Olivia Peña (she/her) leads CSPI's Engagement and Capacity Building Team, which builds and maintains partnerships across the organization's issue areas, and supports the organization's grantmaking portfolio of advocacy partners. The Engagement Team's work centers on building the power and capacity of local and state community partners who are working to equitably advance food and health initiatives through organizing and policy advocacy. Before joining CSPI, Olivia worked at the Building Movement Project where she supported the development of a race equity assessment for nonprofits, managed cohorts of nonprofit leaders and staff, and explored social change initiatives through direct service provision. Building on her passions of food and community power, Olivia founded a food and agriculture-focused network for communities of color. Her research and writing has been featured in publications such as Science of the Total Environment and the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. Olivia earned both a BS and an MS from the University of Vermont in Food Systems, and was named a 2017 National Scholar by the James Beard Foundation. Outside of CSPI, Olivia enjoys reading, horseback riding, long distance running, and tending to her collection of houseplants.

Isaiah Blake (he/him) is CSPI's Engagement Associate and manages relationships with community partners in the Midwest and New York State.

Methany Eltigani (she/her/hers) is an Engagement Associate at CSPI, working to build and maintain relationships with subgrantees across the Northeast region.

Asia Carter (she/her/hers) maintains and builds relationships with CSPI's partners regionally located in the Western part of the U.S. She leads capacity-building and power building opportunities to support and empower the work of community-based organizations while centering the leadership of those most impacted by health inequities.

Bethany (she/her/hers) manages CSPI’s relationships with state and local partners in the Southern region, providing guidance around equitable community engagement in food policy work and organizational power building. In addition to her role with CSPI’s partner network, including current and potential subgrantees, Bethany leads the Engagement Team’s efforts in internal capacity building to guide CSPI practices in community engagement across research, policy, advocacy, and cross-cutting issue areas. Through her work, Bethany contributes to CSPI’s missions of inclusivity, openness, accountability, kindness, and collaboration, with a strong skillset and passion to center the voices of those most impacted by food system inequities.