MORE
THAN
FOOD

FY2023
Annual Report

Download Report

MORE
THAN
FOOD

FY2023
Annual Report

Download Report
1

A Message from Our CEO

Dear Partner,

I am pleased to share our FY2023 Annual Report with you, which highlights the strategies and results of our work from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.

In the fall of 2022, we launched an ambitious four-year strategic plan that aims to build community resilience, increase availability of nutritious food for millions of people, and leverage our Network to play a vital role in addressing the root causes of hunger and poverty around the world. We continue to strive toward our North Star Goal of reaching 50 million people worldwide by 2030. It won’t be easy. GFN and our food bank partners continue to face volatile and difficult conditions, but I am encouraged by the incredible service our food bank partners continue to provide and their determination to find local solutions to global challenges.

We are making significant progress to increase access to nutritious foods and connect people to essential services. Last year, our Network served approximately 32 million people facing hunger and reached more people in emerging and developing markets than ever before. The Network distributed more than 630 million kilograms of food, while working with 51,000 local agencies to provide the people they serve with important social services like education, health care, and job skill development.

We continue to strengthen the Network by championing innovation and improvement. It is more important than ever that food banking organizations learn from each other and scale proven solutions. Last year, our Network shared insights and knowledge to support rapid uptake in agricultural development through peer-to-peer exchanges in Honduras, Israel, Kenya, and Nigeria; focused on financial sustainability models at our Africa Food Bank Conference; and explored the power of resiliency and harnessing technologies at our leadership summit in Mexico City.

On behalf of our Board of Directors and staff, thank you for choosing to invest in GFN and the food banking model—this work is only possible with your support. I hope that this report showcases the power of our Network, and the tremendous impact your partnership has on people and communities around the globe.

Because at the end of the day, food banks serve so much more than food. Food banks serve people; they strengthen communities, reduce food loss and waste and greenhouse gas emissions, and increase access to vital social services that move families and individuals out of poverty and create a brighter, healthier future.

Sincerely,

Lisa Moon
President and CEO
Food Banking Kenya is a living testimony of what The Global FoodBanking Network is doing to bring up food banks in Africa. With the technical and financial assistance and referrals to donors and partners, I can tell you for sure, without GFN, Food Banking Kenya would not be where we are today."
John Gathungu
Chief Executive Officer
Food Banking Kenya
The greatest value I see in [GFN’s] Knowledge Networks is the many innovative solutions that have come out of generating ideas with peers, and how these solutions can be adapted for different situations."
Carol Mérida
Manager of Donations and New Projects
Desarrollo en Movimiento (Guatemala)
GFN’s support continues to be instrumental to achieving our goal of providing nutritious meals with dignity to all. It’s all part of our vision for the future—for No Food Waste, and for our country."
Padmanaban Gopalan
Founder
No Food Waste (India)
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Our Mission:

to nourish the world's hungry through uniting and advancing food banks.


Our Vision:

a world free of hunger.

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The Global FoodBanking Network is a strong and growing community of member organizations working across the globe to get food to people who need it; to build stronger, more resilient communities; and to create equitable, sustainable food systems for a healthier planet.

Last Year,
2.4
billion people
faced food insecurity and
735
million people
were affected by chronic hunger.
75
percent of GFN member countries
experienced climate-related natural disaster, and
35
percent
experienced significant civil unrest.
Our food bank partners were there, every step of the way.
 
 
In 2022...
49
GFN member food bank organizations distributed
651
million
kilograms of food, through
51,000
community partners, with the help of
406,000
volunteers.
32
million
people in
44
countries across
6
continents received nutritious food and other vital services.
And our impact extends far beyond the food.
4

Thanks to the hard work and perseverance of GFN members across the globe, food banks are playing an increasingly important role in providing essential social services; reducing food loss and waste and greenhouse gas emissions; and creating healthier, more resilient communities.

The Global FoodBanking Network partners are ...
Community leaders and systems thinkers.
Connectors and advocates.
Counselors and teachers.
Farmers and gardeners.
Chefs and nutritionists.
Waste reducers and planet protectors.
Food champions and change makers.

All working tirelessly to provide food and support to their communities and to create food systems that work for everyone, everywhere.

