Ellie Hollander, President & CEO of Meals on Wheels America

Ellie Hollander is President and CEO of Meals on Wheels America, providing leadership to a nationwide network of thousands of community-based nutrition programs committed to assuring the health, safety and independence of America’s older adults.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
M and T Bank presents CEOs youshould know powered by iHeart Meadia. Let's
meet Ellie Hollander. She is thepresident and CEO for Meals on Wheels America.
Before we talk more about Ellie's wellknown nonprofit, I first asked her
to talk a little bit about herself, where she's from, and her origin
story. I think I'm one ofthe few Native Washingtonians. Dennis raised in

(00:22):
chevy Chase but born in a hospitalin downtown d C that doesn't exist anymore.
I'm with Tom, embarrassed to sayso long ago, and I went
to school because of chevy Chase HighSchool, my elementary school, chevy Chase
Elementary, it's still there. Infact, I walked by the corner where
I used to be a patrol inthe old days and with fond memories,

(00:44):
right by chevy Chase Country Club,Bradley and Connecticut Avenue. Anyway, Yeah,
so lived in DC almost my entireadult life, went to college in
Durham and Duke University, and backbecause I love the area so much.
I love to talk to lifers becausethere's so few of you, and you're

(01:06):
such a unique breed of knowing thisarea so well. And as you probably
know, the owner of the WashingtonCommanders is also kind of a Chevy Chase
guy. And we're thrilled because oneof our stations, Big one hundred,
is the radio flagship for the Commanders, and to have new ownership in and
what we've been through the last coupleof decades, I think we can all
agree with you're a fan or not, it's just nice to have some fresh

(01:26):
ownership in there, some new beginningsand exciting quarterbacks that we're looking forward to
everything. So it's great to talkto you, and I'm really looking forward
to our conversation. Obviously, Mealson Wheels America is why we're here.
But you have, Ellie such anextensive, cool resume, including a whole
decade at ARP, which i'd liketo talk about. So, as you
were coming out of school and thenyou've done some amazing things to your career

(01:48):
before you did this eleven and ahalf years ago to join as president and
CEO of Meals on Wheels America,what did you want to do out of
school? Yeah, that's a darngood question, Dennis. I was struggling
a little bit because every I wasso interested in so many things, but
I ended up having a wonderful professorat Duke who was an econ economics professor,
and I thought, you know,maybe I want to go into economics.

(02:09):
So the logical thing in DC isif that's an area you want to
go into, you start thinking aboutthe Federal Reserve Board. And I was
interviewing there and I thought, youknow what, I'd be miserable here.
It's just not my style. Butalso at the same time, I graduated
from college and now this is actuallygoing to you know, you're going to
start doing the map and figure outhow old am so stopped right there.

(02:30):
But the Civil Aeronautics Board was anorganization I was interested in because I had
double major in economics in French.No, I was not going to be
speaking French economics, but it justseemed to be a nice combination for me.
And I also loved flying and airplanes. I was always intrigued. My
dad used to take me down toNational Airport. We'd watch the airplanes take

(02:53):
off and land. I just wasmesmerized by that. So I thought,
what a great opportunity Civil Aerononics Board. They had an othern European section.
I might be able to live inFrance speak French study airline roots do economics.
But when I graduated from Duke andwas literally thinking about doing that,
they had announced that they were deregulatingthe utility, I mean the airline industry,

(03:15):
and so that was not going tobe an option for me. So
I decided what do I want todo? And I was a very very
fast typist, and I decided todo some temporary secretarial work in Washington.
While I was trying to decide whatI wanted to do next, one of
the placements I had was the ElectricPower Research Institute known as EPRI now,

(03:36):
which was the research arm of theelectric utility industry, like the Bell Labs
for the phone company, and soI went there. I absolutely loved it.
They were headquartered in Palo Alto,California, with the Washington d C
Office, and next thing I knew, I was offered a job there and
I stayed there for like nineteen years, and icended in the organization and then

(03:59):
went in to the utility industry andthen from there went to go work for
AARP. Well, I want totalk something specifically about your resume. It's
very fortuitous that we're talking about somebodythat ascended in many different areas, so
you had a lot of different jobs. I know that's unique to you and
your journey, and I've talked toa lot of people in this area that
have done that and become automatic CEOsbecause they started their own company. But

