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Whether you're looking for the latest food waste data and solutions, infographics, fact sheets, or new initiatives, this resource hub has what you need.
Learn more about what we do, what data and resources are available, and who on our team is best equipped to assist you with any interview questions or inquiries you may have.
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Contact Information
MAILING ADDRESS:
122 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1390-L74
Chicago, IL 60603
As Seen In:
About Us
ReFED is the leading nonprofit working to end food loss and waste. With our holistic view of the food system and deep sector knowledge, we collaborate with key audiences—including food businesses, funders, solution providers, policymakers, and more—to drive systemwide change and generate large-scale, meaningful impact.
What We Do
We serve as a definitive source for data and economic analysis about food waste and the solutions to fight it. We work closely with businesses, guiding them in turning ambitious goals into tangible results. We connect funders and innovators to help develop and scale the next big food waste solution. And we bring stakeholders from across the food system to the table, through partnerships, affinity networks, events, and more.
Noteworthy Details
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In 2016, ReFED released our first Roadmap to Reduce U.S. Food Waste—the first-ever national economic study and action plan to develop and implement data-driven strategies to fight food waste at scale.
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In February 2021, we launched the Insights Engine, an information hub for food waste data and solutions, along with our brand new Roadmap to 2030: Reducing U.S. Food Waste by 50%.
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In 2022, the ReFED Catalytic Grant Fund was launched to provide nonprofit and for-profit organizations with up to a total of $20 million in recoverable and non-recoverable grants to de-risk and scale high-impact solutions to food waste.
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In 2025, ReFED released our first U.S. Food Waste Report, an annual publication with the most current data on food waste impacts, plus a look at related areas including capital deployment, policy, consumer food waste, and more.
Founded In
2015
Office Locations
Virtual (U.S. and Canada)
Company Size
30 Full-Time Employees
Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by all United Nations Member States—including the U.S.—in 2015 to provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet. ReFED's work touches on multiple goals—most notably SDG 12, which covers responsible production and consumption. SDG 12.3, the third target under this goal, calls for halving per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reducing food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses, by 2030.
Executive Bios
Our team includes experts in a wide range of food waste and food system topics—including causes and impacts, financing and investment, innovations and solutions, solution providers, and more. Please reach out if there's a specific topic of interest, and we will find someone to help you!
Dana Gunders
President
Deemed "the woman who helped start the waste-free movement" by Consumer Reports, Dana is a national expert who has dedicated her career to helping industry, policymakers, and consumers activate solutions to reduce food waste. Her landmark 2012 report "Wasted: How America is Losing Up to 40% of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill" sparked a national dialogue about the consequences of food waste, and since then, she has continued to bring the issue to a wider audience through testimony before Congress, her Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook, and appearances in media such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Time magazine, Fox News, Teen Vogue, PBS Newshour, and hundreds of other outlets. Before joining ReFED in 2019, she served as a founding Board member for the organization. When not worrying about it professionally, Dana spends far too much time convincing her two young kids to eat broccoli stalks and reinventing their uneaten lunches as family dinner.
Sara Burnett
Executive Director
Sara provides organizational leadership with direct oversight of ReFED’s programs, operations, and administration, and contributes to the organization’s strategic vision. Most recently, she served as Founder and Principal Consultant at Burnett Strategy and Communications, helping purpose-driven organizations grow their businesses while driving positive impact. Prior to this, Sara served as the VP of Food Beliefs, Sustainability, and Public Relations at Panera Bread and Panera Brands for 18 years, where she pioneered the company’s Clean Food Commitment and also led Panera Bread’s Day-End Dough-Nation program and the Panera Bread Foundation. Sara began her career as a food scientist and supply chain expert leading programs in ingredient quality, food safety, climate strategy, and animal welfare. She was a Pathfinder Environmental Fellow at Washington University, St. Louis, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Psychology, and also holds an MBA from Webster University, St. Louis. Sara is the proud mother of two teenage daughters and has been happily married to a St. Louis firefighter for nearly 20 years. When she’s not on the sidelines at soccer games or attending school events, you can find her running, hiking, or reading.
Alexandria Coari
Vice President, Capital, Innovation & Global Initiatives
Alex oversaw the launch of ReFED's two catalytic regranting funds and million-dollar innovation challenges, strategic advisory services, and funder network. Having worked across Latin America and the U.S. for the last 17 years, she has extensive experience in emerging markets, investment banking, impact investing, sustainable food supply chain certification, and innovation acceleration at multinationals, startups, and nonprofits—including time at JP Morgan, Fair Trade USA, OLLY, and Agora Partnerships. A lover of travel, Alex has lived and worked in more than 10 countries and studied at the Universidad de Buenos Aires and Wellesley College, where she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Spanish. She is passionate about helping mission-driven companies grow their impact and believes in the power of market-based approaches to solving today's biggest challenges.
Asch Harwood
Vice President, Data & Insights
Asch leads ReFED's research and product development to advance data-driven food waste solutions. He has spent over 15 years working at the intersection of research, design, and technology to promote positive social change at organizations like the Council on Foreign Relations and UNICEF. Some of his proudest professional accomplishments include establishing the Council on Foreign Relations' Nigeria Security Tracker; conducting field research into the state of Kenyan media; and developing a media literacy pilot series, "Anomaly," which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Asch likes to ride mountain bikes, build guitars, and go to (un)necessary lengths to ski untouched powder. He mainly sustains himself on the food scraps left behind by his wife and two kids.
Jackie Suggitt
Vice President, Business Initiatives & Community Engagement
Jackie has spent more than 10 years working in sustainable food systems. She oversees ReFED’s work with food businesses, including both one-on-one strategic advisory support and the U.S. Food Waste Pact and Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment—the nation’s first data-driven and action-oriented pre-competitive platforms for private and public sectors to collaborate on food waste reduction efforts. Jackie also leads ReFED’s community engagement efforts to build the organization’s diverse stakeholder network across businesses, investors, innovators, policymakers, and more, which includes overseeing ReFED’s Food Waste Action Network and the annual Food Waste Solutions Summit. Before joining ReFED, Jackie worked on Walmart’s sustainability team, where she led a number of sustainable food and nutrition programs for Walmart’s global and private brand business.
Recent Press Releases
West Coast Retailers Reduce Unsold Food Rates by 30% in Five Years
March 31, 2025
The Milestone And More Are Detailed In a Joint Annual Report From The Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment And The U.S. Food Waste Pact.
Confusion Over Food Date Labels Has Grown, According to New National Survey
February 27, 2025
In a time of elevated food prices, more U.S. consumers are discarding edible food prematurely due to misperceptions of food date labels.
Food Waste Remains Stubbornly High Despite Signs of Progress, According to New ReFED Report
February 25, 2025
The new annual food waste report identifies key statistics, insights, and progress points to inform systemwide action.
ReFED Catalytic Grant Fund Announces Open Call to Address On-Farm Food Loss
December 2, 2024
Today, ReFED, a U.S.-based nonprofit that works to advance solutions to food waste, announced its Catalytic Grant Fund is now accepting applications for solutions that can help to reduce the 17.6 million tons of surplus produce—the harvested or unharvested fruits and vegetables that do not make it to the consumer—that...
As the leading source for data and solutions around food loss and waste, ReFED is frequently featured in the press. We've compiled an archive of all our media mentions here.
Downloads
ReFED offers a range of resources about food waste, its impacts, and its solutions—from overviews of systemwide trends to granular sector-specific analyses—to help you write a story. The following is a selection of the information we can provide—please feel free to use these graphics in your piece or reach out to us if you need something more. (We can also provide these graphics in additional file types by request.)
