Kim McCoy Wade is a public policy and philanthropy consultant focused on creating opportunities for low-income children and families. She currently coordinates a coalition, the Alliance to Transform CalFresh, advocating to increase access to nutrition alongside the implementation of the ...
Read moreKim McCoy Wade is a public policy and philanthropy consultant focused on creating opportunities for low-income children and families. She currently coordinates a coalition, the Alliance to Transform CalFresh, advocating to increase access to nutrition alongside the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (2011-present) and boost SNAP (formerly food stamps) participation in California. In recent years she has written a guide for California after-school and summer programs on new nutrition education funding; analyzed state child care subsidy programs for opportunities to improve access; developed a philanthropy strategy for a California food business; and advised a research project for USDA on SNAP and healthy food. Kim was a founding consultant for two statewide budget coalitions, the HHS (Health & Human Services) Network (2009 & 2010) and Together for California’s Future (2008). She also served as the primary consultant to the Walmart Foundation on their new “Fighting Hunger Together” campaign, a $2 billion commitment to reduce domestic hunger (2010).
Before becoming a consultant in 2008, Kim served as the Executive Director for the California Association of Food Banks, where she held a series of leadership positions over seven years (2001-2008) and helped launch state programs in fresh produce delivery, food stamp outreach, and nutrition education. Kim also led advocacy campaigns at several national organizations based in Washington DC, including the Children’s Defense Fund (juvenile justice), the Alliance for Justice (gun violence), and Bread for the World (food stamps). Kim is an alumna of NYU School of Law, Carleton College, the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, and the Emerge California training program.
Kim is a member of the City of Oakland’s Budget Advisory Committee; the National Women’s Political Caucus-Alameda North chapter; and the board of the What If? Foundation, which provides hope and opportunity to impoverished children in Haiti. She has been a volunteer at free tax clinics for low-income families and, in 2010-2011, was a foster parent. Her greatest joy is weekends spent camping with her family and finishing the Saturday New York Times crossword puzzle. Kim is a native of the Washington, DC area and now lives in the Golden Gate neighborhood of Oakland, California in a co-housing community she helped found.