About Second Harvest of Silicon Valley
Founded in 1974, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley is one of the largest food banks in the nation and a recognized nonprofit leader working to end hunger in our community. Serving Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, the organization provides nutritious food to 1 in 6 neighbors each month through a network of nearly 400 community partners.
Second Harvest operates at the center of Silicon Valley’s charitable food network, reaching neighbors across more than 900 distribution sites including schools, colleges, community centers, faith-based organizations and housing communities. In its most recent fiscal year, the organization distributed nearly 111 million pounds of food — nearly 60% of it fresh produce — ensuring consistent access to nutritious food.
How They Do It
Second Harvest’s work is powered by strong community partnerships, operational scale and efficiency. The majority of the food it provides is fresh, nutritious produce, distributed primarily through farmer’s market–style distributions led by Second Harvest and its partners. These distributions also include dairy, protein and other staple foods to support balanced, culturally relevant diets.
With a staff of 270 full-time employees and the support of 32,000 volunteers annually, Second Harvest is powered by deep community engagement. Nearly 95% of its funding comes from the community, including strong support from individual donors.
Beyond meeting immediate need, Second Harvest is committed to advancing long-term, equitable solutions to hunger. The organization connects neighbors to federal nutrition programs, provides nutrition education and advocates for policies that address the root causes of food insecurity.
In September 2025, Second Harvest broke ground on a new approximately 215,000-square-foot, $200 million headquarters in San Jose to consolidate operations and increase efficiency. Expected to open in 2027, the new facility will expand capacity by 30% to meet the scale of need across the region and will strengthen the organization’s ability to respond to emergencies.
The Community
Silicon Valley is a place of extraordinary innovation and wealth, yet that prosperity exists alongside one of the highest costs of living in the nation. For many residents, basic necessities are increasingly out of reach, forcing ongoing tradeoffs between food and expenses like rent, utilities and transportation.
At the same time, the region is defined by a strong culture of community support, where individuals, Silicon Valley companies and local organizations come together to ensure neighbors have access to the food they need.
Spanning Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, Second Harvest serves a large, dynamic and diverse region—reaching neighbors across both urban and rural communities. Grounded in deep partnerships and shaped by the experiences of the people it serves, the organization works to ensure everyone has consistent access to the nutritious food they need to thrive.
To learn more about Second Harvest, please visit www.shfb.org or review the latest annual report.
The Opportunity
This is a rare and consequential leadership opportunity for a mission-driven executive ready to make a direct, measurable impact on hunger and poverty in the Bay Area. Second Harvest of Silicon Valley is a nationally recognized food bank, and this is an especially critical and exciting moment for the organization. Having doubled the number of people they serve and the size of their staff during the pandemic, Second Harvest’s current strategic plan is focused on increasing impact by working more deeply in community and working sustainably at scale. A critical priority for this year is planning the transition to their transformative new facility – currently under construction with anticipated activation in March 2027.
The Chief Impact Officer (CIO) will lead Second Harvest’s Impact Team—a department of approximately 51 professionals spanning programs, community health and nutrition, food connection, multilingual outreach, and policy and advocacy—and serve as a member of the executive leadership team. This role oversees not only the delivery of food programs across the community, but also the organization’s efforts to connect clients to critical support services, including SNAP and other resources that advance food security.
This is a role for someone who leads with both compassion and clarity, who builds trust while driving toward a shared vision, and who is energized by the opportunity to shape what community impact looks like at scale. Above all, it is a role for someone deeply committed to Second Harvest’s mission to end hunger.
Specific opportunities include:
- Lead at a pivotal moment of transformation. The CIO will help shape and mobilize a new strategic plan that aims to center community voice and deepen partnerships. Second Harvest operates in Silicon Valley, a community known for innovation and a willingness to test new approaches. Thanks to the trust and generosity of their supporters, the organization has the resources and opportunity to invest in more effective, equitable, and forward-looking approaches to service delivery. The Chief Impact Officer will be instrumental in shaping how the Impact team builds on its current foundation –strengthening core systems while advancing new ideas that can inform the broader food banking field.
- Shape a landmark new facility. Second Harvest is currently constructing a new ~215,000-square-foot headquarters in San Jose (opening 2027), complete with ample office space, a demonstration kitchen and dedicated community convening space. The CIO will have the opportunity to help define how this space is used to enable deep collaboration among the Impact team and cross-functionally, deepen community engagement, and support agency partnerships in ways that were not previously possible.
- Lead with stability and support. In a sector facing widespread funding uncertainty, Second Harvest stands on solid footing: nearly 95% of its funding comes from private sources, the organization has met its $150M capital campaign goal, and it benefits from deep community goodwill and a trusted brand. The incoming CIO will inherit a strong foundation and a highly motivated, mission-driven team.
