Ellen Parker, Project Bread Executive Director, honored at Wheelock College Commencement

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Alexandra V. Smith
Communications & External Affairs Director
Wheelock College
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Ellen Parker, Project Bread Executive Director, honored at Wheelock College Commencement

Parker receives honorary degree alongside the Rev. Liz Walker and Dr. Lisa Wong

Ellen Parker, Executive Director of Project Bread, received an honorary degree at the Wheelock College Commencement on May 20, 2016 for her work to prevent hunger and position hunger as a public health issue.

According to Parker’s biography, she has led the evolution of Project Bread from a traditional anti-hunger organization to a leading national model that responds to the individual crisis of food insecurity while investing in systemic changes to prevent hunger. Parker was among the first, and strongest, voices to recognize hunger as a public health problem in low-income communities – and to call for leaders in behavioral economics and public health to initiate review and evaluation of the efficacy of food distribution as a dominant answer to this problem of economics and health. For over a decade, Parker has advocated for healthy school food and community-based programming that reflects local need. In accomplishing this, she has brought vibrant new partnerships to the table: engaging community residents and leaders, research institutions, legislators, hospital networks, corporate partners, the media, and school districts in her work.

Additional 2016 Wheelock College honorary degree recipients included the Rev. Liz Walker, Pastor of Roxbury Presbyterian Church and Boston’s first African American Television News Anchor on WBZ; and Dr. Lisa Wong, a musician, pediatrician, author, and lifelong arts advocate.

The 2016 Wheelock College Commencement activities were the last for President Jackie Jenkins-Scott, who concludes her 12-year presidency at Wheelock in June 2016.

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Since 1888, Wheelock College has known that improving the lives of children and families isn’t always easy – but it’s always worth it. We’re teachers, advocates, social workers, and agents of change—leaders who are committed to changing the world in the heart of Boston and around the world. We prepare students to lead change in any career they choose. We offer 15 undergraduate majors and 22 minors, 9 graduate programs and a multitude of non-degree programs options— all of which inspire a world of good. For more information, visit wheelock.edu.