Kirstin Beardsley

Kirstin Beardsley is the Chief Executive Officer of Food Banks Canada, and she and the organization are working to relieve hunger today and prevent hunger tomorrow. In collaboration with the food bank network, Kirsten leads the network of over 4,700 food banks and community agencies from coast-to-coast. This network includes food banks and community organizations that work alongside one another to serve many people in need, and in March of 2022, nearly 1.5 million visits were made to these organizations according to the Food Banks Canada 2022 HungerCount Report. 

Over the past eight years, she has provided leadership to the organization’s strategic plans and task forces. Before stepping into the role of CEO in February of 2022, Kirstin was Food Banks Canada’s bilingual Chief Network Services Officer and helped create transformational change in the food banking system in Canada. During her time in this role as well, Kirsten led comprehensive, new system-wide approaches to learning, government relations, advocacy, research, national funds distribution, and a number of programs supporting ten provincial organizations to improve the effectiveness of local food banks.

Over the past 10 years, Food Banks Canada and their network have sourced and shared over 1.4 billion pounds of food and Food Banks Canada has shared nearly $168 million in funding to help maximize collective impact and strengthen local capacity, all while advocating for reducing the need for food banks. Kirstin’s passion for community, people, and working towards the Food Banks Canada vision of a country where no one goes hungry has made her an exceptional leader — and she and the people she works alongside are making a major difference in the lives of people everyday.