(04:23):
as I look out of your resume, you've been an executive vice president,
a managing director, interim associate executivedirector, executive vice president, chief strategy
officer, and now president and CEO. As you think about your journey,
and I'm going to make an educatedguess, be obviously like well rounded people,
and that's what you did with yourcareers that you tried all these jobs,

(04:44):
and now that you're a CEO andpresident, I imagine it gives you
a good scope about what everybody doesin your organization when you've held so many
different kind of titles. Would Ibe correct? I think you would be
yeah. Yeah. I mean youget to you know, you get you
get a chance to see things fromall different and appreciate that everybody has an
important job and that no one isreally more important than another. But the

(05:06):
idea is to learn from every experienceyou've had, to aggregate that knowledge and
then to take it and do whatyou do best and give back wherever you
can. And I think to furtherthe point, Ellie and I can use
my experience when I started out inradio and TV. When I wanted to
be on TV, I actually hadto start behind the scenes. So it's
audio, it's lights, it's blocking, it's pulling cable, it doesn't matter

(05:28):
what it was. I want toget my hands on the industry because I
knew what I wanted to do eventually. But when I got behind the camera,
it did make me appreciate everybody aroundme, and I also knew what
they were doing, so and thatfact knowledge was power. Yeah, it
is. And I also think thatyou appreciate what it takes even being a
secretary. Having had that experience,that was probably the best experience I could

(05:50):
have had to actually learn how tomultitask right, how to make sure that
you're being polite, remember people's names, their lives and everything. And you
know for fact that if you reallywant to develop a relationship with an executive,
you want to go through their secretarybecause they grow everybody. Right,
good call, good call, It'sstarn true. Well, listen, we're

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here, obviously to talk about mealson Wheels America and you joined about eleven
and a half years ago, andit's very clear why they were interested in
you. Well, why were youinterested in joining them? Well, Meals
on Wheels is a legacy cause,I mean everyone's heard of it. Nine
out of ten voting Americans have heardof Meals on Wheels, and nine out
of ten are favorably inclined because it'sjust such an important, well known brand.

(06:38):
When I was approached about this opportunity, Dennis, I wasn't sure,
because you know, timing is everything, and where I was in my life
at the time. My sister,who was the oldest in our family,
had just been diagnosed with advanced breastcancer and I knew she had limited time,
and she lived in Martha's Vineyard.My dad was in his mid nineties

(06:59):
and very real lion on me.I was the only one of my siblings
that lived in the area. Hewas also in Chevy Chase. My other
siblings had moved, their careers hadtaken them elsewhere. And I thought,
you know, it's a great organization, a great opportunity, but is this
the right time for me to evenconsider it? And I really thought long
and hard about it. I amthe kind of person that I won't do

(07:19):
something unless I can give one hundredand fifty percent. And I talked to
my dad, and I talked tomy sister, and you know, they
convinced me that, look, thiswas once in a lifetime opportunity for a
really important cause. It would meanthe world to them for me to put
my hat in the ring. Sothat's what I did. And I went

(07:41):
in my first interview not still notone hundred percent sure that was the right
time for me, because I wantedto also spend quality time with both my
sister and my dad while they werestill here. But I fell in love
with the board, the board ofdirectors, and their passion and their commitment
to the organizations that they represented.Because our board is made up of at
the time, leaders of their ownMeals and Wills programs in their own local

(08:03):
communities and just to hear the challenges, but the passion, I felt like
I could not say no. Thiswas the time for me to do this
and make a difference. And it'sbeen a labor of love ever since.
Lovely, it's a great story.Let's talk about mission statement. What is
that? Well? Meals and WillsAmerica is about empowering community based organizations to

(08:26):
improve the health and quality of lifeof the seniors that they support, so
that no one is left behind,hungry, or isolated. And you know,
we envision a vision of an Americanin which all seniors live nourish lives
with independence and dignity. That's whatwe all want, Dennis, if your
parents are still alive, I hopethey are. We all want to have

(08:50):
choice where we spend the rest ofour lives, the end years of our
lives, and most of us wouldlike to live in our own homes if
we can. That's what Meals areon Wheels enables, and that's why it's
such an important cause for me.I know, you brought the statu by
nine out of ten people, butthose that one person, then maybe he
doesn't know exactly what you do withmeals on wheels America. Tell us what

(09:13):
do you exactly do well. It'sinteresting a lot of us, a lot
of folks think of meals on wheelsas just delivering a meal, and we're
so much more than that. I'dsay that the meal is the entree,
but most of our programs provide mealsto seniors wherever they are whether it's in
their home or whether they're able togo to a senior center. And during
the pandemic, and now ever sinceyou know some seniors could you know,

