Good Shepherd Food Bank Announces New Board Members

Good Shepherd Food Bank, Maine’s largest hunger-relief organization, announces that Claudette Ndayininahaze and Kate Rush have joined its board of directors.

Ndayininahaze is a business development consultant and cultural broker with extensive intercultural communication experience for both for-profit and nonprofit sectors. As executive director of In her Presence, she sits on multiple boards in Portland and is deeply connected to community-based initiatives across the city.

As a community leader who has herself gone through the immigration process, she has a unique ability to anticipate challenges New Mainers face, and uses her professional expertise to empower people and communities. A highly proficient negotiator, both intuitive and resourceful, she collaborates with executive leadership in businesses and develops organizational capacity and culture to promote New Mainer success opportunities. Ndayininahaze works for the Center For Grieving Children as an Intercultural Program Manager and is the Senior Consultant at Integrative Inquiry LLC. She is a graduate of the University of Burundi in Bujumbura, Burundi, with a B.S. in Administration and Management.

In her most recent role, Rush was Senior Vice President and Director of Community Relations at Bangor Saving Bank. Over six years with Bangor Savings, she led the technology and project management teams as well as worked in M&A and strategic planning. Before joining Bangor Saving Bank, Rush worked in the construction, renewable energy, and aerospace sectors.

Rush earned her undergraduate engineering degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and her MBA from the University of Hartford. She has studied innovation at Stanfords D.School and has a certificate in leadership from MIT. She currently volunteers as an advisor with the Olympia Snowe Leadership Institute and serves on the Town of Newport Select Board. Her prior board experience includes the Natural Resource Council of Maine and Maine Community Foundation County Committee. She lives in central Maine with her family and is an avid reader, and loves adventure.

Ndayininahaze and Rush join the following additional members on Good Shepherd Food Bank’s board of directors:

Frank Pecoraro
Ben Sprague
Peter Richardson
Scott Maker
John Bennett
Bruce Daman
Jim Darroch
Peter Forester
Jason Fournier
Barbara Gagne
Michelle Hayes
Dora Anne Mills, MD
John Nutting
David Reifschneider
Christopher Rogers
Victoria W. Rogers, MD
Dyana Tull
Bill Williamson