Sara Ball
Sara Ball is the integrations manager at Vanterra Foundation Solutions LLC. She has previous experience with UnitedHealthcare’s social impact team and supported grants to hundreds of nonprofits across the country.
Her work there helped her recognize the deep need for hunger relief in the U.S. and the importance of intentional, human-centered design in hunger relief. She experienced the impact first hand as she volunteered at a local food shelf delivering food to people who couldn’t leave their homes.
“I saw the difference it made when people got to choose their own foods, and choose foods that fit their health and dietary needs, fit their culture and fit their families,” she said.
Ball recently completed the Non-Profit Board Leadership certification course through the University of Minnesota. She also has experience building non-profit board service programs for employees at a Fortune 100 company.
Ball has participated actively with a number of organizations. She served as a board member for the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation and as a planning committee member for the Alzheimer’s Association Walk as well as the Second Harvest Heartland’s Dish Gala.
She is excited to join FFEN’s Board of Directors and said the organization plays a unique role.
“FFEN is focused on data-driven strategies and human-centered design,” she said. “By helping food shelves maximize the resources they have and the food they receive, FFEN fills a unique and valuable niche in the hunger-relief ecosystem.”
Megan Blomberg
Megan Blomberg brings her professional experience as an estate, gift, and trust tax manager to her role on the FFEN Board of Directors.
Blomberg works at Redpath and Company, LLC, and has extensive experience in fiscal oversight, strategic planning, and financial compliance. Prior to joining Redpath, she worked at LB Carlson, where she served as the firm’s Charitable Lead. In that role, she managed a team responsible for community service initiatives, organizing annual service projects and giving drives that supported local nonprofits.
“It was rewarding to see the impact on the firm and the rest of the charitable team as we came together and worked on activities,” she said.
For Blomberg, volunteering to improve outcomes for people experiencing food insecurity is deeply important.
“We all deserve the right to be fed, and we all deserve to choose what we have to eat,” she said. “Food is a basic necessity, and how people access it matters. FFEN plays a huge role in that.”
Blomberg hopes to use her financial expertise to benefit FFEN and the food shelves it serves by helping promote the many ways individuals can make charitable gifts.
Rachel Sosnowchik
Rachel Sosnowchik spent nearly five years working in Minnesota’s hunger relief landscape and now she’s returning to it with her new role as a member of FFEN’s Board of Directors.
Sosnowchik worked in public affairs for a number of years at Second Harvest Heartland. Currently, she serves as a lobbyist with Goff Public working across non-profit, public and private sectors.
Her time at Second Harvest Heartland helped her understand the power and importance of food sourcing and close community connections. FFEN’s work directly supports and encourages food shelf leaders to prioritize fresh fruits and vegetables and offer them to shoppers in a grocery-store like atmosphere, she said.
“We often only see the outcome of the work FFEN does – amazing food shelves that support shoppers with dignity and provide fresh foods – organizations don’t just happen into this … it takes a lot of work and expertise and that is what FFEN provides.”
The government shutdown and debate around SNAP benefits, Sosnowchik said, highlights the work that still needs to be done to help the public understand the distinctly different roles of food shelves and food banks.
Sosnowchik said she wants to champion FFEN’s unique role in the statewide hunger relief sector and the direct support FFEN provides to Minnesota’s food shelves.
