From Volunteer to Visionary: Michaella Kumke’s Impact on Alleviating Hunger in Nebraska

We are excited to launch a special edition of the Let's Talk Talent Podcast, in honor of Talent Plus' 35 Year Anniversary. In this series, host Mark Epp, Talent Plus Management Consultant Director, speaks with remarkable leaders and individuals, and learns the role talent has played in impacting their personal and professional lives. 

Our first episode features Michaella Kumke, President and CEO of the Food Bank of Lincoln. Tune in to learn more about Michaella and how her personal experiences shaped her mission-driven leadership, her approach to nurturing talent within her team to drive future success and how the talent of one volunteer made a lasting impact on the food bank. Tune in to get inspired by Michaela’s journey and leadership insights.

Transcript

Mark Epp: 

Welcome to Let’s Talk Talent joining us today is Michaella Kumke CEO and President of the Food Bank of Lincoln. Michaella can you tell us a little bit more about your background? I know that you've been working with the Food Bank of Lincoln for close to 10 years. April of 2021 you were asked to take on the CEO position. I understand you're only the fourth CEO in 42 years to take on that position so that's a big deal taking that on. Could you tell us a little more about your background and the role that you play at The Food Bank of Lincoln? 

Michaella Kumke: 

You bet and thank you for the opportunity to join you today really appreciate it. Yeah the fourth leader in the food banks history and it is both an incredible weight and responsibility and a tremendous honor.  I'm originally from South Central Nebraska so a Nebraska native. I'm 11 of 12 kids in our family and so that was a very boisterous household. Ended up coming to Lincoln to study journalism at UNL and stuck around. As an intern in college I had an opportunity to connect to the nonprofit world through public media and  honestly never looked back as far as the nonprofit sector. I think I some part of me always knew that's where I would serve and so I've been able to work in education and early childhood development  and healthcare and found myself here at the food bank like you said almost ten years ago  and it's been just the role of a lifetime to be perfectly honest it's cheesy and I admit it but I tell people I really feel like it's a calling that I’m where I’m supposed to be. 

Mark Epp: 

I don't think that is cheesy I think it's really important when we find a calling and it really speaks to you and your hearts in it that's what propels us to do great work and one of the things that I read about your connection to the food bank with Lincoln is that there's something personal about this work what is it that really drew you personally to do this kind of work, Michaella?  

Michaella Kumke: 

So as I mentioned number 11 of 12 kids. My parents were pretty well established by the time my group of siblings we always joke about being in groups of you know three or four. By the time we were growing up my household was perfectly stable and we had all the resources that we need my parents were steady and their positions and their professional careers all that. It was a little different from my older siblings. My parents didn’t ask for much help we always had big gardens and you know they were pretty determined that they wanted to have a big family and that they wanted to take care of this big family but that didn't mean that they weren't struggling sometimes. And so one of the things that has stuck out to me I remember being very little and we had a neighbor up the street who ran a local jack and jill grocery store and occasionally he would ask my mom, “Hey Wanda do you wa nt to help me out and come and pick up this stuff at the back of the store. It's just in the way and I need to get it off the shelves.” And so you know my mom said sure I mean if that would be helpful then we'll do that and that was always jackpot day for my sister my little sister and I. We would get to go to the back of the grocery store and see that space and anyway Mr. Reedy you know whether he did that really to clear shelves you know self servingly or to look after his neighbor, that little bit of food did help our family. My sister and I saw it both as toys but then knew that like the pies the old home pies that came on some of those days, that was jackpot. And so I think about you know when I started working at the food bank like I said my family we did fine we did just fine but it did hit home when I started working at the food bank and I realized this retail rescue program as an element of our overall work, that's what Mr. Reed was doing for his neighbor. And so I really do take a great amount of pride and that our team gets to pick ups you know from grocery stores and work from vendors across the country to put food into neighbors hand. So it does feel personal. 

