Here at Food For Free, we believe that providing a livable wage with benefits and investing in the growth and development of our staff are a vital part of advancing our mission and deepening community impact. A recent article published in The Boston Globe discussed the difficulties local nonprofits face in today’s strong labor market with being able to offer competitive salaries and benefits. However, while other nonprofits are losing employees to megacorporations at a time when inflation is pushing already high local cost-of-living even higher, Food For Free was able to implement a significant pay equity adjustment at the end of the last fiscal year, in June 2022. As a result, our Logistics Specialists, who are key to the success of our operations, receive a living wage that exceeds what drivers at larger corporations might earn, and we see less turnover in these essential roles.
In addition to the wage adjustments last fiscal year, we are excited to announce several promotions and role changes that take effect this month! Though it is not typical for Food For Free to have mid-fiscal-year promotions, these important changes sustain and reflect the work we are doing to meet the growing need in our community. After all, our amazing staff members are both a part of the community at large that we serve, and the individuals who primarily propel our mission to the community forward.
Here is the scoop on promotions and role changes happening in January 2023:
Sam McDermott has been promoted to Senior Manager of Heat-n-Eats and School Programs. Sam joined us in January 2022 as the Heat-n-Eats Program Manager, and in March 2022, he gracefully took on school programming (Weekend Eats Carrot Cards and School Markets). Throughout the past year, Sam continued to scale and fully revamp these program areas to better serve our food distribution partners.
Kieran Winslow has been promoted to Senior Coordinator of Development. In this role, Kieran oversees our donor database, processing and reporting on all financial gifts. Additionally, Kieran supports the Development team with grant writing and reporting, events and special initiatives. Kieran is also an active member of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging workgroup at Food For Free.
Oscar Armando Ramirez Echeverria has been promoted to Logistics Specialist 2 and will be spending more time on the Production Floor at our Packing & Distribution Center. He has become our go-to onsite Logistics Specialist, focusing on making sure the warehouse is in order and that Operations is more fully supporting all Food For Free programs.
Mary Reid has been promoted to Associate Manager of Operations. She has taken on significantly more work than the position she was hired for and fearlessly approaches new, challenging work as it arises. Mary has defined the role of dispatching on the team and has been integral in new projects like data collection and grant reporting.
Adrienne Dunlap has shifted to the new role of Grants Manager on the Development team after spending 4 months as Program Coordinator for Heat-n-Eats and School programs. She holds a Master’s in Agriculture, Food and Environment and a Master’s in Public Health from Tufts University, and is excited to bring her interest in the intersection of food, public health and the environment to her new role as she works with us towards forging a path to a more sustainable and just food system.
Mackenzie Lennox is shifting to the new role of Senior Program Coordinator for Heat-n-Eats and School Markets after starting with us in April 2022 as Program Coordinator for our boxed food programs, Just Eats and Healthy Eats. Mackenzie has always been passionate about nutrition, and is excited to work more closely with our partner organizations and use her creativity towards reducing food waste.
Please join us in congratulating our teammates for their accomplishments!
