Bob Aiken to Leave Feeding America as CEO in June

The Feeding America Board of Directors announced today that Bob Aiken has decided to resign as the organization’s CEO on June 30, 2015.

“While we regret Bob’s decision, we support it,” said Jan Pruitt, Chair of the Feeding America Board of Directors. “We appreciate the strategic focus that Bob brought to the role and the momentum he created to realize our vision of a hunger-free America. Under Bob’s leadership a long range strategic plan was developed and we are now beginning to implement that plan.”

“Building a solid management team and leading the development of a strategic plan for the next decade at Feeding America are two accomplishments I am very proud of,” said Aiken. “Now that the Board has adopted the plan, it’s an ideal time for a new CEO who can lead this movement to carry our message forward to a diverse set of stakeholders. My plans are to return to the for-profit world in the future.”

To ensure consistency of the group’s mission to feed America’s hungry and engage the U.S. in the fight to end hunger, the Board of Directors has initiated a search to identify a strong successor and ensure a smooth transition. Aiken will continue in his role through the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2015.  

“Over the next ten years, we plan to partner with multi-sector organizations to provide every single person facing hunger with access to enough nutritious food and help them achieve more stable lives,” Pruitt said. “In this way, we hope to help the more than 46 million people we serve build a path to a brighter, food-secure future.”

The Feeding America Network has made tremendous progress in responding to high levels of need and is on pace to deliver 3.63 billion meals in 2015. Additionally, in 2013, the organization’s financial contributions and in-kind donations grew 22 percent to a value of $2.1 billion.

“Leading Feeding America has been one of the great privileges of my life. I have the highest regard for the devoted people inside the organization, at food banks, food pantries and meals programs who work tirelessly to achieve our vision of a hunger-free America,” said Aiken.

Aiken joined Feeding America after a lengthy career in the food industry. He began his career as a business lawyer. Aiken holds accounting and law degrees from Georgetown University in Washington D.C.

“We are committed to identifying our next leader who will be ready to execute our 10-year strategic plan that outlines a 2025 goal to ‘shorten the line’ of people needing assistance by helping them achieve stability,” Pruitt said. 

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