All Faiths Food Bank has hired Maria Jose “MJ” Horen as its new chief program officer. In her new role, Horen will integrate community health concepts into all of the food bank’s programs. She is responsible for program development and implementation, including identifying and assessing gaps in current services, research and program evaluation, providing organizational leadership, and community engagement and advocacy, which includes energizing the community around causal issues and solutions to ending hunger.

Horen, who is bilingual with fluency in Spanish and English, has a master of science degree in food and resource economics from the University of Florida and a master of public health in epidemiology from the University of South Florida. She has a history of working with at-risk and diverse populations as well as extensive experience in conducting assessments, project evaluation, data collection and analysis. Her previous positions include roles at the University of Maryland Institute for Innovation and Implementation, the University of South Florida and the Hispanic Latino/Coalition Inc. in Sarasota.