Kenneth Hecht

Who is Kenneth Hecht?

Kenneth Hecht is an American public interest attorney. Hecht is an advocate for improved access to nutritious, affordable food on behalf of low-income people.

He was born in Baltimore, Maryland to Lucile and Malcolm Hecht. His father was an executive with the Hecht Company department stores. He grew up in Pikesville, Maryland and attended Friends School of Baltimore.

Upon completion of Dartmouth College and the Yale Law School, Hecht worked for fifteen years as a public interest attorney. Initially he worked at San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation and then as the Executive Director of the San Francisco Legal Aid Society. At the Legal Aid Society, he played a leading role in establishing the Youth Law Center and the Employment Law Center, both of them specialized in test-case, law-reform offices.

Kenneth Hecht was one of the co-founders in 1992 of California Food Policy Advocates, a nutrition policy and advocacy organization whose chief aims are expansion and improvement of the federal food programs in order to eliminate hunger and prevent obesity. Hecht is the Executive Director of CFPA.