New Executive Helps Feed the Hungry
Written by Jan Jaben-Eilon Thursday, January 13 2011
Snapshot: Danah Craft
Danah Craft was just hired as the first full-time, paid executive director of the Georgia Food Bank Association, a somewhat male-dominated area. She will run the association for the seven-member group of food banks that all are members of Feeding America, the national network of more than 200 food banks. The Georgia food banks serve more than 2,000 nonprofits with food assistance programs in all 159 counties throughout the state.
Craft’s most recent position was as vice president, programs and constituency services, at the Council on Foundations in Washington, D.C. She was responsible for the development and delivery of high-quality professional development programs for the CEOs, trustees, and staff of more than 2,000 private foundations, corporate foundations, and community foundations in the United States. Prior to joining the council, Craft was first vice president in the Atlanta community and government affairs group of SunTrust Bank in Atlanta.
Craft lives with her husband in Atlanta. Although they don’t have their own children, they love keeping juice boxes in their refrigerator for the neighbor’s kids, and they have pint-sized rocking chairs on their front porch for their visits.
Womenetics: Why do you think the Georgia Food Bank Association chose an outsider as its first full-time, paid executive director, rather than someone from, perhaps, one of the member food banks?
Danah Craft: They were looking for an individual with a specific combination of skills and experience to lead the state association. I’m not actually running a food bank. I’m leading their association, so in many ways my skill set leverages and builds on what they already do well.
Womenetics: You had a very prestigious position in our nation’s capital. Why did you decide to leave that role to come to Atlanta to work at the Georgia Food Bank Association?
Craft: Serving for the Council on Foundations was a great opportunity to work with and lead wonderful people doing important work. However, each time my husband and I went house hunting in Arlington, we realized just how much we would miss our Atlanta neighborhood and friends if we moved permanently.
After 15 years, Atlanta had become home in a way that we realized Washington never would be. So I began looking for an opportunity to do something equally important, and I found that in the Georgia Food Bank Association. Georgia is a great place to live, and like every Food Bank employee and volunteer in Georgia, I want to make living here even better.
Womenetics: I would think that becoming the first full-time executive director would require real political sensitivity, dealing with your seven member food bank heads. Do you think being a female gives you an advantage?
Craft: Yes. Women are known to be more likely to manage through consensus building, and that is a critical skill in association management. I’m working with CEOs whose organizations are directly impacted by programs and initiatives of the state association. They have a vested interest in the success of our work.
Womenetics: You come to this job at a time when the economy is still really bad in Georgia, with high unemployment and, I would imagine, high hunger needs. How can you feed more mouths when contributions are down at most charitable organizations?
Craft: I think future growth will come from corporate partnerships that leverage a combination of volunteers, products, and funds. Food Banks need all three and can offer unique partnership opportunities to corporations looking to fulfill their triple bottom line, meaning a corporate strategy that is good for a company’s employees, product, and profits. These Food Banks are incredibly well run and efficient. Every dollar given to them goes a long way toward ending hunger. I also believe individual support and food donations will continue to be strong. Almost everyone knows someone who has been affected by layoffs or business losses. Donating food or raising funds for meals is something that resonates with everyone.
Womenetics: What are your immediate goals, for the first year?
Craft: In many ways, I’m in a start-up mode. I’m doing a lot of research and networking to explore what is possible. Then, I’ll identify the projects and partnerships that will have the greatest impact on association members. There are a lot of opportunities out there; finding the right ones will be critical. My goals for the first year are to increase the public’s awareness about hunger in Georgia and the critical role food banks play in the nonprofit sector; to identify and launch statewide initiatives that will maximize the work of the seven food banks. And our legislative session starts next week (in mid-January), so I’ll also be working on issues and policy changes that impact food banks and their partners.
Womenetics: How would you define success?
Craft: I haven’t fully answered that question for myself yet. I think success is making a positive difference in the lives of people around me at home, work, and my community. The joy is in the journey.
Womenetics: You grew up in the South. How different is it now from those times?
Craft: I think the biggest change is the stunning growth of cities like Atlanta and Charlotte. Businesses are relocating to these (and other) cities in the South. They attract talented people from around the world who want to take advantage of our business climate and livable communities. The South is more diverse and culturally rich in these cities. And the rural areas are poorer with fewer jobs. That is the challenge of the South – finding the tide that lifts all boats.
Womenetics: What did you want to be when you grew up?
Craft: I wanted to be a teacher like my father. But as the pay was so low, I could not support myself. (I defined this as being able to move out of my parent’s house.) The nonprofit sector needed my skills and talents, and they paid 50 percent more than teaching. Then the corporate sector began to value the coaching skills nonprofits use with volunteers, and I moved easily between the corporate and nonprofit sectors during my career. And I still feel like I’m a teacher: I educate, inform, and persuade people on a daily basis.
Womenetics: You’ve taken on a huge challenge. How will you find balance in your life as you try to feed more needy people and run the organization that provides that food?
Craft: I think every executive struggles to find balance between work and home. I have a supportive husband who keeps me grounded and reminds me that the measure of my life is more than what I do at work. Our home, family, community, and friends are also part of who I am.
Womenetics: What advice would you give to young women who want to work in the nonprofit arena?
Craft: Nonprofits provide wonderful opportunities in finance, advocacy, program development, fundraising, volunteer engagement, and marketing/public relations. My advice is to take advantage of every opportunity to learn something new and don’t be afraid of failing. Broaden your skills and experience. The needs of the community are changing, and nonprofits need talented women who can keep up with the challenges of tomorrow.
Jan Jaben-Eilon was a founding staff writer of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Since then, she has been the international editor of Advertising Age magazine and has written for such publications as The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Washington Journalism Review, and Consumer Reports. She is the author of soon-to-be-published (There is) Life After Cancer. Jan and her husband have homes in Atlanta and Jerusalem.
