Sophia Lenarz-Coy
Joined the Board of Directors in 2025
Sophia has worked in hunger relief her entire career. She is always thinking of creative ways to bring good, culturally connected food to where it’s needed most. Her passion is collaborating with community partners to create a more equitable food system for all.
Before becoming executive director of The Food Group, Sophia served as the director of programs and operations. In that role, she worked to more deeply embed equity and systems change into the organization, and she created new strategies for community engagement. Previously, she served as associate director at Hunger Solutions Minnesota, working on federal and state public policy and expanding cross-sector partnerships with healthcare providers, policymakers, and farmers markets.
Sophia is a graduate of Smith College. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband, twin boys, and and two cats.
I have admired the organization from afar from a long time, understanding how devastating pay day lending debt can be for low-income individuals. Economic justice is important to me. The more work I do with the food system, the more I see the important role that financial stability is critical for longer term success.
Who is one person who inspires you and why?
My kiddos, Henry and Lewis. The inspire me to be creative, laugh, and stay playful.