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Advancing Food Banking
A core part of our work—strengthening and advancing food banks around the world—happens through convening food banks, partners, and thought leaders to share best practices and improve peer-to-peer collaboration; engaging on an international level to elevate the work of our partners; and acting as a collective voice for our Network to increase the visibility of, and advocacy for, food systems transformation across the globe.
Advocating for Policy Change
As part of an ongoing partnership with the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC) on The Global Food Donation Policy Atlas, we released two new issue briefs highlighting best practices and policy recommendations to clarify food safety rules for donation and improve food waste deterrence. These briefs complement a series of five in-depth resources that FLPC and GFN have produced to provide countries around the world with insight into the major legal issue areas impacting food donation. In addition to the issue briefs, GFN and FLPC launched food policy donation recommendations in Australia, Nigeria, Indonesia, Ecuador, Ghana, China, Paraguay, and Israel this year.
Policies that encourage food donation and prevent food waste ensure that safe and nutritious food reaches people who are hungry, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and help build a more sustainable and equitable food system. Our issue briefs share widely applicable and proven policy options from around the globe that can help jump-start action to address these complex but manageable problems."
Emily Broad Leib
Faculty Director, Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic
Year One of a New Strategic Plan
FY2023 marked the first full year of our FY2023-2026 strategic plan. Every step brings us closer to a world where more communities are fed, less food is wasted, and all food systems are sustainable. As we look toward the next two years of the plan, we will continue to build member resilience and effectiveness, expand the reach and depth of impact in targeted areas, and leverage food banking to strengthen food systems.
Welcoming New Board Leadership
GFN welcomed four new board members and the new leadership of Carol Criner as board chair and Sachin Gupta as vice chair, bringing new ideas and energy to our work. We are so grateful for all of our dedicated, passionate board members who lend their time, talents, and expertise to advancing our mission.
It is deeply moving to see firsthand the impact that food banks have on the community. Food banks do much more than offer emergency food assistance; they strengthen communities for generations to come."
Carol Criner
Chair, GFN Board of Directors
Vice President, Strategic Accounts, HCL Technologies
FBLI In Mexico City
GFN was thrilled to return to in-person gatherings with our flagship annual event, the Food Bank Leadership Institute (FBLI) in Mexico City. In collaboration with food bank member Red de Bancos de Alimentos de México, FBLI convened more than 350 people from 50 countries to share expertise to discuss “Food Banking in an Age of Volatility” and address food insecurity and food systems issues.
mexico-yt center
Our Second Africa Food Bank Conference
More than 30 food bank leaders from seven African countries met in Kenya for the Africa Food Bank Conference to exchange best practices and initiate big ideas on food and product sourcing, fundraising and volunteering, and impacts of the cost-of-living crisis.
What was most interesting about the [Africa Food Bank Conference] was it created a sense of synergy among the food banks all working together to achieve this global vision of a world free of hunger. It helped create an even stronger space for African food bank leaders to exchange ideas about challenges and opportunities. During my interaction with each food bank leader, I was able to ask for advice on how they managed to overcome similar challenges."
Zenawi Naigzi Woldetensay
Executive Director, It Rains Food Bank of Ethiopia
Launch of a New GFN Website
In January 2023, GFN launched our new website, making it easier to find information, research, resources, and stories about the important role that locally led food banks play in strengthening our food systems—and how we can help them do even more.
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Our Network

GFN food bank partners work across six continents in more than 50 countries. Thirty-six of our 49 partner food banks are in emerging or developing markets, and we continue to expand our Network to reach even more people around the world.

our network map

*FY2023 New Food Bank Development Program participant; data from these food banks is not included in “Our Impact.”

