Holly A. Parker
Chief Executive Officer
Holly Parker is CEO of Fair Food Network, a national nonprofit based in Michigan working to grow community health, wealth, and resilience through food. A mission-driven leader with more than 25 years of experience advancing opportunity across food systems, workforce development, and community health, Holly brings a strategic focus on addressing systemic inequities and building solutions that strengthen communities.
A native of Flint, Michigan, Holly has spent her career working alongside communities facing systemic barriers—from adults with disabilities to youth in underserved communities. She served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Eastern Europe and later earned a Master of Public Policy from the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. Across her career, she has seen a consistent pattern: inequities are rooted in systems, not individuals—a perspective that continues to guide her leadership.
Holly joined Fair Food Network in 2017 seeking pragmatic impact—work that addresses urgent needs while transforming the systems that create them. Over the past nine years, she has helped shape the organization’s strategy and growth, most recently serving as Chief Strategy and Program Officer, where she led the integration of Fair Food Network’s programs, policy, and partnerships to advance its national impact.
She has guided Fair Food Network’s program and policy work through some of the most challenging years in recent history, including the COVID-19 pandemic and shifts in the national policy landscape. Under her leadership, the organization launched its work as a core partner in the Nutrition Incentive Hub, strengthening nutrition incentive and produce prescription programs nationwide—expanding healthy food access for families while creating new economic opportunities for farmers and retailers.
Holly also played a central role in advancing Fair Food Network’s long-term strategic vision to significantly grow Michigan’s local food economy, making local food a national strategy by highlighting what’s possible when MI food dollars stay in and build Michigan communities. This bold vision positions food as a powerful lever for building community health, resilience, and economic opportunity statewide. As CEO, Holly is leading the organization in realizing that vision while continuing to expand Fair Food Network’s national impact.
A proud Michigander, Holly lives in Ann Arbor with her family. Outside of work, she enjoys running, reading, drinking very strong local coffee, and spending time with her husband and two children.