Alexis received her Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and Spanish with a minor in Latin American Studies from the Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon. Lexi went on to get Master’s degrees in Conflict and Dispute Resolution and in International Studies, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management. She then moved on to work for the Rural Education Institute of Mexico as the Director of Operations, where she worked to expand the institute’s communications and developmental abilities. Lexi hopes that the RARE AmeriCorps Program will provide her with the opportunity to learn from a community of talented young professionals as well as from her placement organization and community in order for her to give back to it at the grassroots level. After her year with RARE, Lexi plans to work in the nonprofit sector utilizing conflict resolution skills to assist in the expansion of services to vulnerable or under-represented communities.
About Marion-Polk Food Share
Marion-Polk Food Share (MPFS) is the regional food bank leading the fight to end hunger in Marion and Polk counties. More than 44,000 people, including 16,000 children, receive emergency food each month through the Food Share Partner Network. As the second largest of 20 regional food banks in the Oregon Food Bank Network, MPFS collects and distributes nutritional foods to food pantries, meal sites, foster homes, low-income day care centers, shelters, and senior housing sites.
Lexi is placed with Marion-Polk Food Share where she will conduct a comprehensive inventory of regional food systems and resources within Marion and Polk Counties. Alexis will examine local food self-sufficiency including local retail, livable wage farming, and local farmers markets. She will also work to form partnerships with the local farming and agricultural community as a means to increase involvement, and to increase the ability to produce and market locally grown products.