At the heart of community, food, and empowerment lies WANDA: Women Advancing Nutrition, Dietetics & Agriculture. Founded by Tambra Raye Stevenson in 2016, WANDA is a transformative movement dedicated to educating and empowering women and girls to take charge of their health, food systems, and communities.
Tambra describes WANDA as more than an organization — it was a personal and cultural necessity. “WANDA was a need on many different levels,” she shared in an interview with Omari Richins, host of The Public Health Millennial.
From Washington, D.C. to Abuja, Nigeria, WANDA is growing a new generation of “food sheroes.” These women are not only reshaping narratives around nutrition, agriculture, and wellness but also challenging systemic issues like food insecurity, health disparities, and gender inequality in the food system.
The spark for WANDA came during a pivotal moment in American culture. As Michelle Obama stepped into the national spotlight as a champion of health and nutrition, Tambra saw something she hadn’t seen in a long time: a Black woman leading the conversation on the nation’s health. “There was a makeover of how Black women were seen within food and health,” Tambra explains.
Still, she knew this shift couldn’t rest on one woman’s shoulders. It needed a movement. That awareness became even more personal after Tambra came across a Time magazine article that warned this generation may die before their parents. The headline stuck with her. “If we’re making all these human advancements, how is that even possible?,” she wondered.
Even with her background in nutrition, she realized how environmental and systemic barriers were stacked against families like hers. Studying intersectionality helped her name it and fueled her resolve to change it.
That’s when WANDA took form — a sisterhood, not a solo effort. Tambra envisioned a network of women drawing strength from the legacy of Harriet Tubman, Georgia Gilmore, Fannie Lou Hamer, and others who used food as a tool for liberation. “We needed a sisterhood of women who believed we could be the food sheroes our communities need,” she says.
According to the D.C. Policy Center, an area is considered a food desert when the walking distance to a grocery store is over 0.5 miles, more than 40% of households lack a vehicle, and the median household income is less than 185% of the federal poverty level for a family of four. These conditions are a reality in many parts of Wards 7 and 8, — but some say the term food desert doesn’t go far enough. As Caroline Howe, D.C.’s Food Policy Director, explains: “Food is not an ecological condition, it is a social condition.”
That’s why many now use the term food apartheid to reflect the deeper, systemic causes behind these inequities, including historic redlining, economic disinvestment, and racialized planning policies. For Tambra, Washington, D.C. became the first place to put WANDA’s mission into action. In Wards 7 and 8, East of the Anacostia river, over 80% of residents are Black. Healthy, affordable food is hard to access. For her, the need for change was clear.
The numbers speak volumes:
- In Ward 7, nearly 40% of residents are obese and 13.4% have diabetes.
- In Ward 8, 42% are obese and nearly 20% have diabetes.
- Each ward has just one full-service grocery store.
That’s the environment in which WANDA does its work. It is not just delivering education, but shifting power.
One of the most powerful ways WANDA brings women together is through the Sisterhood Supper — communal gatherings where women share meals, stories, and strategy. Tambra describes them as sacred spaces where healing and organizing go hand in hand. These meals are a return to culture, to sisterhood, and to agency. “We’re not just breaking bread — we’re breaking generational cycles,” says Tambra.
In the last Sisterhood Supper held during Juneteenth celebration, Tambra talked about why the conversation around nutrition and food has to include a conversation about cultural food. “At WANDA we felt the need to begin with the idea of how we educate, advocate, and innovate the food system by tapping the potential through the power of Black women and girls.” Tambra often says that WANDA isn’t about creating another hero — it’s about building a movement. “WANDA became clear to me when I realized we needed more than one Michelle Obama. We needed a sisterhood.” According to WANDA, the Juneteenth celebration raises funds for its Food Shero Freedom Fund. The fund aims to create a more inclusive food system by offering fellowships and scholarships for Black women in agriculture, nutrition, and dietetics.
At the Jane Bancroft Robinson Foundation (JBRF), we believe that change begins when knowledge is built within the community. In many households, especially in communities of color, women are the primary decision-makers around food and health. When empowered, they become the backbone of transformation. And that sisterhood is growing — one meal, one leader, one community at a time.
Food is a source of strength, healing, and justice. Our communities need a future where food is viewed more than sustenance, and nutrition is inclusive of cultures. Empowered women empower women, and that is why we proudly stand alongside WANDA in their pursuit of using the power of food as a medicine to heal our East of the River communities.