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This Week's Episode

Heather Paquette, President of Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine, believes tackling food insecurity requires creativity, collaboration and a willingness to think differently. She sees strong partnerships as those that put personal agendas aside and views challenging circumstances as a reason to become more decisive and ambitious, not less.

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On This Episode

After 24 years in grocery retail, Heather Paquette crossed to “the other side of the aisle,” bringing her business experience to Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine. Her journey is about more than moving from business into nonprofit leadership—it’s about what happens when we become curious enough to stand somewhere different, question what we know and learn from another perspective.

“Food banks and families are having the same conversation: How do we do more with less when there are no places left to cut?”

Heather Paquette, President of Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine

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This Week's Guest

Heather Paquette

Heather Paquette spent 24 years in grocery retail before becoming President of Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine, giving her a rare view of the food system from both sides of the aisle. Today, she combines business discipline with curiosity and a deep understanding of people and community to tackle food insecurity—while continuing to learn, adapt and ask the questions that move the work forward.

Heather Paquette

President of Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine

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Heather Paquette

President of Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine

Heather Paquette has spent her entire working life around food — but she has learned to see it from very different sides of the aisle.

Before becoming President of Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine, Heather spent 24 years in grocery retail, building a career with Hannaford and ultimately working across five Ahold Delhaize USA brands. Along the way, she learned the disciplines of operations, innovation, financial accountability, customer service — and, as she puts it, knowing when to “hustle.”

Then she crossed the grocery aisle.

At Good Shepherd, Heather discovered that some of what she knew translated beautifully, some had to be adapted, and some had to be put down so she could learn something new. Today, she brings that rare perspective to the challenge of food insecurity — combining business discipline with deep curiosity about people, place and community.

Thoughtful, candid and refreshingly clear, Heather is the kind of leader who can admit what she didn’t know, explain what she’s learned, and then ask the question that moves the work forward.

Perhaps that’s why her leadership feels so well suited for this moment: she has seen the food system from both sides — and she’s still curious enough to keep learning.

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