Matt Habash President, Columbus City Council; Executive Director, Mid-Ohio Food Bank

Matt Habash has been a member of Columbus City Council since 1993 and was unanimously selected to serve as Council President in December 1999. He was reelected by a vote of his peers in 2004 to a third term as President and presides over Council meetings, is a member of all Standing Committees, and chairs the Rules and Reference and Recreation and Parks Committees.

Habash co-chairs, with Mayor Michael Coleman, the 21st Century Growth Team, a new group that is exploring how best to manage Columbus's growth. Their objective is to develop a plan that balances job creation with sustainable neighborhood development. The Growth Team is looking at ways to finance a broad range of infrastructure and facility needs such as school sites, recreation centers, fire stations, and major roadways and bridges.

As Executive Director of the Mid-Ohio FoodBank, Habash leads the tenth largest charitable food distributor in the United States – coordinating the distribution of $30 million worth of food to over 500 charities in 20 Ohio counties. Under Habash's direction, the agency received national recognition for exemplary leadership and management in food banking.

Habash's leadership has been acknowledged by the Franklin County AFL-CIO, City Year Columbus, the Building Industry Association, Business First, the Columbus Jaycees, and the Columbus Public Service Chapter of the National Management Association, which named him Manager of the Year in 1999.

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