We’re excited to welcome a new leader to the Second Helpings table.

Monika Mala, Ph.D., has been named Chief Executive Officer of Second Helpings and will officially begin her new role on September 28, 2026.

Monika brings more than a decade of nonprofit leadership experience focused on creating opportunities for people and strengthening the systems that help communities thrive. She joins Second Helpings at an important moment in our organization’s story as we look toward an ambitious new chapter of growth and impact.

“I am honored to join Second Helpings as its new CEO,” Monika said. “Second Helpings is such a pillar of stability in our community, meeting basic needs with dignity by providing food while also creating opportunities and pathways for individuals and families. I am excited to build on the organization’s incredible legacy and, most importantly, to invite even more of our community to the Second Helpings table.”

Experience Built Around Opportunity

Most recently, Monika served as Chief Strategy & Operations Officer at Foster Success, an organization supporting teens and young adults transitioning from foster care into adulthood.

In that role, she helped guide the organization’s growth while overseeing strategy, operations, finance, human resources, grants, technology, and program design and delivery.

Monika also holds a Ph.D. in Education with an emphasis in Equity and Diversity. Throughout her career, she has focused on building organizations and systems that give people meaningful opportunities to create long-term success for themselves, their families, and their communities.

That commitment connects naturally with the work we do every day at Second Helpings.

We fight hunger from all angles—rescuing food that would otherwise go to waste, preparing and delivering meals to local nonprofit partners, and providing culinary job training that helps people build pathways toward meaningful careers.

For Monika, that mission has a personal connection, too.

“Growing up, I experienced firsthand the importance of food as more than a basic need,” she said. “It is a source of connection, dignity, and community.”

Building the Next Chapter Together

Monika joins Second Helpings at a time when the need for our work continues to grow.

Our Board of Directors recently approved an ambitious plan to double Second Helpings’ impact by 2031, expanding the reach of our food rescue, hunger relief, Culinary Job Training, and thought leadership efforts.

Board Chair Adam Clevenger said Monika’s background uniquely positions her to guide that work.

“As we work toward our ambitious goal of doubling our impact by 2031, the board sought a leader with the strategic vision, operational expertise, and deep commitment to community impact needed to guide our next chapter,” Clevenger said.

Monika succeeds Second Helpings co-founder Bob Koch, who has served as interim CEO since June and helped guide the organization through the leadership transition.

“It has been a privilege to help guide Second Helpings, an organization I helped start, through this transition,” Bob said. “In Monika, we’ve found a leader with the vision and heart to carry this mission forward.”

We are deeply grateful to Bob for stepping forward to lead during this important transition and for his continued commitment to the organization he helped create.

Welcome to the Table

For more than 25 years, Second Helpings has shown what can happen when a community comes together around a shared belief: everyone deserves enough to eat and the opportunity to thrive.

Our next chapter will require that same spirit of community.

It will take volunteers, donors, food donors, nonprofit partners, Culinary Job Training students and graduates, staff, and neighbors working together as we find new ways to rescue more food, provide more meals, create more opportunities, and fight hunger throughout Central Indiana.

And we’re excited to have Monika helping lead the way.

Please join us in welcoming Monika Mala to Second Helpings. We can’t wait for you to meet her—and for even more of our community to have a seat at the table.