Matthew Taboni (he/him/his) is a born and raised town of Tonawanda native, entering the final year of his JD/MBA program at the University at Buffalo. A socially engaged student and community activist, Matt is focused on reducing inequities in the Buffalo and Western New York community.

While an undergraduate student, Matt founded UB’s food pantry, Blue Table, and began bringing more attention to food justice at UB. Matthew served as the president of the Residence Hall Association (RHA) where he advocated for students’ mental health, gender equality, and other student needs. In 2021, Matt was also awarded the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence and the Student Leadership Award for Sustainable Action.

During his gradaute program, Matt served as the sustainability graduate assistant for Zero Waste, where he has operationalized Hired, a professional clothes boutique for students and brought more awareness to circular and shared economies through educational videos and programming. Matt is the founder and current president of the UB Chapter of the Food Recovery Network (FRN), a student-led initiative working to reduce food waste and feed those in need. FRN’s work in the community and its impact, through recovering and redistributing more than 45,000 lbs of food, was recognized with the SLICE Award in 2023.

As part of his Prosperity Fellowship experience, Matthew spent his previous summer as an operations and engagment intern for Big Big Table, Buffalo’s first pay-as-you can cafe. In this role, Matt supported the cafe operations, developed standard operating procedures, and contributed to addressing food insecurity in new ways. Amongst running the UB chapter of FRN, Matt also joined the FRN national team as a program assistant and assists with chapter outreach and recruitment. This semester, Matt is serving as an legal extern for the Erie County Clerk’s Office, assisting with legal research. In his free time, Matt is also building out his own venture with his partner, Treats by Taboni, and plays intramural volleyball in the spring and summer.

Matt’s career goal is to move into the social entrepreneurship and social innovation sector and support nonprofit organizations and small businesses to reduce inequalities and inefficiencies throughout the Buffalo region.