When Stacy Dean joined Food Secure Nation, the conversation centered on a single but complex word: access. Drawing on a career that spans shaping national nutrition policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, administering SNAP, WIC, school meals, and food bank funding at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and now leading the Global Food Institute at George Washington University, Stacy has influenced food access from nearly every vantage point. Her journey reflects a consistent through-line: leadership is influence, and influence shapes whether access expands or contracts for families across the country and around the globe.