Julie Yurko would like to warn you in advance. She is going to swear. She is going to swear because she really means it and she wants you to feel it. Here goes: Yurko is building a “kick-ass charitable food system.” A lot goes into that goal, starting with the…
Posts published in “CEO Interviews”
Our CEO Roundtable this year took place literally hours after the government shutdown that suspended SNAP payments to millions of Americans had ended. But relief was not one of the emotions expressed by the 12 food bank leaders on the call. Every November, members of our Editorial Advisory Board gather…
Every food bank leader brings their own set of experiences and perspectives to the role. That is especially true for Cathy Kanefsky who came on as CEO of Food Bank of Delaware nearly four years ago, while raising twin sons with autism. “I walked into this place with eyes that…
2024 was a big year for Alameda County Community Food Bank. In February, it became one of the first food banks in the country to get paid by an insurer for providing healthy food to patients, marking the start of a Food is Medicine effort that it expects will generate…
The CEOs of our Food Bank CEO Roundtable considered how the results of the presidential election might impact charitable and federal food assistance in the coming years. There was concern about the Farm Bill, which continues to be under debate (see our article here) and has important implications for how…
Many food bank leaders arrive at the position because they have a background in fundraising or sometimes finance or banking. Healthcare and the military also mark the pathways of some leaders. For Andrea Williams, the newly named President of Oregon Food Bank, the throughline is her focus on racial and…
The devastation that befell MANNA FoodBank, whose Asheville, N.C.-based headquarters and warehouse were completely destroyed during Hurricane Helene, unfolded slowly at first, and then suddenly. As the storm was actively raging during the morning of Friday, Sept. 27, CEO Claire Neal was “obsessively” checking an app that tracked river levels.…
Just over a year into leading the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, Elizabeth McCarthy is proving to be a quick study of hunger relief, while also putting her own spin on things. McCarthy became President and CEO of CFBNJ last July, following decades of working at various multi-service nonprofits,…
The Global FoodBanking Network may have less reach than the Feeding America network. But its members face challenges that have caused some to start to pull even with their U.S. counterparts along certain measures. Data from 54 GFN members, most of which operate in emerging or developing countries, show that…