Stacy Dean was appointed by President Biden to serve as the Deputy Under Secretary for USDA’s Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services where she will work to advance the President’s agenda on increasing nutrition assistance for struggling families and individuals as well as tackling systemic racism and barriers to opportunity that have denied so many the chance to get ahead.

Prior to joining President Biden’s Team at USDA, Dean served as the Vice President for Food Assistance Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). She directed CBPP’s food assistance team, which published frequent reports on how federal nutrition programs affect families and communities and developed policies to improve them.

In addition to her work on federal nutrition programs, Dean directed CBPP efforts to integrate the delivery of health and human services programs at the state and local levels. Before joining CBPP, she worked as a budget analyst at the Office of Management and Budget.

Dean earned her B.A. and master’s degree in public policy from the University of Michigan.

Brian Lyght is a business development and strategy professional with over 30 years of combined public, private and nonprofit sector experience helping organizations improve their operational performance and achieve their mission. Since 2017, Brian has served as Chief Operating Officer for the Center for Urban Families, a Baltimore-based human services organization whose mission is to strengthen urban communities by helping fathers and families achieve stability and economic success. Reporting to the Founder, President & CEO, Brian manages the organization’s senior staff who oversee finance and administration, human resources, research and evaluation, and programs. He provides a strong day-to-day leadership presence among staff who are committed to dismantling poverty and promoting equity and social justice for Baltimore City residents.

Between 2013 and 2017, Brian served in dual roles at Casey Family Programs – as Director of Knowledge Management, and as Executive-on-Loan to the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. Prior to joining Casey Family Programs, Brian served as a Senior Associate at The Annie E. Casey Foundation from 2002 to 2013, and as a Program Director for Economic Opportunity Programs at the Enterprise Foundation from 1997 to 2002. In earlier career positions – as Assistant Vice President for Corporate Community Development at CoreStates Bank, and as Special Assistant to the President of the Massachusetts Community Development Finance Corporation – Brian supported the development and expansion of small, minority-owned, and community-based businesses. Brian began his career in 1986 as an investment banker at PaineWebber where he structured tax-exempt bond transactions to support the development of affordable housing.

Brian holds an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a BBA in Banking and Finance from Hofstra University.

Randy Stamper is the Associate Vice Chancellor for Career Education and Workforce Programs with the Virginia Community College System. He leads the administration and strategic planning for a variety of programs and initiatives including postsecondary Perkins, credit and noncredit workforce training and credentialing, economic development projects, and multiple publicly and privately funded special initiatives. He was part of the team that led the planning and implementation of the FastForwardVA program that has changed the face of community college workforce development programming in Virginia. He also consults frequently with state and federal elected officials about workforce issues.

Randy has contributed to several successful internal and interagency grant applications, helping to secure over $80 million in federal, state, and private funding over the past 10 years to advance workforce training and career coaching services for Virginia’s workforce, with a particular focus on the underserved and low-wage, low-skilled adults. He represents the VCCS on the U.S. Senate Productivity and Quality Award initiative, and is a founding member of the Governor’s Career Pathways Work Group, an interagency advisory body that consults with the Governor’s office, state agencies, and private organizations on all workforce activities in the commonwealth. Randy serves on a variety of commissions and boards within Virginia’s workforce development system, as well as the National Skills Coalition’s leadership council.

He began his career in workforce development at The Literacy Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University, moving on to the Virginia Department of Education’s Office of Adult Education and Literacy, where he served as a specialist and then state director of adult education. During his time at VDOE, Randy provided leadership and administrative oversight for the federally and state-funded adult education programs for adult basic, adult secondary, and English language instruction, and the GED testing program, and he led the development and implementation of the award-winning PluggedInVA integrated education and training program.

Randy holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature and rhetoric from Ball State University and a master’s degree in English literature from Virginia Commonwealth University. He lives in Richmond with his wife, Caroline, and two silly dogs, Satchel and Harper.

Katherine Thomas serves as senior professional staff on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry for Senator John Boozman (R-AR) covering nutrition and food aid issues. She previously served as a legislative assistant on the committee during the tenure of former Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS), during the 2015 child nutrition reauthorization process and 2018 Farm Bill. Prior to joining the committee, Thomas served as a legislative assistant in the office of U.S. Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) where she handled agriculture and trade for the senator. She also previously covered agriculture policy for then-Senator Roberts in his personal office. She served as deputy legislative director for Representative Tracey Mann (R-KS) and began her career as a staff assistant for then-Representative Mike Pompeo (R-KS). A native of Wichita, Kansas, Thomas earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the College of William & Mary.