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Tristan Quinn-Thibodeau

Tristan Quinn-Thibodeau

Senior Policy Campaigner

Meet Tristan, our Senior Policy Campaigner here at ActionAid USA! He combines his passion for sustainable food systems with his storytelling flair to advance policies that promote food sovereignty, land rights, and agroecology. With a strong background in philosophy and political science, Tristan understands the power of grassroots movements and works closely with community organizations and allies to build coalitions that empower families and communities.

Tristan's early years were spent on a fruit and vegetable farm in southern Maine, where he developed his love for sustainable agriculture and selling sweet corn at a roadside stand. After completing his BA in Philosophy and Political Science at the University of Maine, he went on to earn his MA in Philosophy from the New School for Social Research in New York City.

Before joining ActionAid in 2016, Tristan worked with social movements across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean as the Program Manager in the Global Movements Program at WhyHunger.

When Tristan isn't working towards climate justice, he is indulging in his passion for composting and urban container gardening.

Why are you working with ActionAid?  

I am working at ActionAid because I want to make the world a better place. I want to create a world where everyone takes care of each other and of the natural world, and AA is an organization that holds our leaders accountable and calls on all of us to live up to our ethical and moral responsibilities to each other. 

I’m an expert! Talk to me about:  

Food Security; Right to Food and Agriculture; Sustainable and Resilient Livelihoods; Climate Change; Climate Justice; Politics and Economics; Land Rights; Social justice. 

 

POSTS BY Tristan Quinn-Thibodeau

Insight /

This Land is Our Land: Could the Farmland for Farmers Act be the beginning of a shift in American agriculture?

June 20, 2024 By

The Farmland for Farmers Act – a bill that would ban big corporations from buying farmland and timberland and make them ineligible for taxpayer-funded farm programs and subsidies – was introduced last summer in the Senate by Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey. Corporations and billionaires are increasingly buying up…

Blog Post /

Hurricane Ian should be a wake-up call

September 30, 2022 By

Last week, ActionAid joined climate justice activists around the world and in New York City at the United Nations to demand that the wealthy governments in the Global North fund rebuilding efforts from “loss & damage” experienced by poorer countries around the world due to climate disasters, which are increasing…

Insight / /

The Biden Administration’s AIM (Agricultural Innovation Mission) for climate is way off target

November 2, 2021 By

On Tuesday, November 2nd, President Biden spoke at COP 26 in Glasgow, Scotland, where he formally “launched” the Agricultural Innovation Mission (AIM) for Climate, which is supposed to “support research and innovation in climate-smart agriculture.” Along with the United Arab Emirates, the United States is “focused on increasing investment and…

Insight

World Food Day 2021: Advancing the right to food and agroecology

October 15, 2021 By

As we prepare for World Food Day this Saturday, October 16th, the need to transform the food system is becoming increasingly apparent. The dominant model of large-scale, chemical-intensive, corporate-controlled agriculture is a root cause of the worsening climate crisis through its unsustainable practices; is making hunger, poverty, and inequality worse…

Insight /

Food systems for people, not profit

September 23, 2021 By

Today, the United Nations is convening its one-day, virtual Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) – and hundreds of civil society organizations and movements are boycotting it. Bizarrely, the organizers are calling it a “People’s Summit,” which is absurd since the “people” won’t even be there. Rather, the UNFSS has centered corporate…

Insight

Will the UN Food Systems Summit really solve hunger and climate change?

September 17, 2021 By

By Alberta Guerra, senior policy analyst at ActionAid USA, Catherine Gatundu, interim head of resilient livelihoods and climate justice at ActionAid International, and Tristan Quinn-Thibodeau, national campaigner at ActionAid USA The United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) is rapidly approaching. The event on 23 September will be convened by UN Secretary-General,…