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There was always an extra seat at the table in Jaclinn Tanney’s childhood home.

Raised in a family that emphasized helping those in need—a value shaped in part by her grandparents, Holocaust survivors who emigrated to New York after World War II—Tanney learned early that food could be an expression of dignity and hope.

That belief was tested in early 2020.

The Migrant Kitchen, a newly launched New York City catering business, faced uncertainty at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic—including a canceled order for 1,000 meals that had already been prepared.

The cancellation became the catalyst for a scalable social enterprise. Rather than discard the food, staff donated the meals to a nearby hospital, feeding health care workers treating an influx of critically ill patients. Within days, demand surged.

“We went from serving 1,000 meals to all of a sudden our phones ringing nonstop,” says Tanney, who soon teamed up with The Migrant Kitchen founder Daniel Dorado. “We called upon our restaurant industry friends, many of whom were out of work because of the pandemic, and said, ‘Let’s cook together to get this food out.’”

The surge in demand prompted Tanney and Dorado to formalize what began as an emergency response into an organized, cross-sector operation—partnering with restaurants, government agencies and community organizations to prepare and distribute thousands of meals daily.

Today, Tanney serves as president of JD Meals, part of JD Enterprises, the social impact food company she and Dorado founded in 2020. Through its nonprofit arm, The Migrant Kitchen Initiative, the organization has donated 4 million meals to people in need.

“We are serving thousands of meals daily to people in temporary housing in the New York City shelter system and in emergency sites,” says Tanney, who received a bachelor’s degree in policy studies from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in 2005.

She notes that the workforce of roughly 100 is largely composed of immigrants, continuing the founding mission of The Migrant Kitchen. “I am proud to say our team reflects the diversity of the communities we support, and many share the lived experiences of our meal recipients,” she says. “That really strengthens our commitment to providing meals with empathy and dignity.”

Especially important to Tanney is ensuring the menus are culturally relevant to the communities they serve.

In addition to working closely with kitchen staff, Tanney coordinates with government officials, community leaders and other stakeholders to identify needs and align resources where they are most needed.

That coalition-building approach proved critical as JD Meals expanded into Philadelphia this past fall. City leaders turned to Tanney’s team to help strengthen emergency meal distribution for residents experiencing housing instability, part of a broader effort to promote recovery, stability and dignity.

That instinct to build coalitions traces back to her time at Maxwell.

Mission-Driven

As a teenager volunteering with food pantries, Tanney knew she wanted a career focused on creating change, though she wasn’t yet sure what form that would take.

Maxwell’s policy studies program helped translate that passion into practical skills.

Under the mentorship of the recently retired Professor Bill Coplin, founder of the policy studies program, Tanney developed skills in experiential learning, problem-solving and cross-sector coordination.

Tanney soaked up Coplin’s lessons and his mantra: “do good.” She learned about interconnected networks while working with Syracuse youth through Syracuse University Literacy Corps and interning with Home HeadQuarters, the Syracuse nonprofit that supports affordable home ownership and leads an annual neighborhood revitalization effort.

Through a partnership Coplin formed with the New York City Board of Education, Tanney also joined a cohort of Maxwell students working in its schools in the aftermath of 9/11. And, she interned with an international NGO in Hong Kong through the study abroad program.

Coplin says Tanney exemplifies what the policy studies program aimed to achieve. “Jaclinn was her own motivation, a self-starter,” he says. “She possessed the skills and values we emphasized—collaboration, community engagement and hands-on problem-solving. She’s not just running a business; she’s addressing systemic needs with dignity and respect. That’s exactly what we hoped our students would do.”

After earning her undergraduate degree, Tanney held various roles in fundraising and development while pursuing a master of public administration at Baruch College in New York City. Baruch offered another Maxwell connection: Its president at the time was former Maxwell Dean Mitchel Wallerstein ’72 M.P.A.

Fellow Maxwell and Baruch alumna Alys Mann ’06 says Tanney is an “incredibly talented, hard worker and makes it look easy.”

“She is mission-driven and concerned with making the world better,” says Mann, who leads a housing and community development consulting business, Alys Mann Consulting. “I admire her ability to think outside the box. A perfect example of this was her ability to pivot at the start of COVID and figure out how to feed people while the rest of the world retreated to their homes. She makes you want to be part of the solution.”

Tanney has been honored in Crain’s New York Business magazine’s “40 Under 40” list and was named a “Women Culinarians You Should Know” by The Spruce Eats. Other honors include the Organizational Hero Award from the New York City chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Two decades after studying policy studies at Maxwell, Tanney continues to embody the lessons she embraced there. What began with an extra seat at the table—and a canceled catering order—has become a model for feeding communities with dignity.

“My Maxwell experience helped me to understand that individuals can be changemakers,” she says. “I’m so thankful for my education.”