Jim Conklin is the Founder and Executive Director of Cultivate Food Rescue, a northern Indiana nonprofit working to end the cycle of food insecurity through rescued food, frozen meal production, and innovative community distribution. Jim is dedicated to improving the health and nutritional quality of weekend food backpack programs, reducing food waste, lowering food insecurity in our community, strengthening educational outcomes for children, and preventing good food from going to waste.
Under Jim’s leadership, Cultivate has grown from a small startup effort into a major regional food rescue organization serving St. Joseph, Elkhart, and Marshall counties. Cultivate rescues high-quality perishable food from retailers, distributors, farms, caterers, and community partners, then redistributes it through nonprofit agencies, schools, and its frozen meal backpack program. The organization’s model is built around the belief that children and families deserve access not merely to calories, but to nutritious, dignifying food that supports long-term health and stability. Cultivate rescued and distributed over six and a half million pounds of food and 600,000 frozen meals last year.
Jim’s professional foundation is in accounting, finance, and business leadership. A trained CPA and CVA, he has more than 25 years of experience spanning commercial banking, auditing, tax, business valuations, and progressive leadership roles in private-company accounting. Before becoming Executive Director of Cultivate, he served as Director of Finance for Headsight, Inc., an agricultural engineering company with a mission to help people in need within the community. That blend of financial discipline, operational thinking, and mission-driven service helped prepare Jim to build Cultivate into a scalable nonprofit with strong systems, measurable impact, and a vision for regional growth.
Jim earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Butler University and a Master of Science in Accounting from Indiana University South Bend. He credits his IU South Bend education with strengthening the technical and strategic foundation that has shaped his work as a nonprofit executive, entrepreneur, and community leader.
Jim’s work reflects a consistent conviction: hunger in the U.S. is not a food supply issue but a logistical problem. Jim is committed to faith, family, and service. He has been married to his high school sweetheart, Amy, for over 30 years, and they have two sons, Tyler and Derek.