- Join an exceptional executive team. The CIO joins a leadership team that Second Harvest’s board of directors has described as among the strongest in the sector.
Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate will have the following professional and personal qualities, skills, and characteristics:
A Proven Leader of Large and Complex Teams
- Experienced manager of managers: Has led sizable teams (ideally 20–50+ people) in which they were responsible not just for direct reports, but for directors or managers who lead teams. Navigates the complexity of multi-layered leadership with clarity, ensuring accountability at every level.
- Clear goal-setter and accountability-holder: Demonstrates a track record of defining measurable goals, enabling visibility into progress against goals, setting clear expectations, coaching and developing leaders, and holding teams accountable to results and expectations around ways of working.
- Cross-functional integrator: Able to empower distinct, standalone teams—each with its own focus areas and culture—while navigating interdependencies, competing priorities, and ambiguity to foster cohesion and shared strategic direction across the department. Also critical is this leader’s ability to foster collaboration with other departments across the foodbank – most critically the Supply Chain organization, Impact’s close partner in getting food out to the community.
A Seasoned & Decisive Relationship Builder
- Professional maturity and decisiveness: Brings the confidence to listen to diverse perspectives, be clear, consistent, and decisive in decision making, and communicate rationale with clarity.
- Trust builder and cultural stabilizer: Acts as a grounding presence and builds trust through visible follow-through, consistent communication, and long-term commitment to the team.
- Emotionally intelligent and grounded in purpose: Brings strong emotional intelligence and sound judgment to complex, human-centered work. Leads with empathy and clarity, fostering trust, accountability, and strong relationships across diverse stakeholders. Comfortable operating in ambiguity and able to support teams working close to community need while maintaining focus on outcomes.
An Operational Strategist & Adaptive Leader
- Strategic and hands-on in equal measure: Able to think 5–10 steps ahead while also rolling up their sleeves and being present where the work happens. Understands that this team needs both a strategic compass and day-to-day operational guidance, and can oscillate fluidly between the two.
- Data-informed strategist and operator: Translates high-level strategy into clear, executable priorities grounded in data. Assesses and strengthens data systems and practices, bringing together disparate sources of information (formal and informal) to create a more complete, shared understanding of community need and program impact. Uses these insights to guide decisions, monitor performance, and continuously improve outcomes. Sets focus, makes tradeoffs, and protects teams from competing priorities.
- Change leader with discipline and patience: Has experience leading organizational change thoughtfully—closing feedback loops between staff and leadership and intentionally bringing the team along.
A Community-Centric Partner
- Grounded in community and basic needs work: Brings senior leadership experience from a nonprofit or public service organization with direct experience working alongside communities facing food insecurity, housing instability, or related inequities. Food banking experience is a bonus; a deep understanding of frontline, partner-facing, and client-centered work is essential.
- Strategic partnership builder: Skilled at developing effective, strategic partnerships—listening deeply to community needs, making the most of limited resources, and knowing when to step back and let other organizations lead. Views Second Harvest as a community organizer and convener, not just a service provider.
- Committed to equity and client voice: Centers the experiences and perspectives of the communities served in all decisions. Understands that data and community voice are equally important inputs to strategy, and ensures that those closest to the mission have meaningful influence over how impact work is designed and delivered.
Passion for the Mission
- Moved by the work: Brings personal connection to Second Harvest’s mission to end hunger in our community. Understands that the Impact Team’s work—distributing food to 1 in 6 neighbors each month, connecting people to food assistance and nutrition programs, advocating for anti-poverty policies—is immediate and life-changing. Is energized by that proximity to impact.
- Values-driven in practice: Understands that running a high-performing team and honoring the mission go hand in hand. Keeps the organization’s “why” visible to every person on the team.
- An authentic ambassador: Able to speak compellingly and credibly about Second Harvest’s work to partners, donors, media, and the broader community—with the kind of authentic enthusiasm for the mission that makes others want to support it, and that the team can feel every day.
Compensation and Benefits
Salary is competitive and commensurate with experience. The salary range for this role is $220,000 - $250,000 with a generous benefits package.
Contact
DSG | Koya has been exclusively retained for this engagement, which is being led by Alex Corvin and Maleka Pensky. Express interest in this role by filling out our Talent Profile. All inquiries and discussions are strictly confidential.
DSG | Koya is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals living with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual living with a disability and need assistance expressing interest online, please email [email protected]. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from people of color, persons with disabilities, women, and LGBTQ+ applicants.