Serving Together, Helping Others

“I’m incredibly grateful to be part of an organization that strongly promotes volunteer work,” said Susana Godoy Bailey, administrative manager at Ardent Mills. Originally from Venezuela, Susana has been with the company for eight years and most recently moved to Canada to serve in her current role at the Streetsville, Ontario flour mill. “I was very excited to have the chance to contribute in any possible way to making a positive impact in someone’s life,” said Susana. “Also, the chance to learn from other cultures was a huge motivation for me to volunteer with PFS.”

Susana started volunteering with Partners in Food Solutions in March 2021 and a few weeks later was matched with client Reel Fruit in Nigeria as their Client Lead. Client Leads work with one client at a time, serving as their project manager to ensure project teams are supported and projects get completed in a timely manner. “My favorite part about being a Client Lead is definitely witnessing the incredible teamwork dynamic between the customer, volunteers, and PFS,” she said. “This experience is such a lesson in life and to witness the progress of the project from the beginning to its completion is an incredibly rewarding experience.”

Earlier this year, Susana took on her second Client Lead role with PFS client Zatwa in Côte d’Ivoire. “Susana has been so proactive in understanding Zatwa’s two projects and ask-an-expert,” said Bernadette Arthur, PFS program associate in Ghana. “Susana wields great emotional intelligence, a clear sense of direction, and an eye for detail and administrative tasks. On one project call for Zatwa, she helped the project team set S.M.A.R.T. goals to reach the project deliverables, which increased the productivity of the project team. I was very impressed with her ability to make the team feel comfortable and share concerns and questions.” As a program associate, Bernadette is responsible for supporting the West Africa portfolio which includes Ghana, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire. Bernadette’s portfolio alone includes 40+ clients and 85+ different services. “Client leads like Susana are vital to helping break down a project into more manageable pieces. My relationship with client leads is a partnership. They help us deliver the best services to our clients and ensure our volunteer teams are having a meaningful experience working on the project.”

Now that she has overseen several projects, Susana said, “Volunteering can be done if you have the time and the passion to do it. Having all the expertise isn’t needed because there is a team of PFS staff, volunteers, and the client all working together to make sure everyone feels supported and is successful in their role. Volunteering with PFS is truly an incredible experience and by serving together we can make incredible things happen.”