Margarette Purvis leads Food Bank For New York City, the country’s largest food bank serving one out of every five New Yorkers. Ms. Purvis leads and oversees the strategic vision for all of Food Bank’s operations, philanthropy, and programming, including the organization’s citywide food distribution system and member network of over 1,000 charities and schools.
Ms. Purvis has more than 20 years of experience in service to the nation’s most vulnerable. Prior to becoming Food Bank’s President and CEO in 2011, Ms. Purvis was CEO and Principal of PCG Services, an Atlanta-based firm that developed and implemented social and philanthropic programming and branding strategies. She was previously Vice President of National Programming at the Points of Light Foundation, where she directed the launch and implementation of its multimillion dollar programs and civic engagement units and oversaw large scale disaster initiatives in response to Hurricane Katrina. Earlier in her career, as Food Bank’s Vice President of Programs and Services, she developed national award-winning programs, including the Education Institute and Kids Café programs. Ms. Purvis’ leadership also includes director and management level positions with Bailey House, the country’s oldest HIV/AIDS program, and government programs including the USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and the City of New York’s Human Resources Administration.
In 2014, the NonProfit Times named Ms. Purvis to its annual Power and Influence Top 50 national list. That same year, Governor Andrew Cuomo asked her to chair the New York State Anti-Hunger Task Force, and Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed her to the Community Schools Advisory Board.