The Vermont Foodbank Welcomes Doug O’Brien as CEO

Barre, VT, March 30, 2007 – The Vermont Foodbank trustees are pleased to announce the hiring of its new chief executive officer, Douglas O’Brien.  O’Brien joins the Foodbank from America’s Second Harvest – The Nation’s Foodbank Network (A2HN), of which the Vermont Foodbank is a member.  He will start with the Foodbank on June 18, 2007.

Currently O’Brien is Vice President of Federal Policy and Legislative Affairs for America’s Second Harvest, and he has worked with the Chicago-based organization as a senior executive since 1994.  During his tenure with America’s Second Harvest he created the public policy and research departments.  O’Brien led the “Hunger in America” research series, most recently the “Hunger in America 2006” report, and other groundbreaking research including the food stamp study “The Red Tape Divide” and the Almanac of Hunger and Poverty in America.  He led America’s Second Harvest legislative work including efforts to increase access to food stamps and provide more Federal commodities through private charities to low-income people.

O’Brien began his career in Washington, DC, as a member of the legislative staffs for Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy, II (D-8-MA), including serving on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee chaired at that time by Senator Leahy.  He has also served as director of development and public relations at Shimer College in Waukegan, Illinois.

Asked what drew him to the Vermont Foodbank position O’Brien said, “Since working for Senator Leahy in the 1990s, I have come to love Vermont and Vermonters.  I have watched the Vermont Foodbank grow from a small non-profit hardly noticed in our  network to one of the strongest food banks in our national system.  I believe the Vermont Foodbank is poised for the next step in its progression – a real push forward in its advocacy efforts and relationships with Vermont’s legislators.  I believe we can make real progress toward ending hunger in Vermont.  And I feel strongly that my experience will be helpful in getting the Foodbank to that next level.”

“We’re thrilled to welcome Doug O’Brien as our next leader,” said Christine Foster and Edward Fox, interim co-CEOs at the Vermont Foodbank.  “Deborah Flateman did an incredible job as our chief executive over the past 10 years, and we are excited to turn the reins over to someone at the Foodbank with Doug’s level of experience and commitment to solving the issue of hunger here.  We feel confident he is the right choice as we continue our efforts to make Vermont the nation’s first hunger-free state.”