Campus Champions: Recognizing Student Leaders with the Nachman Justice Award

Created in honor of Marissa Nachman, former Vice President of Programs at Swipe Out Hunger and continued supporter, the Nachman Justice Award recognizes three student leaders who embody Marissa’s core values of justice, compassion, and equity through their food security work on campus. In its inaugural year, three students received the award: Jiseon Kim (University of California, Los Angeles), Kendra Ubierna (California State University, Long Beach), and Gigi Otten (University of Minnesota). Read more about the recipients below.

Jiseon Kim – University of California, Los Angeles

“Being in Swipes, I specifically honed in on food security because I’m personally committed to and interested in food security based on my personal experience and my family’s experience with programs that have helped us.

This award is directly going into my tuition and fees. So really it’s just helping me be a better student leader and afford college.”

Kendra Ubierna – California State University, Long Beach

“I want to work in that setting where it’s really interactive, where I can be a bridge for students facing insecurities, which is why I had started work at the Beach CalFresh Outreach. And maybe it doesn’t help every single student, but this award pushed me to be like ‘let’s keep going’ because it’s being recognized. And I think that that’s something that we need.”

Gigi Otten – University of Minnesota

“Swipe Out Hunger really helped me see that… you can email legislators, you can confront your university president.. you can make a difference.

The timing of the award helped out because I had just gotten the opportunity to do this new research project. So it gave me a little bit extra time to not work now this semester and spend more time on that research.”

Are you a student leader or know a student who would benefit from this award? Learn more and apply by October 14, 2022. Current students involved in Swipe Out Hunger or other campus anti-hunger initiatives are welcome to apply.