My first day was the day of the staff retreat,” she says. “It was the best way to start.” She explains that beginning her time with the staff retreat provided her with a unique, great way to begin her time with the organization. She was able to learn a lot about the organization very quickly, and she also was able to see how the staff engaged with our mission to end hunger by 2030. “[The retreat] really re-energizes or energizes us to carry out the mission.”The staff retreat was memorable for her in more ways than one. Not only was it the beginning of her employment, but it also began with an experience so special to her that it’s her favorite Rise Against Hunger memory to date. On her first day, when she didn’t know anyone and had yet to meet anyone, the organization’s founder was one of the first people she saw. “I walked in the door, I go over by the elevator to go upstairs and I see Ray Buchanan,” she says. “I recognized him from his picture on the website, but I had never met him. I was shocked when I first saw him!” Amy decided she wasn’t going to let an opportunity like this go, so she walked up and said “You must be Ray Buchanan. I’m Amy Lewis.”What happened next was something she didn’t expect and something that left her speechless. “Before I could say one more word, he said ‘Oh my goodness, you’re our new Chief People Officer!’ He then just wrapped his arms around me and hugged me. He said “We have been waiting for you. We are so glad that you are here and I am just so happy that you have joined Rise Against Hunger.'”Given her position as Chief People Officer, she knows it sounds a bit cliché to say the people are her favorite part, but it’s the truth. “We have a really passionate, talented group of people. I know it may sound like I’m supposed to say that because of my role, but I truly mean it.”The people of Rise Against Hunger are indeed important to her because of her role, too. She leads and directs the people operations team and sets the People Operations strategy for Rise Against Hunger. How those responsibilities translate to her day-to-day tasks varies. One minute she could be recruiting, the next handling an employee relations matter, and the next providing the People Operations perspective in a board meeting. She explains, “In my role, I’m a champion for change and culture, always using an employee lens.”For Amy, that employee lens is critical for the organization. “The organization doesn’t exist without its people,” she says. “The people are the organization, so we have to make sure we’re taking care of the people so they can take care of our beneficiaries.” Therefore, Amy’s role, and the roles of the entire People Operations team, are vital to Rise Against Hunger’s mission to end world hunger. Amy explains, “Without our people, we can’t strive for what we’re trying to do.”Amy says the organization is a “perfect match” for her. Both the mission and what was needed in the role connected with her experience and strengths. The role aligns with her personal values and desire to make the world a better place, too. “It’s my calling to use my strengths and talents to make a positive impact on this world, to leave it better than I found it.”Ray’s sincerity really mattered to Amy. “It made me feel very welcomed and needed by the organization,” she says.In addition to her interaction with Ray, Amy has quickly learned that her favorite part of Rise Against Hunger is the people. She says, “I have not met a single person yet who is not just absolutely passionate and selfless and willing to give more of themselves than they may ever get back. I love working alongside and with those kinds of people.”If you relate to Amy and feel a calling to make a positive impact, check out our Careers page for full-time and part-time opportunities!

About the Author

Strength, Stability And Hope

The gift that filled Nelly’s table.

“We were yielding very little, and the crops could not sustain us the whole year,” Nelly remembers. As a mother of seven and a farmer with two decades of experience, the stress of inconsistent yields was all-consuming. A poor harvest not only strained her family financially, but also limited their own meals to just two a day. Their story reflects that of many in their fishing and farming village near a lake in the Karonga district of northern Malawi. Here, heavy rainfall makes conventional farming methods nearly impossible. The entire village is, quite literally, saturated in food insecurity — a reality that leaves families struggling to survive season after season without a dependable source of nourishment.

In 2019, Nelly began participating in Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience, a sustainable agriculture project implemented by Rise Against Hunger in partnership with the Foundation for Community Support Services (FOCUS). The project works with 3,100 smallholder farmers in Malawi’s Karonga and Mzimba districts to strengthen food and nutrition security by improving production methods, nutrition practices and household income.

Just one year later, Nelly was ready to expand the variety of crops on her farm. What land once only produced maize began to flourish with sesame, cowpeas, rice and groundnuts during the rainy season (summer), as well as maize and vegetables during the dry season (winter). Through climate-smart agriculture training, she learned new techniques like manure making, pit planting and mulching, crop rotation and intercropping. Equipped with these tools, Nelly’s farm began to thrive.

After the 2023–2024 growing season, she sold enough produce to purchase an ox cart. Her harvests in 2024-2025 season yielded over 500 pounds of crops, including 22 bags of groundnuts, seven bags of maize, 12 tins of sesame and three bags of rice. With this surplus, she was able to invest in a motorbike, which she now uses to transport African doughnuts (mandasi) that she cooks and sells — creating yet another source of income for her family.

The transformation reaches far beyond her finances. Nelly now has the stability to provide for her husband and children. “I am able to eat different food types, pay school fees for my children and fulfill the visions that I have made with my family,” she beams. “I am now sleeping peacefully without any fears of food or paying school fees for the children.”

Her leadership has also grown. Today, Nelly serves as a leader in the Harvesting Prosperity and Resilience project, teaching other farmers in her district to adopt climate-resilient, labor-saving practices. By sharing her knowledge, she is multiplying her impact — empowering her neighbors to experience the same transformation she has achieved.

Across Nelly’s community, food and economic security are on the rise. Lombani, a government extension officer for the region, explains, “I can see the community is being transformed in the sense that in the area, there is food, income and nutrition security. Development is also happening at the household level.”

Nelly reflects on what it means to invest in holistic programs that address the root causes of hunger: “We are now healthy people. Children are going to school after eating their breakfast, having high yields and different types of crops due to conservation agriculture practices. With the support from the project, we have food, and we can access other food items from the market after selling our produce.”

This is the gift that fills: a future full of stability, strength and hope. It fills tables with food, families with security and communities with the resources to thrive. It’s an investment in futures rooted in resilience and hope.