For Immediate Release
Contact: Emily Martin
Phone: (317) 632-2664, ext. 112
Email: emilymartin@secondhelpings.org
Second Helpings to Welcome New CEO
Linda Broadfoot was selected as Second Helpings’ next CEO, and will join the organization in October.
INDIANAPOLIS (August 12, 2021) – Second Helpings today announced the appointment of its next CEO, Linda Broadfoot. Broadfoot stepped down last week from Indianapolis Parks and Recreation after 5.5 years as its Director and will join Second Helpings in October.
As a part of Mayor Hogsett’s cabinet, Broadfoot was successful in securing a crucial increase in the Parks operating budget of 23% and an unprecedented additional capital investment of over $100M. Prior to Indy Parks, Linda worked as the Director of Marketing and Business Development for Well Done Marketing. She previously served as executive director of the Indianapolis Public Schools Education Foundation and as vice president for development and public relations for Keep Indianapolis Beautiful.
Broadfoot was honored as one of Indianapolis Business Journal’s 2013 “40 Under 40” and a member of Class XXXIII of the Stanley K. Lacy Executive Leadership Series. She has a degree in marketing and French from Butler University and a Master of Public Affairs from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI.
Under Broadfoot’s tenure, Indy Parks has been a key Hunger Relief partner for Second Helpings. In the past year, the partnership between Indy Parks and Second Helpings became a critical asset for Marion County, with local parks distributing 240,000 meals since March 2020 to address pandemic-related food security gaps.
Broadfoot’s appointment coincides with the retirement of Jennifer Vigran, who will retire from Second Helpings in October after serving the organization for 20 years – beginning as a volunteer in 2001 and as CEO since 2010. During Vigran’s tenure Second Helpings dramatically increased the impact of its food rescue and hunger relief programs, providing 1.8 million meals and 2.3 million pounds of pantry food to Central Indiana partner organizations last year.
“I’m incredibly honored to join the Second Helpings team, whom I have admired for many years,” Broadfoot said. “Having handed out Second Helpings meals in the height of the pandemic in 2020, I saw firsthand the importance of this work for greater Indianapolis residents. I am thrilled and grateful to have the opportunity to continue serving my community by leading this amazing organization.”
“Second Helpings launched a national search, led by Koya Partners, a leading executive search firm and a thoughtful search committee,” said Pat Gamble-Moore, Chair of Second Helpings’ Board of Directors, who led the Search Committee. “Our search team included board and advisory board members and internal staff. We were pleased to have narrowed it down a local candidate who is no stranger to Second Helpings. Linda was an early frontrunner because of her contagious passion for Indianapolis, and her involvement in her previous organizations means that she understands Second Helpings’ mission, and has seen the impact of our meal distribution up close and personal. We are very excited.”
Second Helpings is one of the area’s largest hunger relief organizations. More than 100 other not-for-profit organizations rely on food from Second Helpings to strengthen their programs and address food insecurity among their clients. Its food rescue and hunger relief programs recover more than 3 million pounds of food annually and in the past year distributed 2 million prepared meals to serve children, families, and seniors in need in Central Indiana. Second Helpings also addresses the underlying causes of poverty through its Culinary Job Training program, which helps unemployed and underemployed adults build meaningful careers in the foodservice industry.
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At Second Helpings, we’re helping transform lives through the power of food. By accepting donated perishable and overstocked food, we prepare nutritious meals for thousands of hungry children and adults every day and distribute them free of charge through social service agencies in Greater Indianapolis. For more information, visit www.secondhelpings.org.