Mark Epp: 

It's so interesting to hear that story from you Michaella because you took something which could have been perceived as a suffering, some difficulty you know maybe it wasn't as tough as some of the other families but you still like you said had those issues but rather than just dwelling on that issue you made it an opportunity for your life's work. 
 
 

Michaella Kumke: 

Yeah and I that found me I don't know that I realized that like I said until I really got to the food bank but every single person I've ever met has had some kind of personal challenge or obstacle. That's humanity that's like the part of me right and some of us hide it a little more than others, some of us have the resources to confront it a little better than others but we all have our suffering and so part of the food banks work is to help lighten that load so that folks that our neighbors can find a path to stability. 

Mark Epp: 

And so you said you were just a moment ago inspired by early in your life for nonprofits. What drew you specifically to The Food Bank of Lincoln? 

Michaella Kumke: 

Well John Mabry who currently serves as our Chief Relationship Officer, he hired me and we joked now that that he hired me and then I became his boss down the road. But I would say it was the relationship in part that John and I had we had connected earlier in my professional career and at that time I was a donor, a meager donor to the food bank a young professional but I knew that the work mattered. And like I said John and I connected through a community committee  and then it was through a volunteer opportunity that I had that one of my colleagues was working through a Kiwanis group to fill backpacks on Fridays for kids and she wasn't able to go and so she said, “Hey could you come and fill in for me?” And I thought sure I had time in my schedule I could go do that and so between knowing John and then getting that frontline experience with the kids in the school who received those backpacks that was a game changer I mean I think that instantly drew me to the Food Banks work. 

Mark Epp: 

I understand that the mission of The Food Bank of Lincoln is to alleviate hunger in Southeast Nebraska and I also understood that there's a growing need in 2021 I believe that you had about 57,500 individuals within this 9,200 square miles that you really serve. And that of those 57,000, 17,000 of those were children. And then today that number has gone up to almost 65,000 humans within this area with over 20,000 children. This is incredibly enlightening statistics for us who don't know that that kind of hunger exists. And so the question then is what do you feel the Food Bank of Lincoln is doing now in with as an organization and what kind of impact you're making in Southeast Nebraska and our Lincoln community as well. 

Michaella Kumke:

Yeah so we are very mission focused organization and I applaud the team at the food bank and our board and volunteers for driving that mission the work that we do we address the immediate needs of individuals you talk you know those statistics that you gave so one and seven including one in five children in SE Nebraska. So our work addresses the immediate need of putting food into a neighbor's hands, while working toward long term solutions that that we hope put the food bank out of business ,you know. And what I mean is we're looking at that root cause of why do we have so many children taking a food filled backpack home? Why are our lines getting longer, what are the impacts what are the sources that lead them to meet our programs in the first place? And so that's also part of the food banks work we're willing to ask those difficult questions and enter conversations with folks. Policymakers, business leaders, community leaders that that are really willing to look at these root causes of  poverty and food insecurity. So the impact that we're having last fiscal year we connected more than 10 million meals and that is a tremendous number. We wish that it were nowhere close to that. So the impact you know another layer deeper is that it's also healthy food about 35% of our food is fresh produce because we know that that will have tremendous impact on mental health, on physical health of the people who receive those goods. We don't want to exacerbate an already challenging issue that a lot of people facing hunger and food insecurity confront, which is high calorie low nutrition density product because it's the most expensive. We’re also looking quality of life and equitable pay for folks. Mark looking at our food distribution lines I tell you, my colleagues can tell you, these are working individuals by and large. That is the majority of individuals coming to seek our services. Hard working people who just are struggling to make ends meet. So we use our voice, we use our platform, we use our expertise and connections to have the impact that you and I are talking about. It’s beyond food, it’s helping people find pathways to stability. 
 
 

Mark Epp: 

That’s such a huge point you make, Michaella because some of us who don’t understand the incredible impact that not having enough food can make yes don't understand it might think that people only come to the food bank who are on living on the streets those people who are trying to get a free meal as opposed to what you've clearly said most of the people who are coming to the food Bank of Lincoln are hardworking individuals that simply today even though they're working really hard aren’t able to put the kind of food on the table that they and their family needs. 

