Virginia Witherspoon has served as the Executive Director of Channel One Regional Food Bank in Rochester, Minnesota since 2018. Channel One is the largest hunger relief organization in southeastern Minnesota, responsible for distributing over 18 million pounds of food annually to 14 counties in southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. In addition to serving as the regional food bank, Channel One operates one of the largest food shelves in Minnesota, serving 10,000 shopping trips a month. Under Virginia’s leadership, Channel One has doubled the pounds of food that it distributes in the region without significantly increasing operating costs, and has also prioritized a dignified experience for client shoppers. Channel One’s Food Shelf is a full choice food shelf that invites neighbors to shop weekly and to choose their food with few restrictions, like shopping in a grocery store where the food is free. After transforming its own food shelf, Channel One transformed its agency network, going from 27% of agency partners offering a full choice shopping experience to 79% of Channel One’s agency partners inviting neighbors experiencing food insecurity to choose their own groceries, like shopping at any grocery store.
Virginia came to Channel One after serving as the Executive Director of Legal Assistance of Olmsted County, a non-profit organization that provides free civil legal services to people with low income. At Legal Assistance, Virginia worked directly with domestic abuse survivors and started the legal clinic at the Rochester Women’s Shelter. Virginia was also responsible for a weekly tenant’s rights clinic. Through this work, Virginia learned about the economic and policy decisions that lead to people experiencing food insecurity. While at Legal Assistance, Virginia was recognized by the Battered Women’s Legal Advocacy Project as the Attorney of the Year and the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women recognized Virginia with the Community Ally Inspire Award.
Virginia graduated from the University of Iowa with degrees in English and Political Science. She graduated from the University of Iowa College of law with distinction. After law school graduation Virginia practiced law primarily in real estate, probate, business transactions & business-related litigation. While practicing business law, Virginia accepted court appointed child protection cases. In all the cases Virginia was involved in the parents were accused of exposing their children to methamphetamine. This was Virginia’s introduction to social services and the community-based supports that people rely on to stabilize their lives and reunite their families.
Virginia currently serves as the Chair of the National Council for Feeding America, the largest public charity in the U.S. She also serves on the Boards for Think Bank, the Mardag Family Foundation, and Feeding Wisconsin. Virginia is a founding member of the Rochester Nonprofit Consortium and serves on the advisory committee. Virginia lives in Rochester, Minnesota with her two elementary school-aged children.