As Senior Vice President of Community Programs, Emily Alt leads a regional team that uses data, develops strategy, and builds and maintains relationships to increase food access through MFB’s three main food distribution programs: Network Partners, Pantry on the Go, and School Pantries. During her time as one of the first Regional Program Directors at MFB, she helped build the food bank’s strong regional approach to distributing food by ensuring our priorities, food resources, and strategies align.

Growing up in Baltimore City, Emily was extremely aware of racial and economic inequality from a young age. Over time, she learned more about the structures and systems that led to that inequality and was motivated to do anything she could to dismantle them. MFB’s mission to address root causes of hunger, beyond just providing food, helped draw her to be a part of this work.

Since leaving a career in corporate real estate law and transitioning to the nonprofit sector in 2011, Emily has been a part of, or worked closely with, leadership teams at large and small nonprofits including The Annie E. Casey Foundation, American Communities Trust, and Maryland Legal Aid. A baseball enthusiast who has visited 23 of the 30 major league baseball parks, Emily also enjoys babysitting her granddaughter, and working out in her home gym.

Tenille Clark serves as our Chief Human Resources Officer, helping to facilitate the growth and potential of MFB employees. She leads the efforts to further employee engagement and foster a productive, diverse, and inclusive environment.

Prior to joining MFB, Tenille provided leadership on critical workplace issues such as employee engagement and organizational change at Access World USA LLC. With over 13 years of HR experience and an M.S. in Human Resource Development from Towson University, she finds her position at the food bank to be one of the many ways she can give back and be a part of the solution to Maryland’s hunger crisis.

Tenille is a Baltimore native who likes to travel but finds the most comfort in her own home, spending time with her family. In her free time, Tenille reads mysteries and psychological thrillers, binges her favorite TV shows, and experiments with gardening.

Elise Krikau, Chief Philanthropy Officer, focuses the food bank’s fundraising efforts to maximize its impact on the lives of hungry Marylanders. Elise’s first experience with philanthropy came in college (which ultimately became her vocation) when she began her fundraising career in 2007. During her 20 years of professional experience, she has worked in healthcare, higher education, nonprofit consulting, and human services.

Elise has a graduate certificate in Nonprofit Management from North Park University and a master’s degree in administration from Central Michigan University. She is currently a board member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Maryland Chapter, and a Certified Leadership Coach. When not raising funds for the food bank, Elise enjoys running and exploring new places with her husband and stepchildren.

As Senior Vice President of Neighbor Engagement, Jennifer Small leads the Neighbor Engagement team, which is made up of the FoodWorks Culinary Training Program, FoodWork’s Meals Program, Community Impact, Nutrition, and Mobile Market.

Jennifer has brought decades of experience in managerial business, retail grocery, and nonprofit to her MFB work, maximizing her impact on food-insecure Marylanders during her 13-year tenure as Branch Manager, then Managing Director, then Regional Program Director for the Eastern Shore.

And, because of her own personal experience suffering an unexpected loss more than 15 years ago sent her into a world of food insecurity, underemployment, and financial distress, Jennifer never loses sight of the struggles she faced at the time to make sure her son had food on the table. More recently, her proudest accomplishment came when her son shared an assignment recognizing Jennifer as “My hero,” because her job at the food bank helped to make sure people didn’t go hungry.

Jennifer is a graduate of Salisbury State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and a minor in Sociology. She enjoys spending her free time with her husband and two children taking spontaneous road trips looking for new adventures, playing board games, doing crafts, and enjoying movie time with dinner.

Sue Zavoyna, Chief Financial Officer, is the energetic force that leads the food bank’s finance team and IT department. A Towson University graduate, Sue’s background in public accounting, combined with serving as the CFO for social service and food service organizations, makes her the perfect steward to ensure our financial support has maximum impact on food-insecure Marylanders. Joining MFB fulfills her dream of working for an organization that is strategically making a difference in the lives of the people it serves and employs.

When not at the food bank, Sue enjoys the outdoors, live music, and rescuing animals. She is also a HUGE Ravens fan.