Michaella Kumke: 

And you know from a variety of reasons whether that the current economic conditions the political divisiveness that we have that's not really serving us we think about education the cost of education and going into a skilled labor and trade school but how do we support those futures as well? And so yeah I'm really proud of this organization for lending our voice and again sharing neighbors experience so that we can do something about it. 

Mark Epp: 

You know this special podcast series focuses on talent and how it plays a role in leaders both personal and professional lives. And I wanted to ask for food bank volunteers play a crucial role in any nonprofit. But can you share a story perhaps about maybe a volunteers specific talent that made a noticeable difference in the operations of food bank?

Michaella Kumke:

Would love to so the example that comes to mind here is a long term volunteer named ray and ray joined us our volunteer crew after his retirement he's served at the food bank in a number of ways from sorting and repacking food to taking part in our summer backpack home deliveries recruiting additional volunteers serving on mobile food distributions right at the front line there with folks. He is a champion of food bank initiatives and he engages in in policy advocacy. I would say that Ray’s talent is his ability to connect. He connects ideas and he connects with people and sometimes he connects ideas with people and people with ideas. And I would see that his curiosity is vital to that connection making. Ray truly listens to new ideas without compromising his own values but always with an openness that inspires him to keep learning and I believe you all here at Talent Plus I got to attend a meeting a while back and I heard the phrase, “learn it all’s” and that has stuck with me. Ray is a learn it all versus a know it all. He wants to use that curiosity to do good and he knows that there's more that he doesn't know and he wants to learn it and then he wants to bring others into that learning. His impact you know has provided a runway for us to create a full time paid position for a volunteer coordinator which is a role that he assumed as a volunteer and sometimes that's what volunteers do we get to move those rules from donated to paid. Usually you want to work the other way but in some instances Ray wasn't going to commit the hours you know perpetually that we needed and so he allowed us to kind of test that, tease it out and figure out this if this role was sustainable and it sure is and that role has been incredible. Last year we had more than 40,000 hours of volunteer service from about 9,000 volunteers and so that's impact and I think about ray helping us start and really build this volunteer coordinator position. 
 
 

Mark Epp: 

What an incredible experience story that is because so much of what you talked about Michaella are things that we look at here at Talent Plus all the time. The ability to connect with others you talked about to connect those close relationships that and extend to additional volunteers as well because of those connections. The connection to ideas the concepts that you were talking about. How do we really build on that role to be able to move something forward that was incredibly important for the Food Bank of Lincoln but also to build on his talents as well. And then you talked about values and doing things for the right reasons. Those are such important concepts emotional you know how people what they do what they think and what they feel and how that journey can lead to such growth. So one amazing story in terms of that volunteer, Ray, who's helped so much at the food bank. You came on as CEO just before or right at the same time COVID was going on. So I wanted to ask you about a challenging time for food bank when leveraging the unique talents of your team somehow helped you to overcome obstacles and achieve those goals. That had to have been so challenging for a new CEO, yes you had the experience but had to be so challenging for you tell me more about that process or more about a time when you were really going through a challenge and talent really helped you to overcome that. 
 
 

Michaella Kumke:

Yeah so this is where I want to give credit where credit is due the pandemic had really started prior to me assuming this role and so Scott Young who is my predecessor I remember that he there were so many there were more questions than answers immediately with this whole COVID thing what is this what are we talking about right? And so Scott often credits me and a former colleague Allen Sampson who now leads Matt Talbot kitchen and outreach here in Lincoln, for how we stepped up and worked together to organize the rest of the food bank staff to respond to the pandemic. It was a memorable time for all of us for a host of reasons some good some bad right? But watching our staff dig in and this goes right back to what we were just saying it's about mission, it's about our core values, it's shutting out the noise and just focusing on the work that every individual in front of us in those mobile food distributions we were there for them. And it was a time where everything felt dynamic the flow of resources the how do we navigate today's information related to handling the pandemic? What was the changing environment you know we moved from having some indoor food distributions to moving everything outdoors and in a mobile drive through fashion and just thinking about all the logistics of this and so that experience will always be for me an example of what we can accomplish when we focus on mission, values and bringing everybody's talents into play.

