Koya partnered with Partnership for a Healthier America to recruit the President & CEO.

Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) is the premier national organization working to create lasting, systemic changes that transform the food landscape in pursuit of health equity. Launched in 2010 in partnership with Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative, the organization was born out of a desire to make healthy eating and active living the new status quo for children and adults across the United States.

The search resulted in the appointment of Noreen Springstead who brought over three decades of experience in the hunger, food and health equity space.

Prior to PHA, Springstead served as Executive Director of WhyHunger, a global organization working in over 30 countries to end hunger and advance the human right to nutritious food. There, her vision guided the organization’s programmatic, philanthropic, finance, operations, and marketing strategies. Under Springstead’s direction, WhyHunger established successful partnerships with diverse companies such as Albertsons, Hard Rock International, Vitafusion, Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and SiriusXM among others. As part of WhyHunger’s signature program Artists Against Hunger & Poverty, Springstead built long-term relationships with notable artists including Bruce Springsteen, Yoko Ono Lennon, Carlos Santana, their management and record labels, resulting in millions of dollars of support and visibility for WhyHunger and its community-based partners.

Springstead is frequently called upon as a thought leader to discuss hunger, human rights, equity, and transformative solutions. She was named a Notable Non-Profit leader by CRAIN’S New York Business in 2021 and one of the most powerful female changemakers by SHAPE magazine in 2019. Noreen harnesses her platform to advance food equity and human rights and has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Fast Company, WCBS Newsradio 880 and The Record among other outlets.

She has served on the USDA Community Food Projects Panel, Albertsons Nourishing Neighbors Advisory Board, and the Healthy Living Coalition.

Springstead holds a BA in Political Science from Rutgers University. She has completed coursework in executive leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School and nonprofit business excellence at the University of Notre Dame.

Read the announcement here.