UIC Lunch & Learn Speaker Series
Join us after the Sunday Service for lunch and an informative presentation by Brian Greene, President and CEO of the Houston Food Bank.
Each quarter, Unity in the Community hosts a Lunch & Learn, featuring speakers from Houston organizations serving in our Unity of Houston areas of community outreach: child advocacy, hunger, and homelessness. These speakers are some of the foremost thought leaders in our region, sharing their perspectives on the issues that face the Houston area.
At Unity of Houston, reaching out into the community is a proactive way in which we live the principles we believe – that we all spiritually connected, one to another. In this belief, when the consciousness of one is raised that, in turn, raises the consciousness of us all. We connect to our Oneness by working with others to help those in need.
Please join us for lunch and find out how you can help support this organization and our community outreach projects.
Suggested lunch donation: $10
About Brian Greene:
Brian Greene is President and CEO of the Houston Food Bank, the largest Feeding America food bank in the nation and 2015 Food Bank of the Year. In fiscal year 2019 the Food Bank distributed 104 million nutritious meals through its network of 1,500 community partners, including food pantries, soup kitchens, social service providers, and schools in southeast Texas.
Since taking the top post at the Houston Food Bank (HFB) in 2005, Greene has led the organization to unprecedented growth. In August 2011, the Food Bank moved into its current home, a 308,000 square-foot warehouse and office facility, purchased and renovated following completion of a $55.6 million capital campaign. The new building is four times larger than the previous and allows for more food distribution and more space for volunteers.
In fall 2008, the End Hunger Network, a Houston-area food rescue organization, merged with Houston Food Bank. Through Greene’s leadership, HFB programs have expanded to feed more children and tap into additional sources for food donations. In early 2016, a second capital campaign was approved for $2.6 million to build a new home for the Keegan Kitchen inside the Houston Food Bank headquarters.
In April 2019, Greene received the John van Hengel Fellowship award at Feeding America’s 2019 Hunger’s Hope Awards. 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 member food bank for his or her excellence in leadership, local impact and national influence, and entrepreneurial spirit in the area of hunger relief.
Before moving to Houston, Greene was the executive director of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana for 12 years. In the five years prior, he held the same position at the Second Harvest Food Bank in Knoxville, Tennessee.
In addition to a successful and respected career at three food banks, Greene has served on numerous Feeding America Network committees, the National Council and on Feeding America’s Board. Outside of his food bank role, he has been active in the Global Food Bank Network and is an adjunct professor and serves as an Advisory Board Member for University of Houston Downtown’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Greene received a BA in Economics from Humboldt State University and an MA in Economics from the University of Tennessee.