Fellows mentioned in this story: Amy Miller

From Aloha State Daily:

With more than 20 years of experience in nonprofit work, Amy Miller made the move from Bishop Museum to president and CEO of Hawaiʻi Foodbank in May 2021, after a concerted effort to keep all of the museum’s staff on payroll during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“When I took a step back and saw everything that was happening in our community, the thousands of families who were affected, I knew I wanted to do something with more direct impact on helping people in my day job. So, when this opportunity became available, I was really interested,” Miller recently told Aloha State Daily.

“The business of food banking is extremely complex, and I didn’t know anything about shipping, logistics, inventory and the whole distribution model. Especially because most of the time we’re working with donated products that really needs to move fast, right?” she continued. “Just understanding how it all worked was a steep learning curve, but also really exciting for to learn something new.”

She noted that prior to her onboarding, the organization, which is a member of Feeding America, was transitioning internal systems to be “more data driven.” Hawaiʻi Data Collaborative is a key partner with this initiative.

“Right before the pandemic, the foodbank had switched to a sophisticated ERP [or Enterprise Resource Planning] system to manage all our finances, distribution, agency relationships, etc.” Miller said. “We can now track every pound of food from where it’s purchased to when it gets here, is stored and moved, which helps us understand where people are falling between the gaps. That’s been a big push.

“And we’re in a very different space now, so we are leveraging the information to make good decisions for our internal efficiencies and to better serve the people in our community that need assistance.”

Continue reading at alohastatedaily.com.