Our Leaders

Michael McKee brings 30 years of experience to his role as CEO of the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. He joined the organization in 2009 to lead development and planning, and was named CEO in 2013.

The Food Bank has grown tremendously under his leadership, something acknowledged by the network: Michael is the 2024 recipient of Feeding America’s John van Hengel Fellowship Award, considered the highest honor in food banking. The award honors the ideals of the late John van Hengel, who developed the concept of food banking in the 1960s. It recognizes an executive of a partner food bank for excellence in leadership, local impact and national influence, and entrepreneurial spirit in the area of hunger relief.

Previously, he served as executive director for the Virginia Institute of Autism, a private special education day school in Charlottesville, Va., for five years. Prior to that, he was the senior director of development for the University of Virginia Health System, where he most recently shared responsibility for planning the Health System’s $500 million capital campaign as well as major gift fundraising for the cardiovascular enterprise.

Michael began working in the not-for-profit sector in 1986 when he joined Russ Reid Company (now, one&All), the world’s largest company specializing in nonprofit communications. During his nine-year tenure at the company, Michael led development and public relations teams, serving a variety of faith-based human service and education organizations.

Michael serves on the Board of Directors of the Federation of Virginia Food Banks and He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Southern California, and resides with his wife and two children in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Karen Ratzlaff joined the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank team in July 2013 to lead its fundraising and communication team, and to share with donors, volunteers and friends the face of hunger in our community.

Previously, Karen served as Director of Development at Hospice of the Piedmont from 2007 to 2013, working with donors and friends to create an endowment for Hospice House and growing sources of revenue to ensure that quality end-of-life and grief services are available to all. Before that, Karen worked for more than 13 years at the University of Virginia School of Nursing.

She has also worked as a private fundraising and alumni engagement consultant.

Karen graduated from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg and earned a master’s degree in education from the University of Virginia in 2008. She resides in Charlottesville with her husband.

Linda Baker joined the Food Bank in July 2017, bringing extensive experience in nonprofit and for-profit financial management.

After several years in public accounting with national and regional firms, Linda spent time as the controller of a national distributor of early childhood educational materials and equipment. From there, she began a 23+ year career as the business and financial officer at three different independent boarding and day schools in the Southeast, where she was intimately involved with, among other things, technology, gift accounting, and endowment investment and management.

Her experience as a leader in independent schools led to her 2008 peer selection to serve a six-year term on the Board of MISBO, which stands for Mid-South Independent Schools Business Officers. MISBO is a regional association of independent school operations leaders from 18 states that provides professional development and operational support through its purchasing consortium.

Linda is a CPA and a member of the American Institute of CPAs with a BBA and an MBA from the University of Georgia. She and her husband and daughter reside in Staunton, Virginia.

Leanne Vigliano joined the Food Bank in March of 2019, bringing with her more than 20 years of human resources experience in the nonprofit sector.

Prior to joining the Food Bank, Leanne served 17 years as HR Director for the National Society DAR and the Center for Resource Economics/Island Press. In her previous positions, she was responsible for administering human resource programs and best practices including the areas of employee engagement, classification and compensation, recruitment and retention, performance and evaluation, training and employee relations. She also oversaw the administration of benefit offerings including health, retirement, workers’ compensation, flexible benefits, life insurance, EAP and wellness programs.

Leanne has a Bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and a Master’s degree from Central Michigan University. She is both SHRM-SCP and SPHR certified.

Jen Jacobs’ very first nonprofit job was at a tiny arts organization in New York City in the late 1990s, where she learned about fundraising and fell in love with working for the greater good. In 2022, she joined the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank as its Chief Collaboration Officer.

In Oakland, California Jen served as Director of Development for the National Housing Law Project, an organization working to advance housing justice, preserve affordable housing, and strengthen federal housing policies. After four years in the San Francisco Bay Area, she came back home to the East Coast and settled in Charlottesville. In 2006, Jen joined Albemarle Housing Improvement Program, a local nonprofit that delivers critical home repairs and rehabs for low-income homeowners, as their Director of Development. In 2009, she was appointed as Executive Director.

Jen was raised by federal workers just outside of the Beltway, in Laurel, Maryland, and attended James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She lives in Crozet with her two kids and a Boxer-Blackmouth Cur mix named Dexter.

Dave Kraft brings 30 years of broadline food service distribution experience to his role as Chief Operating Officer at Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. He joined the organization in April 2023 where he oversees operations, including food sourcing and acquisition, warehousing, transportation, and logistics for all four of the Food Bank branches.

Before joining the Food Bank, Dave served as President for Sysco Virginia in Harrisonburg for 10 years, where he was responsible for all areas of operations including warehouse, transportation, facility maintenance, safety, merchandising, sales, and finance. During his tenure as President, Sysco Virginia received numerous awards for Safety and Operational excellence, including VPP Star site safety certification and Sysco Wall of Fame status for Operational Excellence. Prior to his tenure as President, Dave worked in various executive and sales management positions in several Sysco locations throughout the U.S., including Salt Lake City, Denver, Cleveland, Minneapolis, and Virginia.

Dave received his Bachelor of Science – Business degree from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Shenandoah Valley Wrestling Club Non-Profit and previously served as an Advisory Board Member for JMU Hart School of Hospitality.

Dave currently resides in Harrisonburg with his wife Denise and his sons Cullen and Camden.