Kristin Warzocha
President and CEO, Greater Cleveland Food Bank
Kristin Warzocha is the President and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Northeast Ohio’s largest hunger relief organization. The Food Bank relies on community support to fulfill its mission of ensuring that everyone in our communities has the nutritious food they need every day.
She directs the organization’s efforts to provide nutritious food and support to more than 1,000 partner agencies and programs that serve hungry Northeast Ohioans in six counties, and champions the organization’s mission.
She has led the Food Bank’s new strategic work, ensuring its partner agencies are prepared to provide more nutritious meals to those in need and shorten the line at local hunger programs in the future. The Food Bank has built new partnerships with organizations that address the root causes of hunger – employment, housing and healthcare.
Warzocha has been with the Food Bank since 2000 and was previously responsible for engaging the general public in the organization’s work. She served as Vice President of External Affairs, overseeing fundraising, communications, advocacy, SNAP outreach and volunteer resources.
She is a Board Trustee for the Cleveland Leadership Center and the Ohio Association of Food Banks, and is also on the Board of Visitors for Tri-C’s Workforce Development School. She is a graduate of John Carroll University, and has also participated in the elite Harvard Business School Executive Education programs in Governing for Nonprofit Excellence (GNE) and Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management (SPNM).
Most recently, Warzocha led the Food bank’s Expansion Campaign, which raised $80M to address hunger today, tomorrow, and for a lifetime. These investments have resulted in a new, 197,000 square foot Partner Distribution Hub, creating capacity and providing millions more meals each year to the Food Bank’s partner agency network. The campaign has also allowed the Food Bank to reimagine and renovate their former facility into a nationally recognized Community Resource Center, collaborating with more than 14 other onsite nonprofit partners to provide neighbors in need with more access to nutritious food as well as well as connections to address the underlying issues of poverty and food insecurity. Plans for a second Community Resource Center, on the west side of Cleveland, are currently underway. Thanks to the success of the Campaign, the Food Bank is also making investments in the form of additional capacity building support for the Food Bank’s partner network.
Warzocha lives in Lakewood with her husband, Christian, and daughters, Samantha and Ryan.