Josh Wachs

Josh Wachs is the chief strategy officer for Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit that is ending childhood hunger in America. Wachs is the first person to hold this position and is a member of the organization's executive team along with Founder and Executive Director Bill Shore, Co-founder and Associate Director Debbie Shore, Managing Director Pat Nicklin, Chief Financial Officer Eric Schweikert, Chief Development Officer Chuck Scofield and Director of Communications David Slater.

Wachs is responsible for developing and implementing the long-term strategy for Share Our Strength's national plan to end childhood hunger in America by 2015. Central to that effort is defining and managing the organization's role at the federal, state and local levels; building the organization's fundraising capacity; increasing its profile among key influencers; measuring organizational impact; and fostering inter-departmental collaboration around the goal of ending childhood hunger in America by 2015. During his tenure, Wachs has launched campaigns to end childhood hunger in several states by creating public-private partnerships that bring together leaders from state and local government, corporations, private foundations and local non-profits. Wachs has built relationships with national organizations and political leaders nationwide. He has led the effort to develop a strategic plan for expanding the No Kid Hungry Campaign to more states across the country.

Before joining Share Our Strength in 2009, Wachs was the NBA's Vice President of Community Relations. There he oversaw NBA Cares, the league's public service and community outreach program that provides funds, community service, and locations for kids and families to live, learn and play�just as Share Our Strength works to make sure that kids and their families have nutritious food where they live, learn and play.

Wachs is a veteran grassroots community organizer and strategist. He has served as the Associate Dean at Milano, The New School for Management and Urban Policy in New York where he oversaw strategic planning, market¬ing and public programming. From 2002 to 2005, Wachs was the Chief Operating Officer of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) following five years in other key DNC roles. Before 1997, he spent a number of years travel¬ing the country managing political campaigns at the local and national levels for state legislative, Congressional and Senate candidates. He has served in a variety of roles during three presidential campaigns, and worked on two Democratic Conventions.

Wachs graduated from Oberlin College and lives in the District of Columbia with his wife Molly and two children.