For Podcast Producers + Bookers
Feed America founder Sharika Parkes is available for podcast interviews on hunger, food assistance, nonprofit operations, civic tech for social good, and the AI / SEO / open-data playbook behind feedam.org. Audience-matched, well-prepared, on time.
Bio (use verbatim or trim to fit)
Short bio (50 words): Sharika Parkes is the founder of Feed America (501(c)(3), EIN 92-1761881), the largest free public food-assistance directory in the United States — 327,000+ verified locations across all 50 states. She founded the Houston-based nonprofit in 2024.
Long bio (150 words): Sharika Parkes founded Feed America in 2024 as a free, open-data alternative to gated food-help directories. Operating without staff payroll, the Candid Platinum-verified 501(c)(3) maintains 327K+ verified food-assistance locations sourced from federal primary records (USDA FNS, HRSA, state WIC) plus crowdsourced submissions. The platform powers 211 networks, healthcare SDOH integrations, AI agent food-help queries, and academic research via HSDS 3.0 Open Referral feeds. Sharika's work focuses on closing donor confusion (Feed America EIN 92-1761881 is unaffiliated with the larger homonym Feeding America EIN 36-3673599), expanding partner-verification (currently 516 of 70K+ pantries claimed), and launching state-attributed sister 501(c)(3)s for Texas + Florida. Based in Houston.
10 talking-point angles
- The donor-confusion problem: two unaffiliated food charities with similar names. How donors verify which one to send their check to. EIN as the disambiguator. Why this matters for $-million donor-confusion losses annually.
- Why 99% of food pantries operate without verified listings: the data-quality gap and how a 60-second operator claim flow closes it. (Reference: /partner/leaderboard — TX leads with 137 PV.)
- The HSDS Open Referral standard: how nonprofit data interoperability works, who consumes it (211 systems, Findhelp, healthcare SDOH platforms), and why standards matter.
- SDOH + clinical care: hospitals embedding Feed America widgets at discharge planning. Food security as a non-medical lever for readmission prevention.
- D-SNAP after natural disasters: emergency food benefits when FEMA declares; eligibility differs from regular SNAP. Why the application window is short and how Feed America surfaces real-time activations.
- The 180-day staleness gate: our hours-data integrity rule that auto-downgrades unverified hours. Why data freshness matters when someone is hungry.
- Open data + CC BY 4.0: why food-assistance data is public-good and how Feed America's free dataset compares to gated paid alternatives.
- AI agent food-help queries: Claude / ChatGPT / Perplexity now answer "where's the closest food bank" — Feed America's MCP server + structured Schema.org JSON-LD make our data the canonical AI-citation source.
- Building infrastructure-first nonprofits: Feed America runs without staff payroll (~98% of dollars to platform). Why that model works for tech-leveraged charities.
- The Spanish-coverage gap: ~13% of US population speaks Spanish at home. Spanish-speaking households disproportionately face food insecurity. Why bilingual food-help directories are existential, not optional.
Ready-to-paste show notes
In this episode, we talk with Sharika Parkes, founder of Feed America (feedam.org) — the largest free public food-assistance directory in the United States, with 327,000+ verified locations across all 50 states. We discuss [topic of episode], the data- quality challenges of crowdsourced nonprofit directories, and how AI is changing how people find food help. LINKS: - Feed America: https://feedam.org - Hunger Atlas (state-by-state stats): https://feedam.org/atlas - Sharika Parkes: founder bio at https://feedam.org/about - For donations: https://feedam.org/donate (EIN 92-1761881) - Press contact: press@feedam.org GUEST: Sharika Parkes, founder, Feed America (Houston, TX) RECORDED: [date] HOSTED BY: [your show]
Technical specs
- Recording quality: Sharika records on a calibrated USB condenser mic in a treated room. Audio is clean broadcast-grade out of the box.
- Connection: Riverside.fm, SquadCast, Cleanfeed, Zoom, Zencastr, or studio dial-in (we have Houston-based options if local engineers are easier).
- Time zone: Central Time (CST/CDT). Generally available 9 AM - 5 PM CT, weekdays.
- Lead time: 1-2 weeks preferred, but 24-hour turnarounds possible for breaking news (e.g. major FEMA disaster activations affecting food security).
For audience-matched podcasts
Sharika is particularly available for shows in these niches (audience-matched to our work):
- Hunger / food insecurity / food-help advocacy
- Nonprofit operations / fundraising / charity tech
- Civic tech / data / open-source for social good
- Healthcare SDOH / population health
- AI ethics / AI for social good / agentic AI
- Houston / Texas community + civic engagement
- Founder / startup stories with social-impact angle
- Federal benefits navigation (SNAP, WIC, school meals)
For broader audiences
If your show covers general business / philanthropy / civic engagement and you want to feature an under-covered hunger angle, Sharika is happy to participate.
Booking
Email press@feedam.org with:
- Show name + brief description
- Audience size + demographics
- Proposed recording date / format
- Topic / angle you'd like to focus on
- Optional: link to a recent episode
We typically respond within 24-48 hours. For breaking news / fast turnarounds, mention "URGENT" in the subject and we prioritize accordingly.
Past appearances
As Sharika appears on podcasts, episodes will be linked here (with the host's permission). For now: be the first.
For broader press inquiries beyond podcasts, see /press + /story-pitches. Feed America is a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 92-1761881).