A message from Right To Food’s Board Chair:
Nick Saul to retire as CEO
September 17, 2026
On behalf of Right To Food’s Board of Directors, I’m writing to share that after more than 15 years of exceptional leadership, Nick Saul, our co-founder and CEO, is retiring from his role.
Led by a Transition Committee of the Board, a search for Right To Food’s next CEO has begun. This person is expected to be in place by early 2027. Nick will work alongside the new leader until June 2027, then continue on as a Special Advisor. The Board will share updates as this transition progresses.
As you know, Nick is widely recognized as one of this country’s most influential leaders in the food justice movement—a driving force in changing the conversation about how we understand and respond to food insecurity.
Nick’s journey in this work began at The Stop Community Food Centre in 1998 in Toronto’s west end, where he and a remarkable team of staff and community members pioneered a new approach to food insecurity. Together, they transformed a once-dreary food bank into a vibrant welcoming place that harnessed the power of food to bring people together to share meals, build skills and fight for change. The story of The Stop’s transformation drew national and international attention, inspiring organizations and leaders around the world to fundamentally reimagine what a response to food insecurity could look like.
In 2012, Nick and his long-time colleague Kathryn Scharf co-founded what is now Right To Food. They built on what they learned at The Stop, and set out to change the conversation about food insecurity at the national level. This work now spans 450 partners and hundreds of communities across the country. Creating a movement takes vision, persistence and an extraordinary ability to bring people together. Nick possesses all three of these traits in abundance, and has put them to use building strong relationships with community members, partner organizations, donors and government around a shared belief that something better is possible.
As Nick often says, never underestimate the power of a great meal cooked with love and eaten with others. The belief in the power of food as a unifying, galvanizing force that can bring people together and create belonging and greater equity is the heartbeat of our nationwide work. It shapes everything we do, from how we design spaces and programs to how we advocate for the policy change needed to build a more just society.
These core principles will continue to guide the work of our staff, board, and partner organizations. At a time of deep division, inequality, and uncertainty, they are more important than ever.
There are many ways we could describe what Nick has accomplished over the past 15 years at Right To Food (and the 14 years before at The Stop): the organizations he built, the communities he brought together, and the profound change he helped lead. But perhaps the most powerful testament to Nick’s contribution is found in the lives of the thousands of people he has touched by his willingness to meet people in their full humanity.
Thanks to Nick’s vision, people across this country and beyond who come to food organizations now also find community and belonging. They are met not with charity but solidarity, and are supported to find their voices on the issues that matter most to them.
We’re all deeply committed to keeping this work going. We’ll continue to aim high, create spaces of hope and possibility and press for the right to food to be realized for all. Our movement is hitting its stride at the exact time we’re needed the most. Right To Food is proud to work alongside so many dedicated individual and organizational changemakers. Together, we’ve got this.
On behalf of our Board, staff, partners and community members we thank Nick for his continued leadership, courage, tireless effort and dedication to this organization, and his unwavering commitment to building a more just and equitable country.
Sincerely,
Kwame McKenzie
Chair, Right To Food Board of Directors
