On this week’s episode of the Food Podcast presented by Clearview Federal Credit Union on the TribLIVE podcast network, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank speaks to the winners of the University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business’ Super Analytics Challenge.
“We are excited to have an opportunity to partner with the Katz Graduate School of Business to challenge students to dedicate their creativity, ingenuity, and dedication to becoming catalysts of change in our three rivers region,” said Lisa Scales, president and CEO of the Food Bank.
“We are thrilled that this year’s Super Analytics Challenge is focused on food insecurity, and we look forward to learning from the students as they tackle this complex issue. The Challenge is a dynamic process, and we expect that it will have a meaningful impact on ensuring all our neighbors have enough food to eat.”
In this year’s challenge, contestants focused on food insecurity and a solution to food insecurity in Allegheny County.
Taylor Robinson, Rachael Agnello, William Hoffenkamp, Bhavya Mehta and Yuyao Wu won this year’s challenge with their focus on transportation hurdles for those in need of food.
“Food insecurity is a big and complex issue,” said Hoffenkamp. “Once we were able to focus in on the idea of distance, the idea of location it made the rest of the project trajectory that much easier.”
“We broke it down into three steps, first we explored who is food insecure in Allegheny County, then from looking at that vulnerable population, we assessed which areas are served well by the Food Bank. From that information, we created a map and assessed which specific zip codes would be good to target for intervention or would be good to work with potential partners,” said Robinson.
Members of the team were also awarded a fellowship with the Food Bank to continue their work from this year’s challenge.
“We want to expand this model beyond Allegheny County. There are 10 other counties within the Food Bank’s distribution area so we would love to be able to make an impact in those areas,” said Agnello.
• To view the winning team’s final presentation, click here.
• To support the Food Bank or find resources near you, visit pittsburghfoodbank.org.
