Chief Operations Officer 

Patty O’Connor is chief operations officer at Feeding San Diego, where she oversees daily operations, including the sourcing, storage, and distribution of more than 43 million pounds of food each year. With nearly 30 years of experience spanning global supply chain management, sourcing, and operations, she partners with the CEO and leadership team to advance organizational strategy, operational excellence, and community impact. 

Patty joined Feeding San Diego in 2021 from the consumer goods sector, having worked at notable companies like Levi Strauss & Co. and the world’s largest sourcing company, Li & Fung where she developed and sourced all types of products from concept to delivery. Since joining the team, she has applied her extensive expertise to strengthen forecasting, inventory management, food sourcing, and food rescue efforts across San Diego County. A strong advocate for data-informed decision-making, she has led initiatives to enhance operational visibility and efficiency through the implementation of performance dashboards. 

Patty is not the first food rescue advocate in her family. Her father, Joe O’Connor, started rescuing food almost 20 years ago, arranging a pickup every six mornings per week at his local grocery store and bringing the rescued food to a nonprofit where it was given to people facing hunger. Through this example, Patty learned early on that the most important job in life is to give back to those in need. 

During her early days at Feeding San Diego, Patty advocated for a client-choice marketplace at the nonprofit’s Sorrento Valley headquarters. The successful program has now grown to serve 2,200 households each month, providing visitors with approximately 830,000 pounds of food each year.  

A recognized expert in food rescue and nonprofit operations, Patty delivered the TEDx Provincetown talk “Food Rescue: A Solution to a Global Humanitarian Crisis” and serves on the San Diego Hunger Coalition Advisory Board. She has also been a guest speaker at Feeding America conferences and spoken to international business classes at University of San Diego. 

Patty is also a member of the board at the Solana Beach Presbyterian Church, and a longtime volunteer for Just in Time and Fostering Hope, two organizations dedicated to supporting local foster youth and their families.  

A San Diego native, Patty traveled to the Bay Area for college, earning her Bachelor of Science in marketing from Santa Clara University with a minor in Spanish. After completing her undergraduate studies, she immediately went through the Management Training Program at National Semiconductor. Following that, she earned her MBA in International Business from Thunderbird Graduate School at Arizona State University.  

In her free time, Patty enjoys pickleball, yoga, skiing, playing the ukulele, attending concerts, and spending time with her two adult children.