Excellence in Public Health/Community Nutrition Award
Chris Mornick, MPH, RDN
Chris Mornick is the SNAP-Ed Program Manager for the Washington Department of Social and Health Services. Throughout her career, she has led multiple statewide and national efforts to increase equitable food access, especially for people living with low incomes, native communities, people who are incarcerated, and people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). This includes working with the Department of Corrections to align menus at all 12 Washington state correctional facilities with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), partnering with Special Olympics Washington to co-develop guidelines and pass the first Healthy Food and Beverage policy for any Special Olympics program, and spearheading a Tribal SNAP-Ed Needs Assessment that will provide autonomy for tribal partners to identify their own funding priorities.
Nationally, Chris has been participating in the Special Olympics International Inclusive Nutrition Initiative, helping increase access to SNAP-Ed programming for people with IDD. She is the co-chair of the Association of State and Public Health Nutritionists (ASPHN) Policy Committee and member of the Association of SNAP Nutrition Education Administrators (ASNNA) Advocacy Committee, through which she has helped draft comments and submit letters on federal nutrition policies such as the Farm Bill and the DGAs.
Chris’s efforts have been recognized by the Washington State Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the Association of State and Public Health Nutritionists (ASPHN), and by invitation to the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.
Chris has a Master in Public Health from the University of Washington and a Bachelor in Nutrition Sciences from California State University, Los Angeles. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two young boys. When not working, you can usually find Chris tinkering in the kitchen, reading, and playing outside with her family.
The purpose of the Excellence in Public Health/Community Nutrition Award is to recognize a member of the Public Health/Community Nutrition DPG who has exhibited outstanding service, dedication and/or innovation to the field.
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