Diane Tye Zapata

As director of volunteer services, Diane Zapata is responsible for ensuring a rewarding experience for Second Harvest’s many crucial volunteers. Second Harvest is one of the leaders in the Feeding America food bank network in volunteer engagement, with over 314,000 volunteer hours contributed in 2018 — the equivalent of 151 full-time employees. She is also charged with developing the volunteer program to support Second Harvest’s evolving needs well into the future.

Before joining the volunteer services team, Diane led a team in Second Harvest’s food resources department, responsible for procuring food and managing the fresh produce program. In that role, she grew fresh produce donations by 35% over a four-year period. She also led several key projects, most notably to develop a produce planning tool as well as a guide outlining best practices for the safe handling of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Diane had more than 20 years of corporate food service experience before joining the nonprofit sector in 2011. She held leadership roles in strategic sourcing, supply chain management, and key account management, and was the program manager for several Fortune 500 clients including Starbucks and Dunkin’ Brands.

Diane earned an MBA with a concentration in marketing from Santa Clara University in 2010 and holds a Bachelor of Science from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also attended University College of Wales, Aberystwyth as an undergraduate exchange student.

Diane can be reached by email at dzapata@shfb.org.