2024 ReFED Food Waste Solutions Summit

In her 20 years with Sodexo, Jude Medeiros (she/her) has worked to unite her passion for food and her love for community-building through her skilled operational efforts, creative development of solutions to inspire behavioral change in foodservice and leading by example to build inclusive workplaces for all.

After a 40-year career in food operations leadership, Jude now supports Sodexo’s food loss and waste initiatives in North America out of the Office of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility. Her role focuses on operationalizing CSR initiatives, working to ensure that they are understood, embraced, and effectivity utilized in the field. 

Jude is the developer of several tools and resources that teach and engage Sodexo employees, customers, and guests on issues of sustainability. Among her accomplishments are the creation of two award-winning concepts. GOALympics, a month-long food waste reduction competition where on-site teams play for gold, silver and bronze medals participating in games like Meal Rescue Squad, Reduction Raiders, Volunteering Vaulters, and Post-Consumer Polo. Meanwhile, Jude’s Think [CA] effort is a program to lead movement towards serving more clean, fresh, and local foods while educating students about their integral role in their health and that of the planet.

A lifelong advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, Jude held key positions within PRIDE, Sodexo’s LGBTQ+ and ally ERG, including National Chair. She is also active in several mentoring roles within Sodexo.

Jude was born and raised in New York and now calls Palm Springs California her home, where she resides with her wife, Jean-Marie, and their two cats, Wolfgang and Stormageddon.