Grinnell Farm to Table looks for new executive director as Tommy Hexter `21 steps down
Scarlet & Black 2025-12-01
Tommy Hexter `21 is stepping down as executive director of Grinnell Farm to Table after nearly five years, hoping to give another community member the chance to lead, Hexter said.
Hexter and Jon Andelson, a Grinnell College professor, bought Grinnell Farm to Table in September of 2020. Less than three years later Hexter was named the executive director of the organization. As executive director Hexter was in charge of running Grinnell Farm to Table’s market and food access program, which he said, meant learning operational skills such as accounting, marketing and fundraising, on the job.
“I don’t have a, you know, nonprofit development background,” Hexter said. “We’ve done all right to grow to this point, but to get to where the organization has the potential to go, you know, we can bring in someone who has more of those kinds of hard skills around organizational development.”
Jordan Scheibel `10 was hired in May of 2024 to run Grinnell Farm to Table’s food access program.
“What I like about Tommy is he has ambition and vision, and that, for example, that pushes me a little bit,” Scheibel said.
Through the work of Hexter, Scheibel and the contributions of board members and volunteers, the organization has been able to grow their annual sales from around $10,000 in 2020 to close to $250,000 by the end of this year.
We are looking to grow. This is like generations of organizing between producers and consumers in Grinnell. And so acknowledging that, making sure that someone else in the community can be a leader in this too.
— Tommy Hexter `21
“What I’m most proud of for our community and for our staff, is being able to have a permanent brick and mortar storefront,” Hexter said. “When I started this, we were doing it out of Drake Library… and so being able to move into a real storefront and have this amazing facade with a mural, that’s definitely what I’m most proud of.”
Farm to Table has set its sights even higher for the coming years, hoping to grow their market to $1 million in annual sales and create a shared use kitchen project to be run out of the old Davis Elementary School cafeteria.
“We are looking to grow,” Hexter said. “This is generations of organizing between producers and consumers in Grinnell. And so acknowledging that, making sure that someone else in the community can be a leader in this too. But also on a more practical note, I’ve kind of taken this to the limits of my skill set.”
According to Hexter, a major focus for the next executive director will be advancing the ongoing shared-use kitchen project in collaboration with about 15 different community organizations.
“They want us to lead it, but we need capacity to do that,” Hexter said. “So, hiring this person, they’ll be a leader in that project, and kind of doing the development and fundraising behind it and getting it started. So that’s, it’ll be a full-time job.”
Hexter is turning from business administration to refocus on policy work.
Currently, Hexter serves as the policy director for Iowa Farmers Union and works with the National Caucus for Environmental Legislators, a multi-state organization that works to advance Midwest regional food systems goals.
Hexter has also been named the new interim executive director for the Iowa Food System Coalition, an organization that brings partners together to build a sustainable food system in Iowa. He is filling in for the previous executive director, Christopher Schwartz, who was let go after sexual abuse charges.
“I’m just keeping one foot in front of the other,” Hexter said. “I’ve never once gone out of my way looking for any of these opportunities, and I think that that’s a real testament to the amount of opportunity that exists for young people in the state of Iowa.”
Tommy Hexter `21 has stepped down from his role as executive director for Grinnell Farm to Table. (Zach Spindler-Krage)Hexter said it feels bittersweet to be moving on but feels confident in Grinnell Farm to Table’s board of directors and future staff.
“I do believe that this is 100 percent the right move for the organization,” Hexter said. “The bitter part is I’m gonna miss being grounded. And, the work of actually moving food … and seeing the customers, but I’ll keep volunteering, helping pack orders.”
Scheibel, who has worked closely with Hexter the last couple of years, said their partnership has proved to be very fruitful.
“When we lost our federal funding, there was a period of time where it was kind of like just … feeling defeated. And then we kind of bounced back from that and decided, let’s actually try to go big. Let’s move confidently in the direction that we think we should be going,” Scheibel said.
Although the two have accomplished much together, Scheibel said the timing for this change is good as it gives Hexter a chance to move on and the organization an opportunity to bring in someone with new ideas.
“Even though this organization predated Tommy, it’s really grown under his leadership and so people really identify Grinnell Farm to Table with Tommy, for better or for worse,” Scheibel said. “It has driven interest in the organization and like loyalty to us, but also we want Grinnell Farm to Table to stand on its own as an organization and not just be Tommy’s thing.”
Scheibel added that although Hexter is stepping down from his day to day work, Hexter will remain on the Farm to Table board.