(09:35):
when we close down senior centers wouldgo to drive to their senior center and
grab and go meals. And sobasically our programs do all of that and
more. Were the eyes and theears for the older population. We are
in some cases providing companionship and socializationfor someone who may not see someone in

(09:58):
a given day. We're also providingmeals to pets, pet companions, you
know, our furry loved ones.A lot of our program a lot of
our seniors that we serve have pets, probably one out of three do.
But we don't want a senior tofeel like they have to make a choice
between sharing their own meal with theirpets. So a lot of our programs

(10:20):
provide pet support and others also dohome repair minor and major. So it's
really a full service. It's notjust about the meal, it's about everything
the wrap around services that come alongwith the meal. I loved how you
branch out, and I think everybody'sprobably wondering, now, what's the criteria
for being a part of meals onwheels. If you need a meal or

(10:41):
if you need some help around thehouse. What is the criteria to qualify
for anything. Well, generally we'refocused on those in the greatest social and
economic needs. So in some cases, a senior may be able to pay
for a meal, but they don'thave mobility the mobility or they don't have
good transportation options, or they livein a part of the country where there
really is an accessible, fresh,good food, so they need a helping

(11:03):
hand. There are also maybe folkswho have economic challenges, who live in
poverty, or who for whom Englishis not their first language. So it
really is about the need and isit a long term need is it a
short term need. Some of usjust need help getting out of you know,
if you're being discharged from a hospitaland you don't have someone to take

(11:26):
care of you, and you don'thave food, you can't prepare your own
meals, you can't stand. Youneed that help. So it could be
a transitional support or it could belong term. But it's not a means
tested program. We do not dothat. We just basically determine whether or
not there's a need and if wecan provide it. We absolutely do very
good, Nelly, you said asenior. But to be very specific,

(11:48):
is there an age that it startsat that you qualify for meals on wheels
America? Well meals on wheels?If it's not to complicate things, if
it's a program that's supported through theOlder Americans Act, it's sixty or over,
OK, or a person with disability. But generally speaking, you know,
if there's a grandchild in the homethat needs help or someone else,

(12:11):
programs are not going to turn peopledown. It just depends on the funding
source. So, like I said, if it's federal government, we need
to follow those guidelines. But onlyabout one third of the funding for meals
and wills programs comes from the federalgovernment. The rest is it's a public
private partnership. And it's actually awonderful example of a successful public private partnership

(12:33):
that's been doing this for over sixtyyears in every community across the country.
So it's a proven intervention that works. And like I mentioned earlier, Dennis,
it isn't just about the meal.It's also about the socialization and the
knowing that someone's going to check inon you in a given day. Well,
it's a great segue, Ellie,and you've touched on a little bit.
But when it comes to funding,and we'll talk about donations and volunteering

(12:56):
as we have this part of thechat. But overall, how are you
funded and also for advocating to geteither grants, more money, donations,
how does it all work well?So individual programs do a lot in their
local community to try to raise supportlocally. Like I said, it's a
public private partnership. Some are dependenton federal funding, some are not.

(13:18):
Some it's completely privately supported. Sothere's combinations of all that. There are
grants, there's all kinds of things. But one thing that is definitely the
same for everybody is that we arereally dependent on individuals, on foundations,
on corporations, on philanthropy to helpaugment whatever funding that programs are able to

(13:39):
get, either whether it's from thestate or federal government, and there's never
enough because the senior population is growingfaster than any other segment. We're now
Dennis today and for the first timewe have more older adults than we do
younger younger folks. So it's thefirst time in our history where that's been
the case. And the senior populationis growing. We're living longer, which

(14:03):
is wonderful. At the same time, we need the supports to enable us
to live as independently and healthy aspossible. And we'll give the website at
the end of our conversation, butjust to let you know, for all
the people that are already googled,if you haven't seen, there's a big
green button that says donate. Youneed to click that and check it out
in the ways you can do that. The other part of this, and

(14:24):
a real big part I imagine Elliottfour Meals on Wheels of America, is
volunteering. There's got to be peoplethat not only donate food, but actually
visit and do that, whether it'sfood or they're donating their services. So
when it comes to volunteering, it'sobviously a big part of the organization.
How does that all work? Yeah, Well, volunteering is pivotal to keep
in our wheels rolling. We couldn'tdo that, We couldn't possibly meet the

(14:48):
need of the millions of seniors thatwe're serving every year without volunteers. And
we've seen a decline in volunteerism,largely I think because of the pandemic and
we used to have a across thecountry companies that would maybe adopt a route
and they'd use it as a teambuilding opportunity. We'd love to see companies
stepping up again, whether it's episodicor whether it's on a regular basis.