Mark Epp: 

Absolutely and what I love about what you're sharing with us Michaella is that what you're saying really applies to almost any industry. When a person or a group of individuals know what the mission is that they also to your point earlier you talked about a calling and the work that you do is truly a calling and I believe that's so much obviously what you do you've been working with the food bank for 10 years or more, you're now the CEO of the food bank it is a calling for you. But what we can do that in any situation and bring that level of passion and compassion for others and the connection to the mission it truly inspires us to build something greater. Continually moving forward to have even more impact within the community which I know is exactly what you're doing so terrific. Can you then share a personal story of your own talent development and how that shaped your leadership style and approach to the work that you're now doing with the Food Bank of Lincoln? 

Michaella Kumke:

Yes. So when I think about this I go back to college for a moment in my mind. I played rugby at UNL club sport and the sport itself was brand new to me but what I loved and instantly embraced is that it is a fast-paced game for folks who are not familiar it's a little bit like a combination of football and soccer you don't wear protective helmets or pads or any of that so at the heart of that means you really have to respect the game, your teammates and your opponents to stay safe and to be successful in your match. I also think about in that game there is a position for every body type whether you're slim and fast or you know a little more stout like me and pretty strong there's a position for everybody. And what all you need to do is focus on your strengths and contribute that for the good of the team and that is generally what leads to success. So I've always thought about rugby in that way of it's graceful chaos you know all these things and how that applies to the office. My leadership style is very team oriented. It's to recognize that we do bring different gifts I  tell every new employee in a one-on-one I don't want to work with robots in this line of work I don't I mean there's going to be a time and place where elements of the work may involve that but I want to work with humans beating hearts thinking heads. Because there's a richness and so I do try to be really intentional about understanding my team and what motivates each person on that team. Because it's not always the same thing and so to understand that and to recognize the development within the team that I for so many years was the doer on the front lines and I'll tell you that's been the hardest lesson for me moving into this role. Is that to be successful we need to let other people have some of that doing activity. And I'm monitoring and moving it forward. That was such a hard switch for me to flip but that's a strength I mean that is the style that I try to implement it's understanding the strengths. Checking my own and seeing when those strengths maybe need to be adjusted or go in for a tune up kind of thing. 

Mark Epp:

You know Michaella you mentioned earlier in our conversation the idea of how our country and maybe even our own community is divided in many ways. You just talked about the experience you just shared and your leadership journey and how you how you lead you talked about respect. Respect for your team respect for the game positions right but also respect for your opponents. And as I put that together just hearing you talk about it that might be a great way for our community to think about each other. So simply. That we respect each other respect the name of the game which is maybe the society we live in and the democracy that we treasure but also that we respect others just as much. That humanism that you're talking about. That we come to our work with heart. Thank you for sharing that so much. Also what was it about breaking that role of being the doer that was most difficult for you to change. 

Michaella Kumke:

I'm a self admitted self healing control freak. So truly it was again gratitude and recognition to the team around me. My executive team being able to tell me things I don't want them to be yes ma'am individuals and they're not thank goodness. So when somebody takes a risk to speak up I want to listen I want to make sure that I'm listening. And I don't get it right 100% of the time but I think that was what helped me when somebody said hey you know we've got this you want to be there but we've got to do this let us do it. I mean that's how you learn it's like you know I read all the books I listen to all the wisdom and think what am I doing it? And so that was a check myself moment of okay yeah let people do so that there's learning that they get to have. 

Mark Epp: 

And how has that freed you to be even better as a CEO? 

