Megan Kemmett: Creative solutions to meet community needs

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 1, 2026

This is one of 12 finalists for The Herald Business Journal’s annual Emerging Leaders awards for 2026. The winner will be announced on April 7.

Megan Kemmett, 32

Executive Director, Snohomish Community Food Bank

Megan Kemmett has known since she was 8 years old that she wanted to do nonprofit work.

As a second grader in Wisconsin, she won a grant competition after submitting an application to fundraise for pet food for the local animal shelter.

“A lot of kids grow up thinking, I want to be a police officer or a firefighter,” Kemmett said. “… But when I realized you could help people in that capacity and help your community in that capacity as a job. I thought, ‘Wow, that sounds like a lot of fun.’”

In 2024, Kemmett was working at the Imagine Children’s Museum when the Snohomish Community Food Bank’s board reached out about the executive director position. After watching a grocery service, she knew she had to do this.

“It really just was such a fulfilling experience, and kind of shifted my whole mindset on what the future looked like for me and how I could help our community,” she said.

Kemmett’s day-to-day consists of helping with or fundraising for the food distribution programs, including the grocery service, which operates on Tuesdays and Fridays.

On Mondays, the food bank does bulk food distribution to different hunger relief programs in the city, she said.

On Tuesdays, the food bank offers the home delivery service. When the Home Delivery program reached its limit despite increasing need, Kemmett partnered with a local veteran organization to deliver groceries to veteran clients.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the food bank packs weekend grocery bags for kids and teens in the Snohomish School District who are experiencing food insecurity as part of the Food-2-Go and Growing Minds programs.

This is the second year Kemmett has been an Emerging Leader finalist. In 2025, she spoke about saving perishable foods after the food bank lost power for more than two days. This year, the food bank, after fundraising through a capital campaign, purchased a three-phase generator with an auto transfer switch for the building.

“We will never have to worry about losing power and losing our food when the community is going to be coming to us for the most support,” Kemmett said.

One of Kemmett’s priorities has been increasing the variety of food to meet community members’ cultural and dietary needs. This includes offering more options that are halal, kosher, gluten-free, or vegan.

She also worked with clients experiencing homelessness to provide accessible items to people who had lost teeth or didn’t have cooking facilities readily available, she wrote in her application.

“I’m in awe at her ability to organize incoming fresh food from farmers, grocery outlets, and single donations as the ED of the Snohomish Food Bank,” a nominator wrote. “She gives as much as she receives and still has time and energy to guide and nurture others looking for support.”

Outside of work, you can find Kemmett volunteering at various local organizations and spending time with her family.

Jenna Millikan: 425-339-3035; jenna.millikan@heraldnet.com. X: @JennaMillikan