8
Our Generous Supporters
Thank you to our generous FY2023 partners who are powering locally led solutions to hunger, and creating stronger, more resilient communities across the globe.
At John Deere, we’ve long known that equitable access to safe and nutritious food is the first requisite for a life well lived. We are proud to support The Global FoodBanking Network as it works to build and strengthen both food banks as well as the food systems on which millions depend for nourishment and dignity."
Laura Eberlin
Global Corporate Social Responsibility Lead, Community Engagement & Enrichment, John Deere
The Lineage Foundation for Good works with our partners and team members every day to leverage Lineage’s one-of-a-kind scale and unique logistics expertise to fight food insecurity in our communities and reduce food waste across global supply chains. Working with food banks and partners like The Global FoodBanking Network ensures people have access to safe, affordable, high-quality food and is a vital part of addressing the challenge of having efficient and effective food logistics systems. We are just getting started on this journey and our team’s passion and commitment to innovation is making a lasting difference in communities around the globe."
Christine Rees-Zecha
President and Board Chairperson, Lineage Foundation for Good
Today, millions of families across the world are struggling to put food on the table, while one-third of all food is lost or wasted. Food banks are needed now more than ever. We are thrilled to support The Global FoodBanking Network in its efforts to increase food access for people facing hunger in the short-term, while building longer-term community resilience. Together, we are pursuing our common objective of nourishing the world’s hungry."
Catherine Bertini
Managing Director, Global Nutrition Security, The Rockefeller Foundation
The work GFN is undertaking is pivotal in promoting methane mitigation through food loss prevention, recovery, and redistribution. We believe that the methodology and technologies being piloted in food banks for measuring methane mitigation will serve as a catalyst for promoting new policies and economic assessments of food banks' financial models. This collaboration will demonstrate that food loss and waste recovery and redistribution are cost-effective solutions that must be harnessed to address methane mitigation."
Marcelo Mena-Carrasco, M.S., Ph.D.
The Global Methane Hub
As the world’s largest food bank network, GFN is uniquely positioned to have massive impact across the globe. Our partnership with GFN has been a mutually beneficial relationship because they’ve helped us inform how we at PIMCO address hunger. They’ve been incredible resources in terms of building advocacy within our organization and, in return, we have complemented our grants intentionally with skills-based volunteering, making this a very powerful partnership."
Nate Brown
Director, The PIMCO Foundation
General Mills has been a proud partner of The Global FoodBanking Network for over 15 years. We deeply believe in the power of food banks and that they play a vital role in addressing food security globally, while at the same time tackling the food loss and waste issue. Food should be used for nourishing people and that is why GFN is such an important partner for us."
Amie Kegler
Associate Manager, Global Impact Initiatives, General Mills
9
Our Leadership
Board of Directors
Carol Criner
Board Chair
Vice President, Strategic Accounts
HCL Technologies
USA
Sachin Gupta
Board Vice Chair
Head of Global Portfolio Management Desk
PIMCO
USA
Tom Arnold
Chair, Food Vision 2030: Ireland’s
Agri-Food Strategy to 2030
IRELAND
Carol Bellamy
Former Executive Director
UNICEF
USA
Catherine Bertini
Distringuished Fellow
Global Food and Agriculture
The Chicago Council on
Global Affairs
USA
Shenggen Fan, Ph.D.
Chair Professor, College of Economics and Management
China Agricultural University (CAU)
CHINA
Joseph Gitler
Founder and Chairman
Leket Israel
ISRAEL
Brian Greene
President and
Chief Executive Officer
Houston Food Bank
USA
Paul Henrys
Chief Financial Officer
Feeding America
USA
Dr. Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg
Executive-in-Residence
Schmidt Futures
KENYA
Xavier Lazo Guerrero
Ambassador
Poverty Stoplight Ecuador
ECUADOR
Gonzalo Muñoz
Co-Founder
TriCiclos and Sistema B
CHILE
Jason Ramey
Immediate Past Board Chair
Chief Executive Officer
Kellogg & Sovereign Counsulting
USA
Fatma Samoura
Secretary General
FIFA
SENEGAL
Christine Sheehan
Director, Thought Leader Network
Gallup
USA
Jacques Vandenschrik
President
European Food Banks Federation
BELGIUM
Kumiko Watanabe
Partner, Global Client Services
Grant Thornton
USA



Allen J. Ginsburg
General Counsel
Partner
DLA Piper, LLP
USA
Corporate Officers
Lisa Moon
President and Chief Executive Officer
Doug O'Brien
Assistant Secretary
Vice President, Programs
Beth E. Saks
Treasurer
Chief Financial Officer
Vicki Clarke
Secretary
Vice President, Development
Michael Oko
Vice President, Marketing and Communications
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Our FY2023 Financial Overview
We close FY2023 in strong financial health. Our organization received an unqualified opinion on our annual audit. Please find the following information on how we are stewarding donor investments to advance global hunger relief through food banking. Information is drawn from our audited financials for the years FY2021, FY2022, and FY2023, which are available at foodbanking.org.
Program Services
General & Administrative
Fund Development
FY2021-2023 Functional Expenses
FY2023 Functional Expenses
Support The Global FoodBanking Network’s work at foodbanking.org.
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70 E. Lake Street, Suite 1200
Chicago, IL 60601 USA
+1 312-782-4560
foodbanking.org