(15:11):
Our programs desperately needed. Yeah,we have probably a couple million volunteers across
the country in total, and youknow, it's it's amazing because the volunteer
experience, I think is as incrediblytransformational as it is for the senior that's
receiving a meal. I talk tovolunteers and I experienced it myself, where

(15:35):
that knock on the door is openingup hope for the senior on the other
side, but it's also opening upa new relationship. It's a sense of
enrichment that just people don't have theopportunity to experience. And once you volunteer,
you really appreciate that there's nothing likeit because you are seeing the difference
you're making immediately on the other sideof that door. Well, that's well

(15:56):
said. I could personally speak toas well because I've done and also I
can see why you trademarked power ofthe knock transforming lives, it really is,
isn't And I think that's absolutely wonderful. You probably have already touched on
this, but maybe something that wehaven't talked about yet, or we can
go back and recap a few things. But when it comes to current challenges
for the organization as well as youand president and CEO, what are they

(16:19):
today? Yeah, I mean,I guess I'd say the number one challenge
is funding. Funding has never keptpace with inflation or the growing need,
so we need more support there.If we ask our individual programs what's their
number one challenge? Funding and volunteersare a close second to that. But

(16:41):
you know, if you had morefunding, you might be able to hire
more staff to do that. Butreally this is just a time like no
other in my experience then since I'vebeen president and CEO, where the support
is waning. When you look atthe fact that the senior population is growing
so rapidly and we all want theopportunity to live in our homes with independence

(17:03):
and dignity for as long as possible, you'd think that there would be the
resources there to do it. Butphilanthropy in the aggregate individuals, corporations,
foundations only represent in the aggregate onepercent wow of the contributions that are going
to aging and seniors like meals andwheels. And so even though we say

(17:26):
it's a successful public private partnership,we really would encourage people to step up
to the plate more frequently, whetherit's to volunteer, to advocate, to
donate. I appreciate all that,and I always get this question when I
do these interviews, Ellie, andI imagine you do too. When somebody
does donate their money, how isit allocated? Well, it, I
mean, it depends if it's unrestrictedmoney, you know that which is the

(17:48):
best kind, because you know,then programs can determine how best to use
that. If it's to cover thefact that food prices have gone up,
if it's to cover gas to helpoff set volunteers driving or their staff driving.
If it's to build, you know, buy another refrigerator, expand a
kitchen, serve more seniors. Becausewe did a recent survey of our programs

(18:15):
and we found out that one inthree programs has a waiting list of seniors
who are waiting for vital meals andthe average time is ninety days for those
programs that actually even hold a waitinglist, because it can create a false
sense of you know, I'm goingto get you off a waiting list,
and we don't know if that's goingto be the case. But yeah,
so that's really what I would say. The call to action would be to

(18:38):
donate, volunteer, or advocate formore support. Ellie. I imagine in
the eleven and a half years you'vebeen president CEO, you've heard so many
remarkable stories. But I'm curious whenit comes to either donating money or food
with maybe some of your larger clientsthat you work with and sponsors and people
that donate money. Maybe it's agrosser, maybe it's a meal prep service.

(19:02):
It is also working in conjunction withyou. Is there anything that's special
that's happened over the last ten plusyears where you said, this is why
I get up every day for partnershipslike this to make a difference and it
really helped us out. Is thereanything you can share with us that happened
in terms of partnerships. I mean, I guess I'll call out a couple
that I think are significant to getto the surprise that you said when I

(19:22):
said that we were so much morethan a meal sure. I'm really proud
of our relationship with the Home DepotFoundation. For example, they have always
focused on providing resources for military veteransto enable them to live longer in their
own communities. We've been partnering withthem since twenty fifteen to do in several
communities across the country home repair,home modification so that families of military veterans

(19:48):
invest themselves have the ability to livemore independently. A great story on that
one real quick is that there's agentleman named David I won't use last names
in a last who had broken hisback and he was an Army vet,
and for two years he was notable to use his own bathroom because his
wheelchair did not fit into the bathroom. But with our program Meals and Wills

