Guest Profile

Jess Pino-Goodspeed

Jess Pino-Goodspeed is a Licensed Master of Social Work and has been a Child Nutrition Program Specialist at Hunger Solutions New York for almost 10 years. Jess holds an MA in Social Work from SUNY Albany and a BA in Sociology and Spanish from Hartwick College.

As part of her role at Hunger Solutions NY--which is a non-profit that advocates for policy changes and legislation to improve access to and participation in federal nutrition assistance programs at the local, state, and federal levels--Jess provides training on child nutrition programs, best practices to create hunger-free schools in communities with high poverty, and research on childhood hunger, as well as being a resource for connecting individuals, organizations, and agencies to increase awareness of, support for, and participation in federal child nutrition programs. Jess analyzes policy to advocate for legislative and administrative improvements to increase low-income children’s access to nutrition programs and performs statewide and local targeted outreach to promote strategies to expand access to healthy food for low-income children in schools.

Jess is also a mother to two young, vibrant girls, and a Group Trainer and Nutrition Coach at Underwood Park Crossfit, a faith-based Crossfit gym in Fort Edward, New York. She is a former member of the Board of Directors for Holding Our Own, a multiracial, multicultural foundation, led by women of color, which was established to create and advance feminist social and economic change in Albany, New York, and is deeply devoted to the nexus of spirituality and systemic social change. Jess is a 2020 recipient of the Post Star 20 under 40 Award for being a young leader making significant contributions to her community. She is also the 2019 recipient of the Champion of Child Nutrition Award granted by the New York School Nutrition Association.