Dr. Tameka Owens
Acting Administrator and Assistant Administrator
Dr. Tameka Owens was appointed Acting Administrator of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service in July 2024. Dr. Owens retains her role as the permanent Assistant Administrator for the agency. In that senior executive career role, Dr. Owens oversees overall operations and organizational health of the agency in support of its mission.
Prior to her appointment as the agency’s Assistant Administrator, Dr. Owens served as an Associate Administrator and the Chief Operating Officer at FNS. She was responsible for providing leadership over three FNS organizational units: Management (Human Resources Division, Operations and Facilities Division, Contracts Management Division), Information Technology, and Financial Management. In addition, she provided executive leadership for the agency’s Office of Strategic Initiatives, Implementation of the Program Management Improvement Accountability Act, and Federal Data Strategy. In this role she led several historic initiatives to include the move of the agency’s headquarters office and the administrative response to the pandemic.
Dr. Owens has also served FNS in other roles, including leadership of the Office of Strategic Initiatives and as a member of the research team within the Office of Policy Support. She has vast experience in research, and public health and administration issues, including several years with the Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau and the Department of the Army Public Health Center.
Dr. Owens earned a Ph.D. in public policy with an emphasis in health administration from Saint Louis University, a master’s degree in sociology from The Ohio State University, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Hampton University.