Informed Perspectives on Food Systems, Community Resilience, and Nonprofit Leadership
Meghan McDermott brings research findings, practitioner experience, and candid analysis to conferences, panels, foundation briefings, and leadership gatherings.
Watch & Listen · Topics · Selected Engagements · Press & Publications
Watch & Listen
Can COVID help us close gaps in Michigan’s food supply chain?
Michigan’s State of Health | Podcast interview | November 12, 2021 | 29 minutes
A conversation about food system gaps and the opportunities to strengthen coordination and access.
What Are the Sources of Food Assistance?
Northwest Food Coalition Food Security Summit | Presentation and interview | January 12, 2021
Meghan presents on food assistance and speaks with Janee Moore about lived experience. The host page includes a recording and transcript.
What’s Next? A Path Forward for Community Food Security
Northwest Food Coalition Food Security Summit | Panelist | March 9, 2021
A discussion of regional priorities, shared responsibilities, and practical next steps. The host page includes a recording and transcript.
Speaking Topics
Regional Food Systems: From Programs to Resilient Infrastructure
How farm economics, distribution, institutional purchasing, and community nutrition connect—and what those connections mean for funders and regional leaders.
Leading Through Nonprofit Transitions
Practical approaches to maintaining operational continuity, supporting staff, clarifying board–staff roles, and establishing priorities during an interim period.
Practical Philanthropy: From Community Listening to Grantmaking
How research and community experience can inform funding priorities, grant design, and support for organizational capacity.
Cooperative & Community-Driven Models in Practice
The operating realities, governance questions, and shared responsibilities behind community-owned enterprises and shared-space initiatives.
Formats: Keynotes, conference presentations, panel moderation and participation, interactive workshops, executive briefings, and ongoing subject-matter advising.
Selected Speaking & Facilitation
- 2022 — Michigan’s Premier Public Health Conference. Co-presenter with Christina Barkel, Swift Action and Resilient Systems: Local Food Relief Fund, June 16. Presentation deck.
- 2019 — Cultivating Community Resilience. Moderator, Farms, Food & Health film and panel discussion, March 14. Event program.
- 2019 — Farms, Food & Health Conference. Conference organizing, September 26–29. Conference program.
- 2018 — Michigan Good Food Summit. Presenter, Learning How to Use Data to Improve Community Food Access.
- 2018 — National Farm to Cafeteria Conference. Facilitator, 10 Cents a Meal for Schoolkids & Farms.
- 2013 — Vandana Shiva’s Vassar College visit. Organizing and facilitation for workshops and related programming, March 6.
Press & Publications
Selected Press
Hour Detroit — New Book Highlights Sustainability in Northern Michigan’s Food Industry
January 2024 print issue; online January 24, 2024. Personally quoted about locally grown food and children’s access to it in a feature on Shared Abundance.
Detroit Free Press — How a northern Michigan nonprofit’s fundraiser helps farmers and food pantries
May 8, 2020. Interviewed about the Local Food Relief Fund and the connections between farmers and emergency food partners.
Authored & Collaborative Work
When Healthy Food is Out of Reach: A Food Access Survey in Northwest Lower Michigan
MSU Center for Regional Food Systems, June 28, 2019. Meghan is one of six coauthors of this report on pantry users’ experiences and barriers to healthy food.
Cafeteria, Classroom, Community: Three Keys of Farm to School
Groundwork Center, September 12, 2017. Shared author credit with Diane Conners and Jennifer Schaap; includes Meghan’s approach to supporting teacher-led curriculum integration.
Invite Meghan
For speaking, moderation, workshops, or an expert briefing, share your audience, purpose, date, format, and approximate budget. Sessions are tailored to the questions your group needs to explore.
Speaker Bio
Meghan McDermott is the founder and principal of Sungold Community Solutions. She advises philanthropic institutions, nonprofits, and community enterprises on grantmaking strategy, community research, program design, and organizational development. Her experience includes a statewide food systems assessment for the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, interim executive leadership at Commongrounds Cooperative, and senior leadership at Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities. She brings particular depth in food systems, public health, and community development, connecting community knowledge with practical decisions about funding, programs, governance, and implementation. Meghan is based in Traverse City, Michigan.
