Straight out of college from the University of North Texas, Alicia Miller moved to Denver to begin her career raising capital for commercial real estate investments. Working in multiple positions in the finance industry over the course of several years, Alicia was introduced to Richard Lackey and the World Food Bank and eventually decided to dedicate her time to helping the company grow.
Alicia says she was motivated to join the World Food Bank team because of her personal passion for the company’s mission. “What makes me the most excited about what the World Food Bank is doing is the fact that we are able to ‘kill two birds with one stone,’ so to speak,” she said. “I’m extremely passionate about explaining to individuals that you can help mankind and make a return on your investment. It seems like a no-brainer on my end.”
A self-described “doer” by nature, Alicia said she was also intrigued by Richard’s enthusiasm and passion for the company’s growth. In her role as Director of Business Development, Alicia has come to appreciate the impact that investments in the World Food Bank can have, not just on the lives of investors, but on the lives of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa. And she also loves the fact that the company can demonstrate this impact to investors, whereas many organizations cannot.
“For me, I love that World Food Bank has the ability to help investors grow their capital, whether that be their foundation or their investment portfolio,” she said. “On top of it all, I love the impact. I’m in awe of how we are a beginning-to-end solution and that by simply starting with the agriculture we also impact medical aid, farmer income, education rates, and economic growth.”
Alicia says she is often asked why the World Food Bank works in Africa. To her, this is also an easy answer. “From an economic standpoint, there is tremendous opportunity for investment to be made, and from the impact aspect there is also tremendous need. As I’ve joined World Food Bank, I’m presently aware of how narrow the scope is in regard to the impact world.”
Alicia says she feels the World Food Bank has an advantage over other investment opportunities due to the fact that the company takes a systematic approach to solving international challenges, rather than just focusing on one sector or solution. Throughout her life, Alicia has had opportunities to travel the world and see many of these challenges, such as extreme poverty, firsthand. Through these experiences she came to understand the privileges she was afforded in life simply by being born in the U.S. and the responsibility that came with that.
“Life isn’t fair. Why am I allowed the advantages I have because I was simply born an American and someone in Uganda was born there?,” she said. “It’s not fair, nor should it ever be fair for someone to go hungry. It’s never okay, and if we have certain economic advantages to help I think it’s our calling as a human race to do so.”
Alicia says her main goal in her role as Director of Business Development is to grow the World Food Bank through investment. “I hope to meet people who are inspired by what we are doing. I hope to meet people who can help us grow with investment, so that we can continue our journey on the road to Zero Hunger. I look forward to seeing our impacts and furthermore would enjoy seeing the impact on the people of the countries we serve and the investors who graciously get involved with us. I’ve already been so inspired by the work and look forward to seeing who I become as this journey progresses, but most of all I look forward to seeing change.”
To learn more about Alicia, visit our Team Page.