iHeartMedia CEO Spotlight: Eric Aft

iHeartMedia Greensboro's Lora Songster has a conversation with Eric Aft of Second Harvest Food Bank.

Listen to the complete interview below.

Eric began serving as Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC’s Chief Executive Officer in July 2018, following the retirement of longtime CEO Clyde Fitzgerald. Eric worked as Chief Operating Officer at the Food Bank for 10 months before his appointment.

Prior to joining Second Harvest, Eric was a member of the Wake Forest University advancement team as the Director of Development for the Mid-Atlantic region.He also served as United Way of Forsyth County’s COO for 12 years. While there, he led initiatives that resulted in improved graduation rates at our community’s most challenged high schools and reduced long-term homelessness, while also overseeing the investment of more than $12 million annually to improve the quality of life in Forsyth County.

During his more than 28-year career in the nonprofit arena, Eric has served as CEO for more than 11 years and in senior leadership positions for the remaining time.He has raised over $39 million, managed staff and volunteer teams, and led and implemented multiple strategic plans challenging the organizations he served to maximize their community impact.

In coming to Second Harvest, Eric returns to the human service work which he defines as his life’s calling and joins an organization dedicated to addressing both immediate and long-term needs of residents and the community as a whole.

Eric lives in Pfafftown (a suburb of Winston-Salem) with his wife, Lisa, and daughter, Claire, who is a senior at Reagan High School.His son, Avery, is a teacher and the Director of Bands at North Forsyth High School.He serves as the volunteer co-treasurer on the Reagan Athletic Boosters and is the volunteer assistant coach of Reagan’s field hockey team, where he had the chance to coach his daughter.In addition, Eric is an adjunct faculty member at Salem College in the Not-for-Profit Management program, teaching one course each semester.

His passion is matching people’s interests and goals for helping their community with the opportunities that can make those goals a reality.