Roadrunner Food Bank names new boss
Colorado executive will become the nonprofit’s new president and CEO
Mag Strittmatter, executive director of The Action Center in Lakewood, Colo., one of the top organizations fighting poverty in the Denver metro area, has been named the new president and CEO of Albuquerque-based Roadrunner Food Bank.
Strittmatter assumes the position being left vacant with the retirement of Melody Wattenbarger, who for the past 22 years led the state’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to ending hunger in New Mexico.
Her first day on the job will be Jan. 22.
The selection of Strittmatter was announced Tuesday morning by Roadrunner board Chairman Mark Ryerson.
“After a thorough search led by members of the board and key community members, we are delighted to bring Mag Strittmatter to Albuquerque and New Mexico,” Ryerson said in a news release. “Her passion and commitment to provide services for people in need truly stands out. We look forward to her ability to lead the Food Bank into a new era for the benefit of our lowincome neighbors in a state that has one of the highest poverty rates in the U.S.”
Strittmatter joined The Action Center as director of development and communications in 2002, and became executive director in 2006. The Action Center funds programs to provide food, shelter and clothing for low-income and homeless residents, as well as longer-term self-sufficiency programs.
Under Strittmatter, the organization’s fundraising increased by 600 percent and the staff grew from 14 to 50. A 2015 capital campaign led to the creation of a 14,500-squarefoot program services building.
Prior to working with The Action Center, Strittmatter served as director of development at several institutions of higher learning, including Colorado State University, the University of Colorado Foundation and Metropolitan State University of Denver.
Roadrunner Food Bank distributes food to 70,000 children, families and adults weekly through a network of statewide partners that includes regional food banks, food pantries, nonprofit agencies, meal sites and schools. In all, last year, Roadrunner distributed more than 32 million pounds of food, of which 20 million pounds might otherwise have ended up in landfills.