# Christina Diiorio

> Christina Diiorio is the founder and CEO of The Yay Company, the Charlottesville-based startup behind Yay Lunch, a modern K-12 school lunch program that partners with local caterers and chefs to deliver fresh, kid-approved meals directly to schools at no cost to the school. A former food editor at Goop, MindBodyGreen and Zagat and a Georgetown graduate, she launched Yay in 2018 after her own son came home hungry and unhappy with his cafeteria options. She has raised roughly $15.5M+ across Series A and later rounds from investors including Valor Siren Ventures, Reach Capital and FJ Labs, growing the company past 200% year-over-year and into markets from Atlanta to New York.

- **Role:** Founder + CEO at The Yay Company (Yay Lunch)
- **Organizations:** The Yay Company (Yay Lunch), MindBodyGreen, Goop, Zagat Survey, Mayer Brown
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Arts (Hons), Georgetown University
- **Known for:** Founded and scaled Yay Lunch, a K-12 school lunch program active in seven metro markets, Raised $15.5M+ in venture funding from Valor Siren Ventures, Reach Capital, Animo Ventures, Pritzker Group, TMV, Alpaca Ventures and FJ Labs, Grew the company more than 200% year-over-year since inception

## Career timeline

- **early career** — Worked at law firm Mayer Brown, gaining exposure to private equity and corporate litigation
- **early career** — Editor at Zagat Survey, focused on food and content
- **mid career** — Led food travel initiatives at Goop
- **mid career** — Executive Editor for the Food Vertical at MindBodyGreen
- **2018** — Co-founded Yay Lunch with Derek Mansfield in Charlottesville, Virginia
- **2021** — Raised $12M Series A led by Valor Siren Ventures; total funding reaches $15.5M
- **2022** — Doubled sales; secured additional later-stage funding
- **2023** — Continued rapid growth across seven metro markets

## Achievements

- Founded and scaled Yay Lunch, a K-12 school lunch program active in seven metro markets
- Raised $15.5M+ in venture funding from Valor Siren Ventures, Reach Capital, Animo Ventures, Pritzker Group, TMV, Alpaca Ventures and FJ Labs
- Grew the company more than 200% year-over-year since inception
- Built a model where schools pay nothing to participate while parents order and pay directly
- Served over 100 schools across DC, Baltimore, Central Virginia, Atlanta and Philadelphia

## Latest updates

- **2022-12** — Secured additional later-stage funding to fuel expansion
- **2023-01** — Publicly championed bringing modern, real-food lunches to more schools via LinkedIn

## Links

- Website: https://yaylunch.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-diiorio-9b959a7
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/yaylunch/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/christina-diiorio
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-02