By dsm staff
The Food Bank of Iowa’s board of directors appointed Tami Nielsen as its next president and CEO earlier this year, following a national search after Michelle Book retired from the role at the end of 2024. Nielsen had served as interim CEO since Jan. 1 and assumed her permanent role June 1.
Nielsen joined the organization in 2016 as a regional partnership coordinator. Since then, she has served various outreach and programming roles until becoming the chief operating officer in 2023.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Iowa State University and pursued graduate study at the University of Iowa. In her time at the food bank, she has served as a member of Feeding America’s Disaster-Ready Midwest Region, a food bank cohort formed to prepare and better respond to the needs of disaster survivors. She has experience in operations, food sourcing and efficiency, and the acquisition and distribution of more than 27 million pounds of food annually.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she also helped establish partnerships with Latino and African immigrant communities, working with 15 pastors of immigrant congregations to set up a weekly food distribution hub at one of the participating churches.
Nielsen recently emailed a few details to our reporters. Her answers to the following questions were lightly edited and condensed.
Tell us a little about yourself. Where did you grow up and how did you come to work at the Food Bank of Iowa?
I live in Johnston with my husband, Todd. We are the parents of four adult sons, and we’re Mimi and Papa to four amazing grandchildren, with another one coming in August. I’m a Des Moines native and a proud product of Des Moines Public Schools; I grew up 5 minutes east of the Food Bank. While our family always had enough to eat, I recognized early on that some kids I went to school with didn’t. It was very clear on Monday mornings who didn’t have enough food at home.
The mission is what drew me to the Food Bank of Iowa. I believe with all my heart that everyone deserves access to proper nutrition.
You’ve been with the food bank for almost 10 years. What about the work keeps you here?
I work alongside an incredible team. Every day is different, and there’s not been a single day when I’ve ever been bored. I especially enjoy building relationships with partners and community members here in the metro and throughout the 55 counties we serve. We are all in this together, and fighting hunger requires all of our collective energy and more. There is so much work to do.
What’s one lesson you’ve learned from your time so far at the Food Bank of Iowa?
Many of us have far deeper reserves of capacity and strength than we realize. Just when you think you can’t do any more, you’re tasked with doing more and somehow, the work gets done. You think you’ve hit a ceiling — for example, the difficult days of COVID — and discover four more floors to conquer. That’s where we find ourselves today, with a record need for food assistance far beyond what we saw during the pandemic.
What are you most looking forward to about serving as the CEO?
I look forward to continuing to make a difference in the lives of Iowans. Some of our most challenging days in hunger relief are ahead. There is much to learn, but I feel fortunate to have a solid foundation in food banking to help move our mission forward in these uncertain times. Our neighbors are counting on us.
