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In 1983, a group of fearless New Yorkers came together to fight food insecurity across New York City. Their passion gave birth to a movement, and today, our leaders remain as committed as ever to empowering every New Yorker to achieve food security for good.

Community by community, we work together to make progress on a more hopeful, dignified, and equitable future for ALL. Meet the Food Bank For New York City leadership team below.

Leslie Gordon, President & Chief Executive Officer

Leslie Gordon is Food Bank For New York City’s President and Chief Executive Officer. She assumed this post at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and led one of the nation’s largest Food Bank’s to double its annual output of food from 70 million lbs. to nearly 150 million lbs. of food in less than 18 months. For more than two decades, Leslie has led efforts to feed our neighbors in need and help lift them out of poverty in New York City and surrounding communities. Most recently she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Feeding Westchester, Westchester County’s largest anti-hunger organization.

During her tenure at Feeding Westchester, Leslie took the organization to new heights by challenging the team to think boldly as they chart a course for the future, and creating a special culture that is highly collaborative and inclusive. Leslie led the charge to rebrand the county’s leading nonprofit hunger-relief organization from “Food Bank for Westchester” to “Feeding Westchester” to better communicate the breadth of its work. Under Leslie’s leadership, the organization increased the amount of fresh produce to more than 40 percent and upped the amount of food distributed by 20 percent – more than the average food bank in the nation. Leslie also forged cutting-edge, strategic alliances with non-food partners – specifically with health institutions – large and small to help address diet-related diseases.

Leslie previously served as the Senior Director of Program Strategy and Operations at City Harvest, where she helped pioneer a new strategy that positioned the organization to double the amount of food distributed annually, led the organization’s “Healthy Neighborhoods” program and oversaw the growth of its volunteer program from 6,000 to nearly 20,000 volunteers. Prior to that she was Executive Director of Best Buddies Pennsylvania and the Founding Director of Made in the Hudson Valley. She also served under General Colin Powell as National Director of America’s Promise – The Alliance for Youth where she partnered with C-Suite leaders at FORTUNE 500 companies to launch global corporate social responsibility programs.

Leslie serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors for Feeding New York State. In February 2023, she was honored as a recipient at New York Nonprofit Media’s inaugural Nonprofit Trailblazers Award. In November 2023, Leslie received recognition from Empire Whole Health Heroes, celebrating leaders in the New York metropolitan area for their dedication to public service. Additionally, she was acknowledged as a Notable LGBTQIA Leader in June 2023. Leslie’s accolades include being named to the PoliticsNY Power Women of 2022, earning recognition as City & State’s Nonprofit Power 100 leader for 2023, 2022, and 2021, as well as being listed among the Top 40 Most Fascinating Women in Westchester and Fairfield Counties, sharing the spotlight with Glenn Close and Hillary Clinton.

She was also honored with the 2020 SUNY New Paltz Professional Achievement Award. In 2019, Leslie served as a keynote speaker at the Women’s Leadership Summit and was recognized as a Gala Honoree by the Westchester Community Opportunity Program.

Senior Leadership Team

Executive Leadership Team

Lucy Berkowitz SVP, Data & Information Systems

LUCY BERKOWITZ

SVP, Data & Information Systems

CARMEN BOON

Vice President, External Affairs
Melanie Buhrmaster Vice President, Individual Giving

MELANIE BUHRMASTER

Vice President, Individual Giving

JOSE CHAVEZ

Controller

CAMESHA GRANT

Vice President of Community Impact and Investments

ZAC HALL

SVP of Programs

MATT HONEYCUTT

Chief Development Officer

VERONICA JARRETT

Chief Financial Officer

DAVID JONES

Vice President, Fundraising Operations

JANIS ROBINSON

Vice President, Institutions and Partnerships

BOB SILVIA

Chief of Operations and Procurement

Board of Directors

Seraina Macia, Chair
CEO & Founder, Joyn Insurance

Gloria Pitagorsky, Vice Chair
Heard City

Lary Stromfeld, Exec. Vice Chair
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Arthur Stainman, Treasurer
First Manhattan Co.

Rev. Henry Belin, Secretary
Bethel AME Church

Kevin Frisz, Managing Partner
William James Capital Management

George Garfunkel, Managing Director
First Manhattan Co.

Lauren Bush Lauren, Founder
FEED

Katie Lee Biegel, Chef/Author
The Comfort Table

Nicolas Poitevin, Partner
Tower Research Capital

Kyra Sedgwick, Actor
Producer & Director

Rev. Michael Walrond, Pastor
First Corinthian Baptist Church

Marilu Galvez, the President and General Manager of WABC-TV

Marilu Galvez
WABC-TV

Mary Lynn Phillips, Stop & Shop, a national brand of Ahold Delhaize USA

Mary Lynn Phillips
Stop & Shop, a national brand of Ahold Delhaize USA

Ted Segal, EJS Group

Ted Segal
EJS Group

Ayanna Stevens, Bank of America, Food Bank For New York City's newest Board of Directors Member

Ayanna Stephens
Bank of America

Junior Board

  • Sarah Bennett, Chair, Google
  • Alessandra Simkin, Elevance Health
  • Alex Mark, Freelance Software Developer
  • Alexis Teixeira, Carta
  • Ashley Anderson, Hodes Weill & Associates
  • Constantine P. Sidamon-Eristoff, Eristoff Jewelry Designs
  • Garry Michael, Farm2Me
  • Hallie Wolff, Kekst CNC
  • Hayley Kahn, Uber
  • Jenna Greco, Graduate Student at NYU, Restaurant Industry

  • Jordan C. Wall, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
  • Joshua Bywater, Morgan Stanley
  • Julia Lichtenstein, New York City Law Department
  • Leslie Conner Warren, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
  • Luke Roskowinski, Instacart
  • Mary Caitlin Maloney, Ralph Lauren
  • Mitch Burgess, Prospect Schools
  • Ray Lu, JD/MBA Student at Columbia
  • Shreyas Tallamraju, Deloitte Consulting LLP
  • Sultan Alfaisal, Bastio Atelier

Agency Advisory Committee

  • Robin Sirota-Bassin, Southside United HDFC, Inc.
  • Cheryl Cancela, The Salvation Army
  • Allison Deal (Chair)m Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty
  • Peer Deutsch, Oneg Shabbos
  • Maria Estrada, Every Day Is a Miracle
  • Lisa Everett, Northeast Brooklyn Social Services

  • Rev. Vincent Fusco , Acts Community Development Corp.
  • Major Sharon Lindsay, VETS, Inc.
  • David Moses, Mt. Hebron Church of Christ
  • Dorren Rutty, Bronx Bethany Community Corp.
  • Kimberly Singh, Bnai Raphael Chesed Organization

PARTNER COMMITTEE MEMBERS

  • LaMaunda Maharaj, NYC HRA—EFAP
  • Tara Walker, NYC HRA—EFAP
  • Diane Glick Morris, NYS DOH—HPNAP

STAFF COMMITTEE LIAISON

Zanita Tisdale, Senior Director, Member Services Food Bank For New York City
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