(20:12):
Program in Alaska and the support ofthe Home Depot Foundation, we were able
to create an accessible bathroom so thatDavid had the dignity now to be able
to independently to use his own bathroom. There are stories like this, Dennis
scores of them. Another relationship I'mreally proud of is PetSmart Charities. I

(20:32):
mentioned earlier that many of our seniorclients have loving companions but it's challenging sometimes
for them to be able to takecare of those animals, to be able
to keep them at home or keepthem healthy. We don't want them giving
their own, you know, theirown meals to their pets, but that
is something that tends to happen.But because of our relationship with PetSmart Charities

(20:55):
over the past several years, we'vebeen able to provide programs with more food,
vet services and other things so thatwe're able to keep the senior and
their pet together longer. But thereare tons of wonderful stories like that.
Another one that comes to mind justin terms of volunteering, and it just

(21:15):
shows the amazing connection between a volunteerand an older adult that they're visiting.
It's Debbie and Dennis and so they'rethey're in I think it's Ohio actually is
where they're from. And Dennis isdeaf. But Debbie when when when before

(21:37):
the pandemic, Dennis could read Debbie'slips. Debbie was a volunteer, Dennis
was a client. But when thepandemic happened and then Debbie had to you
know, everybody was wearing masks.She was worried about being able to communicate
with Dennis. So she learned Americansign language, she taught herself on Google,
and he became, you know,her teacher. I mean she would

(21:59):
try learn and he would teacher,and you know they've stayed very close and
that enabled that connection to continue throughoutthe pandemic. Those are just a couple
of examples of sort of the storiesthat you hear every day. I mean,
just the life changing. I meanwe get letters all the time saying
thank you, you saved my life. You know, I fell after the
volunteer came on a Friday evening andI knew that they would be their Monday

(22:22):
to check on me. I mean, these are real stories, these are
real lives. It just shows thevital lifeline that Meals on Wheels provides on
a day to day basis. Wow, touching. Thanks for sharing all that.
As we wrap up our conversation,Ellie, I'd like to give the
floor to you and just maybe somefinal takeaways for our listeners about Meals on
Wheels America and just some final thoughts. So the floor is yours. Thanks

(22:45):
Dennis Well. I guess I wouldjust say to the listeners here that many
of us don't realize that senior hungerand isolation are growing epidemics. They're happening
behind closed doors, so we callthem silent epidemics, but they are real
and they're growing, and each ofus can do a small part in making
a big difference in a senior's life. A little fact that I like to

(23:10):
always mention is that we can providemeals on wheels, which is a meal,
a visit, a social connection toa senior for an entire year,
for the same cost as that seniorbeing in the hospital for one day or
a nursing home for ten. Andyou know, it's the kind of thing
about neighbors helping neighbors. We don'tknow who in our neighborhood may may need

(23:33):
us to just check in on them. We probably have friends, relatives,
former teachers that could use just someonethat knows that is checking in on them.
So I would just encourage our listenersto do what they can do.
A little bit goes a long way, and thank you for that. Puts
everything in perspective too. All right, let's give the website. If somebody

(23:55):
wants to volunteer, donate, maybethey want to meet larger partners with you.
How do they go about doing that, and what is the website?
So it's Meals on Wheels America dotorg, slash donate or slash volunteer.
You Once you get on the website, it's very easy to navigate and to
find whatever it is. It wouldmotivate you to want to support your local

(24:18):
program or support Meals and Wheels nationally. It is. It's a beautiful website.
So listen, Nellie, I appreciateyou doing this. I know how
busy you and your team are,but keep up the great work, continued
success. And I know that youknow you've been at different places throughout your
career and you've done some big stints. But I think it says a lot
about Meals and Wheels America that you'vebeen there for over a decade. They're
treating you well, you're treating themwell, and I think you're getting a

(24:41):
lot of it as a leader,and that really means a lot. In
this series that we talked to somebodythat has been at a place for so
long that both sides are reciprocating inthe relationship and everybody's winning, and that's
what it's all about with your leadership. Thanks again for joining us on CEOs.
You should know and continue success.Thanks so much, Dennis. Our
community partner, M and T Banksupports CEOs you should know as part of

(25:02):
their ongoing commitment to building strong communities, and that starts by backing the businesses
within them. As a bank forcommunities, M and T believes in dedicating
time, talent, and resources tohelp local businesses thrive because when businesses succeed,
our communities succeed.