H2HC 2026 Fall Summit: Blueprints for Change

Dr. Sara Bleich is the inaugural Vice Provost for Special Projects at Harvard University, Professor of Public Health Policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and a faculty member at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. With more than 190 peer-reviewed publications, she is a policy expert and researcher who specializes in diet-related diseases, food insecurity, and racial inequality. Prior to this, Dr. Bleich served in the Biden Administration as the Director of Nutrition Security and Health Equity at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service and as the Senior Advisor for COVID-19 in the Office of the Secretary at USDA. As a White House Fellow during the Obama Administration, she worked at USDA as a Senior Policy Adviser for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services and on First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative. Dr. Bleich was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2023 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2025. She holds a B.A. in psychology from Columbia University and a PhD in health policy from Harvard University.

Crystal FitzSimons is the President for the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), leading the organization to achieve its vision: A nation in which all people have the nutritious food they need to lead healthy and productive lives; and mission: To improve the nutrition, health, and well-being of people struggling against poverty-related hunger in the United States through advocacy, partnerships, and by advancing  bold and equitable policy solutions. 

Prior to taking on the President role, FitzSimons oversaw FRAC’s work to improve and strengthen the school, summer, and afterschool nutrition programs. She analyzed policy to advocate for legislative and regulatory improvements to increase children’s access to the child nutrition programs. She helped develop strategy and direct national partnerships and field efforts to achieve program improvements through legislative and administrative changes. Recent successful efforts include the Pandemic and Summer EBT Programs; the child nutrition waivers during the pandemic that allowed schools to offer school meals to all their students at no charge, the nationwide expansion of the Afterschool Meal Program; and the Community Eligibility Provision. 

Mark Dinglasan is currently the Executive Director of the New Jersey Office of the Food Security Advocate (OFSA). Under the leadership of the Governor and Speaker Coughlin of NJ General Assembly, the office was created through legislation and is the first of its kind in the nation. OFSA is charged with coordinating outreach for food security programs in New Jersey, including developing new initiatives and outreach campaigns and identifying best practices, research and strategies to increase enrollment and outcomes in the State’s food security programs and initiatives.

Prior to this role, Mark was the Executive Director of CUMAC, the largest anti-hunger organization in Passaic County. CUMAC is dedicated to fighting hunger at its root causes by using Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) research and asset-based community building principles to create more just food access systems and partnerships. Mark was the Executive Director of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Cook County before coming to CUMAC. Prior to joining CASA, he led national corporate development and fundraising at JTB – A Pipeline Organization, the foundation started by the Honorable Ann Claire Williams of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.