Janelle Walikonis

Janelle Walikonis is a humanitarian leader and impact-driven advocate with over a decade of experience tackling hunger in crisis settings. Her journey began as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in eastern Cameroon, where she first witnessed the devastating impact of child malnutrition and supported food security programs for Central African Republic refugees. That experience sparked an interest to understand the root causes of hunger and work to ensure displaced families and conflict-affected communities receive lifesaving food. Since then, she has led food security programs from Southern Africa to Southeast Asia, including spearheading a school feeding initiative that delivered daily school meals to 50,000 children during the El Niño drought while laying the foundation for sustainable, home-grown feeding systems. While at USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, she oversaw emergency food assistance for conflict-affected communities in Myanmar and advanced resilient strategies in Indonesia to help strengthen villages, and their local food systems, against climatic shocks.