Scott Faber leads EWG’s government affairs efforts, in which capacity he has frequently testified before Congress on food, farm, energy, water and chemical policy issues. Faber is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center. Faber is one of EWG’s top spokespeople and is a frequent source for journalists with national and regional media outlets. Faber has appeared on network and cable news programs and in documentary films, and he is regularly quoted in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Politico, and CNN.com, among many others.
Joe Van Wye
Joe Van Wye is the Policy and Outreach Director at Farm Action, where he works to implement policies that will support farmers, food producers, and American consumers. He spent seven years working in the House of Representatives, both for the personal office of Congressman David N. Cicilline and, most recently, for the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative law. In Congress, Joe developed expertise in antitrust and regulatory issues, as well as a passion for fighting concentrated power wherever it appears in the economy. He has also worked on a number of political campaigns at the local, state, and national levels. Joe holds a B.A. in Political Science from Brown University, and is based out of Washington, D.C. When he is not working to build a fair food system for all, Joe spends his time running a long standing Dungeons & Dragons game and sampling the excellent craft breweries and farm-to-table restaurants in the D.C. area.
Lloyd Wright
Lloyd E. Wright served as the Director of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Civil Rights in 1997–1998, during the beginning period of the Black farmer class-action lawsuit (Pigford). He also served as an advisor to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in 2009–2011, and worked on civil rights program complaints that were filed between 2000 and 2008, but not processed by the USDA Office of Civil Rights. He is an advisory board member of the Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Policy Research Center. He is a farmer and a retired USDA employee with 37 years of service.
Day 2: Wednesday
Karyn Bigelow
Karyn Bigelow is a Co-Executive Director of Creation Justice Ministries. She has served as the policy advisor and project manager as well policy analyst and research analyst at Bread for the World, focusing on the intersections of climate change, food security and racial equity. She is a steering committee member of the American Baptist Churches’ Creation Justice Network. She earned her Master in Divinity from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, where she sat on the Board of Directors, and her undergraduate degree in social relations and policy from Michigan State University. She is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Global Food Security and Nutrition focusing her studies and research on sustainability. She has published numerous articles on topics such as environmental racism and climate change.
Madison Mayhew
Madison Mayhew supports Interfaith Power & Light’s advocacy work in Washington, D.C. as a Federal Policy Manager. Madison joined IPL after working with the United Church of Christ in their policy office, where she learned about the power of faith-based organizing and the value of moral imagination in addressing the climate crisis. She has a Masters Degree in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelors of Social Work from Lipscomb University. She is most happy in the summer sun, sitting amongst wild things and watching birds with her partner.
