Vicki B. Escarra is President and CEO of Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, which provides food to Americans in need through a network of more than 200 food banks. Since her appointment in 2006, she has led the organization through the most significant period of advancement in its three-decade history, expanding the number of people served annually from 25 million to 37 million and the pounds of food and grocery products distributed annually from 2 billion to 2.8 billion.
To achieve these tremendous gains, Escarra has made major innovations in every aspect of Feeding America’s operations. Most visibly, she spearheaded the organization’s comprehensive rebranding effort that evolved its long-standing brand, America’s Second Harvest, to Feeding America. As a result, public engagement has risen to an all-time high, as evidenced by unprecedented public awareness levels, financial donations, and the number of committed advocates, all of which better enable the organization to provide food to men, women, and children in need.
Escarra has also accelerated Feeding America’s extensive food sourcing and distribution systems, bringing in more food and grocery products than ever before, and efficiently distributing them to the network’s 200 member food banks and the 61,000 agencies they serve. As part of these efforts, Escarra has made a priority of increasing the nutritional quality of food distributed through expanded produce and fresh-food initiatives.
Feeding America relies on a broad community of supporters to achieve ongoing success, and Escarra has been central to strengthening relationships across the public and private sectors. Under Escarra’s guidance, the network successfully encouraged the passage of a robust Farm Bill in 2007, leading to significant enhancements of federal feeding programs. She also launched the network’s first collaborative
fundraising initiative, The Campaign for a Hunger-Free America, which has a five-year goal of raising $500 million; improved relationships with corporate partners, resulting in major strides in large-scale product donations and cause marketing programs; enhanced relationships with foundations, leading to growth in financial support of key national and local strategic initiatives; and promoted engagement and alignment among the more than 5,000 affiliated staff in the Feeding America network.
In 2009, Escarra and the Feeding America network were recognized with the “Freedom from Want” medal by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute. The Institute honored Escarra for leading “Feeding America as it expanded its reach, developed new partnerships, and brought greater public awareness to the often overlooked problem of hunger in America.” Escarra was also named to The NonProfit Times’ Power and Influence Top 50 for 2010. The annual list features the nonprofit sector’s top executives and thinkers “selected for the impact they have now and for the innovative plans they are putting in place to evolve the charitable sector.”
Escarra serves on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships as a member of the Task Force on Economic Recovery and Domestic Poverty. She is on the Sesame Workshop Advisory Board on Food Insecurity, as well as the boards of HealthNet, the Congressional Hunger Center, The Chicago Network, and the Committee of 200.
Prior to joining Feeding America, Escarra worked for Delta Airlines for more than 30 years, serving in multiple roles including Chief Customer Service Officer and Chief Marketing Officer. A native of Decatur, Georgia, she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Georgia State University and completed the Columbia University Executive Management Program and the Harvard University Executive Leadership Program. She currently resides in Chicago.