Cecily Upton

Cecily is the Co-Founder and Senior Vice President of FoodCorps. As its Chief Strategist, Cecily oversees the organization’s strategy, partnerships, policy and advocacy initiatives to make healthy food more abundant and accessible in all 100,000 schools in the United States, so all kids can grow up to reach their full potential. She is responsible for shaping the vision for strategic programming that scales the organization’s impact beyond the 350+ schools it serves through its AmeriCorps service program to all 30 million kids who rely on school lunch for nourishment.

An accomplished coalition-builder and skilled social entrepreneur, Cecily leads reWorking Lunch—a public-private partnership to develop innovative solutions that overcome complex challenges in the school food system through collective action. Prior to her current role, Cecily served as the Vice President of Programs, a leadership role in which she directed the development and growth of FoodCorps’ national service program in schools and its expanding alumni network. With her vision, FoodCorps now serves schools in 18 states and 175 communities in partnership with more than 200 community-based organizations.

She advises and collaborates with a variety of advocacy groups to strengthen connections between kids, farms, and schools, including the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, the National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity, the National Farm to School Network, the Urban School Food Alliance, and Good Food for All.

Cecily received her bachelor’s degree in art history from Bowdoin College and her master’s degree in arts from New York University’s Gallatin School. She lives in Maine with her daughter, who might be getting tired of her annual exclamation, “I think our vegetable garden should be bigger next year!"