Claire Babineaux-Fontenot – Feeding America CEO
As we reflect on Black History Month and move into Women’s History Month, we wanted to shine a light on Claire Babineaux-Fontenot. She has been leading Feeding America as the Chief Executive Officer since 2018. The Idaho Foodbank is part of the Feeding America network. This is a nationwide network of food banks, food pantries, and meal programs throughout the country. Under her strategic guidance, the organization has reached new milestones in addressing domestic food insecurity and developed comprehensive programs aimed at not only providing immediate food assistance but also implementing long-term solutions to address the root causes of food insecurity.
Claire was able to visit The Idaho Foodbank in 2022. We loved hosting her in Idaho to show her firsthand our operations and to share more about some of the unique challenges of addressing hunger in our state.
Before her current role at Feeding America, Claire was on Walmart’s leadership team for 13 years. Her career has also included dispute resolution work at PwC, work at the Office of Legal Affairs for the State of Louisiana, and leading the Baton Rouge office of Adams and Reese, LLP. Originally from Louisiana, she has a Juris Doctor from Southern University Law Center and a Master of Laws in Taxation from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.
Being part of the Feeding America network allows us to share best practices in food banking; access technology, including the system we use for inventory control, at a reduced rate; and have consistent access to large-scale donors such as General Mills and Kellogg, who are interested in supporting work to address food insecurity. All donations given to The Idaho Foodbank stay in Idaho.
Bringing together and leading the Feeding America network is a monumental task, so we wanted to highlight the amazing leadership of Claire Babineaux-Fontenot.