Food Systems Leadership Network celebrates new chapter: transition from Wallace Center to Multiplier
LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — Oct. 8, 2025 — The Food Systems Leadership Network, launched by the Wallace Center at Winrock International in 2018, is celebrating a major milestone: After seven years of rapid growth and national impact, the network has transitioned out of the Wallace Center and is now an operating project of Multiplier, a nonprofit accelerator that champions bold solutions to pressing social and environmental challenges.
What began as a Wallace Center initiative has flourished into a vibrant, nationwide community of thousands of food systems practitioners working together to advance a just, equitable and sustainable food system. With Multiplier’s partnership and the stewardship of an inaugural FSLN Leadership Council, the FSLN is poised to deepen its impact, expand its reach and continue supporting changemakers across the country.
“This is an exciting new chapter for the FSLN,” said Susan Lightfoot Schempf, executive director of the FSLN. “We are deeply grateful to the Wallace Center for planting the seeds and nurturing this community, and we are thrilled to grow into the future with Multiplier’s support.”
The Wallace Center incubated the FSLN from its earliest days, providing the vision, infrastructure and leadership that allowed the network to take root and thrive. Along the way, the FSLN has become a go-to national resource hub where community leaders from across the food system build relationships, share strategies, sharpen skills and collaborate toward systemic change. FSLN has increasingly played an influential role in strengthening the field of Farm to Food Assistance — including convening the national Farm to Food Assistance Community of Practice, advocating for public policy and funding for local food purchasing, and publishing groundbreaking national research.
“This transition for the FSLN is a testament to what’s possible when innovation and collaboration are nurtured in a space of peer-to-peer support,” said Pete Huff, director of the Wallace Center. “We are proud to have supported the FSLN’s journey and look forward to working together in the years to come.”
As a Multiplier project, the FSLN will benefit from a collaborative network of mission-aligned advisors who offer strategic insight, operational support and a strong foundation for impact.
“We are thrilled to welcome the FSLN into the Multiplier community,” said Laura Deaton, Multiplier executive director. “Food systems transformation requires collaboration, courage, and collective action. We look forward to supporting the FSLN as it connects and nurtures leaders towards envisioning and creating the food system we all need.”
As the FSLN embarks on this new chapter and the Wallace Center launches its new strategy, both parties affirm their ongoing collaboration to build a food system that ensures good food, health, and opportunity for all.
Contacts:
Susan Lightfoot Schempf, executive director, Food Systems Leadership Network: susan@foodsystemsleadership.org
Pete Huff, director, Wallace Center at Winrock International: pete.huff@winrock.org
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