412 Food Rescue CEO Featured in New Book
100 Women Using Their Power to Empower
Out in September, Leah Lizarondo’s portrait will appear alongside influential women and Nobel laureates such as Malala Yousafzai, Greta Thunberg, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Tarana Burke, Jacinda Ardern, Melinda Gates and Nancy Pelosi
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (August 5, 2020) — Leah Lizarondo, co-founder and CEO of 412 Food Rescue and Food Rescue Hero, is featured in an upcoming book—Vital Voices: 100 Women Using Their Power to Empower. Coming this September, this book is a companion to Vital Voices’ art exhibition celebrating 100 global leaders who are redefining power. Previously, Lizarondo was selected by Vital Voices as a 2019 WE Empower Awardee and a 2020 Global Leadership Awards Honoree.
Edited by Alyse Nelson, with a foreword by National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman and paintings by Gayle Kabaker, the book and exhibition feature a selection of original portraits. The portraits are accompanied by thought-provoking excerpts of first-person narratives from some of the most influential and insightful women in the world, including: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Malala Yousafzai, Megan Rapinoe, Melinda Gates, Greta Thunberg, Karlie Kloss, Meghan Markle and many more. Each leader shares personal stories, wisdom and ideas, illustrating how women lead differently.
2020 has laid bare the critical value of leadership at every level; from heads of state to community healthcare workers and racial justice activists, the world has witnessed remarkable courage and compassion in the face of historic challenge. Global crises show us that the solutions we seek already exist, often being championed by women leaders like those featured in this book. Vital Voices hopes that together, these 100 voices will illustrate the transformative power of women’s leadership across cultures, sectors and generations.
As founder of Food Rescue Hero and 412 Food Rescue, which have been called the ‘Uber of food recovery,’ Lizarondo has helped redirect over 15 million meals from over 2,300 food retailers to over 900 nonprofit organizations, getting food to those who need it and preventing 6 million pounds of carbon emissions in the process. Currently operating in 7 North American cities, with over 15,000 volunteer drivers in its network, Lizarondo’s plan is to create a global movement that reaches 100 cities by 2030.
Alyse Nelson is President and CEO of Vital Voices Global Partnership, an organization that invests in women leaders solving the world’s greatest challenges. A co-founder of Vital Voices, she has worked with the organization for more than two decades.
Gayle Kabaker is an award-winning illustrator, writer and visual storyteller living in Ashfield Massachusetts. She has had five New Yorker magazine covers, beginning in 2012 with “June Brides,” celebrating the legalization of marriage equality.
Vital Voices: 100 Women Using Their Power to Empower is a hardcover book, featuring 100 illustrations over 220 pages. Published by Assouline, it will be available in September 2020.
High resolution images of the book for your use can be found at this link.
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About 412 Food Rescue and Food Rescue Hero: Driven by the belief that good food belongs to people, not landfills, 412 Food Rescue launched in March 2015 to redirect healthy food from the waste stream to nonprofits that serve food insecure populations. In the United States, 40% of food produced is wasted while 1 in 9 people goes hungry. Focusing on the logistics challenges of retail food recovery, 412 Food Rescue addresses both problems through technology-coordinated, community-powered networks. The only organization in Allegheny County focused on food that would otherwise be discarded, 412 Food Rescue develops innovative solutions to eradicate food waste in the region and is now expanding its model to cities around the country. To date, 412 Food Rescue has redirected over 11 million pounds of perfectly good food from going to landfills. The organization works with 800 food retailers, 600 nonprofit partners and over 9,000 volunteer drivers in the Pittsburgh area alone. More info: https://412foodrescue.org and https://www.foodrescuehero.org
About Vital Voices: Vital Voices Global Partnership is an international non-profit organization that identifies and partners with creative and fearless women leaders around the world. Vital Voices searches the world for women leaders with daring vision for change, then partners with them to make that vision a reality. We provide them with capacity building, skills training, grants, access to a network of their peers, mentorship, visibility, recognition and guidance to accelerate change on a global scale. For more than 22 years, Vital Voices has invested in women leaders from 182 countries and territories. We are venture catalysts, supporting women who advance economic opportunity, increase political and public engagement, end gender-based violence and promote human rights. Vital Voices connects women already solving problems in their communities and equips them with the tools they need to incite global, positive change and accelerate shared progress for all. Visit www.vitalvoices.org to learn more.
