Ensuring Equitable Global Food Access

Salvador Peña, MDiv ’20, Supply Chain Officer, UN World Food Programme (Yangon, Myanmar)

View more stories on HDS alumni and their career paths.

Describe the work you do today:

As head of supply chain, I am in charge of overseeing and optimizing the entire end-to-end supply chain process within the country. I make sure to have an efficient flow of goods (mostly food) to our beneficiaries. Among others, supply chain at WFP encompasses procurement, logistics, inventory management, and distribution. Myanmar is my third post with WFP. After HDS I joined the organization in Panama during COVID-19 and was making sure to distribute medical and protective equipment throughout Latin America at a time when commercial supply chain had stopped. Then I was transferred to Venezuela, where we set up a new office in 2021 and I had to design the distribution network for the School Meals Programme, feeding more than 880,000 people (mostly children).

How has your HDS degree experience influenced your career journey?

I knew I wanted a job where I was serving others and seeing the impact of what I do in the field. HDS gave me clarity and WFP has turned out to be a dream come true. Working in this organization I can almost immediately see how what I do influences and changes the lives of others. Additionally, being one of the religious nones, I concentrated on leadership and counseling, it seems it worked as I received a leadership recognition in 2024 for exemplifying the behaviors outlined in the Leadership Framework and embodying WFP’s values of commitment, integrity, collaboration, humanity, and inclusion. But what I am really proud of is that members of my team were recognized in each of the five categories.

What career advice would you offer to current HDS students?

Explore—that would be my advice to current HDS students. You don’t need to have everything figured out at graduation, and sometimes one doesn’t reach the end goal by following a straight line. Be open to opportunities hidden in places, fields, and organizations that may not fit what you have in mind when you first started. You may end up being surprised and finding your true calling in something that was completely out of your line of sight. Trust the universe and the process, and most importantly: enjoy life! We are the lucky ones…

Take advantage of the Harvard network and take classes at other schools. Navigating other spaces other than HDS will give you perspective.

Learn more about Salvador's impactful work.