Michaella Kumke:

This goes back to strength so I love to talk about the food bank and I've realized not everybody on my staff necessarily wants to get in front of a crowd and do that. And so when I'm not in the weeds with things it allows me to go out and talk to people to share the food bank story that's my talent that's my gift. And I can only keep talking so proudly about it because of my teammates and volunteers doing the activities that I'm speaking about. And so it it's freed me up to engage in different circles, it's allowed me to travel to DC to be an advocate for our work and you know just to do the connecting that I need to do and bring that back to the team. 

Mark Epp:

I hear this with leaders all the time of breaking that habit of doing and allowing and really helping and supporting and mentoring their teams to be able to take over some of that and the freedom that then gives you as a CEO to drive other parts of your work forward. You know it's leaders like you Michaella that create this reverse relationship of mentor-student that you have so much to give but also the student can give back so much as well. Really powerful. 

Michaella Kumke:

Young people, all the time. That exchange that intergenerational exchange is vital to every area of work. I hear it in some of my younger colleagues you know when they're asking me really difficult questions about you know maybe an area of diversity equity inclusion and belonging and I can hear the idealism of youth. And then there's a part of me that thinks but you're not the one who has to run the show, but they're in the middle in the middle is the truth right? And I respect them for lifting their voices for asking the questions and for listening to me too when I explain here's you know we’ve got to think about this beyond maybe this the pressure point or your passion point is it the organization or is it yours and how do we blend those together? So I hope that I'm modeling to them much in the way that I have had and have incredible role models who are more seasoned than me so that I can learn from what they've done and I can listen to their advice so like to keep that going.

Mark Epp:

Absolutely, thank you for sharing that so much. Michaella looking ahead how do you plan to continue fostering and investing in the natural talents of your team to really continue to drive the future success of the Food Bank of Lincoln? 

Michaella Kumke:

So we've done some work to evaluate you know what are the dynamics on our team and to really understand the makeup so we'll continue to do some of that work. I also like to put young leaders rising leaders into new opportunities to go to that conference to be surrounded you know with people doing the work at a different scale maybe than we're doing so that you can learn and hear those ideas. I'm so proud of our you know the young leaders that we have in our organization. This was one of the things that also happened during my time early on in the first year and year two of being CEO. We had a lot of internal growth because we had retirement in many different positions and so to watch those young people who were masters of their role be promoted within the organization to a new role, you see all of that you know you're grappling with that but I used to know everything about the ends and outs of my position and now they're like starting over and feel like a newbie. So to watch that dynamic and to encourage that like you've got this you're in this role for a reason you can do this and you're not alone. So I think that's another way that we do that. We cover topics with our management team and talk through some of these challenges and look for who else is demonstrating our values and becoming the leaders within the organization and kind of keep an eye on that and keep encouraging them. 

Mark Epp:

Thank you so much well as we conclude our discussion today Michaella can you tell our listeners how they can get involved and learn more about the Food Bank of Lincoln. Because we talked about volunteers earlier, we talked about you know some of us need to get our checkbooks out right? So what can we do to really help the Food Bank of Lincoln or their local food Bank of those individuals who may be listening as well. 

Michaella Kumke:

So the food Bank of Lincoln is a part of Feeding America that is a nationwide network of 200 food banks and more than 60,000 food programs across the country in Puerto Rico so wherever you're tuned in there's an opportunity for you to help with food insecurity and specifically in Lincoln I would encourage you to visit our website lincolnfoodbank.org and learn about our programs. You can donate online there you can sign up to volunteer with our programs if you're local. You can learn about initiatives like our bridges out of poverty program where we're really looking at root cause of poverty and connecting leaders from different sectors where we come to the table together there's a lot of talk about this but we're actually doing it. And having these conversations that that will address poverty and food insecurity. So get involved get involved yeah don't wait that's what I would say. 

Mark Epp:

Michaella thank you so much it is leaders like you who can express the process and the journey of your own leadership development that inspires us every single day so thank you so very much for the time the effort that you're making to make a huge difference in the lives of people in Southeast Nebraska but here in our Lincoln community as well and hopefully across the world. Thank you so very much. 

Michaella Kumke:

It's my pleasure and thank you Talent Plus for being partners in our work.