Speaker 2020 | Barb Prather

Barbara Prather
Executive Director, Northeast Iowa Food Bank

Barbara came to Waterloo in the summer of 1999 to assume the position of Executive Director at the Northeast Iowa Food Bank.  Since taking over as Director, the Food Bank has added Kids Café, the BackPack program, Mobile Food Pantries, Summer Feeding, the Elderly Nutrition Program and a Community Garden. Under her leadership, in 2013 the Food Bank built a new $6.5 million facility, paid for with predominately private funding sources. In FY 2019, the Food Bank distributed more food than ever before, topping nearly 9 million pounds of food to member agencies, programs and other food banks. Prior to taking this position she worked for seven years at the Capital Area Food Bank in Washington DC.  

Prather grew up in Northwestern Minnesota and received a B.A. in Business Administration from Concordia College Moorhead, MN in 1987. In May, 1998 she received her Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. Barbara serves on the boards of Met Transit, National Leadership Alliance at UNI, Wartburg’s Social Work Advisory Council and Feeding America’s National Council.  

Over the years, she has been honored both locally and nationally with leadership awards from the Community, Feeding America and Concordia College. She and her family live in Hudson, IA.