Special to the Vanguard
Woodland, Calif. – The Yolo Food Bank (YFB) board of directors today announced that it has hired Karen Baker to serve as interim executive director for the next six months, until a permanent executive director is identified.
Baker has served in cabinet positions and agency lead posts under California Governors Schwarzenegger, Brown and Newsom, and most recently led Listos California, a $50-million statewide campaign to build disaster preparedness and provide COVID education for vulnerable populations. She also served as chief service officer for California Volunteers and prior to her work in state government was a managing partner with Valley Vision in Sacramento.
“Karen’s executive-level experiences have given her invaluable insights into the non-profit world, and we’re very excited about the leadership, perspective and skills that she’ll bring to YFB. We’re especially impressed with her passion for the type of work YFB is doing, and are very confident about her ability to build on our strengths as we position the organization to be even more effective in the future,” said Liz Schmitz, chair of YFB’s board of directors.
In addition to managing YFB’s ongoing operations, Baker will play a lead role in helping YFB to better understand the needs of the community, donors, volunteers, and other stakeholders as it continues to serve residents through existing programs, pursues new funding opportunities, and searches for a permanent executive director.
“To do its work effectively, YFB needs to collaborate at a high level with partners throughout the community, and I’ll be working hard on that from day one,” said Baker.
