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), a free public food-assistance directory — 275,307 directory listings and 255,820 USDA-authorized SNAP retailers across all 50 states. She founded the national charity in 2021.
Long bio (150 words): Sharika Parkes founded Feed America in 2021 as a free, open-data alternative to gated food-help directories. Operating without staff payroll, the Candid Platinum-verified 501(c)(3) maintains 275,307 directory listings and 255,820 USDA-authorized SNAP retailer records sourced from federal primary records (USDA FNS, HRSA, state WIC) plus crowdsourced submissions. The platform is built to power 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 EIN-first donor verification (verify Feed America by EIN 92-1761881 on the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search), inviting pantry operators to claim their listings at /pantry, and launching state-attributed sister 501(c)(3)s for Texas + Florida. Based in Houston.
10 talking-point angles
- EIN-first giving: how donors verify a charity before writing the check. Why the EIN (Feed America: 92-1761881) is the identifier that belongs on every gift record.
- Why 99% of food pantries operate without verified listings: the data-quality gap and how a 60-second operator claim flow closes it. (Reference: /pantry, the operator claim flow.)
- 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. 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) — a free public food-assistance directory in the United States, with 275,307 directory listings and 255,820 USDA-authorized SNAP retailers 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: info@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 can arrange a studio in Houston 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 info@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).