Chattanooga Food Bank hires fundraising, advocacy leaders

The Chattanooga Area Food Bank recently hired Dominique Brandt as chief development officer and Jeannine Carpenter as director of advocacy. This is part of the Food Bank’s

five-year strategic plan to mobilize the community in the fight to end hunger, according to a news release.

“We’re fortunate to have access to a wealth of talent in our own backyard, with Dominique’s corporate and nonprofit experience and from the advocacy community with Jeannine,” said Food Bank President and CEO Melissa Blevins in the release. “Both bring years of experience from their fields to strengthen our mission and vision, while furthering our resources and our ability to serve our communities while building pathways to long-term stability in southeast Tennessee and northwest Georgia.”

Brandt has 25 years of fundraising, organizational visioning, event and volunteer management, and community engagement experience, 13 of which have been spent in nonprofit organizations. Beginning at Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami, Brandt moved to Chattanooga in 2013 to serve as development director at Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga, where she grew faith-based giving, established the endowment fund and launched the Women Build Breakfast.

Before joining the Chattanooga Area Food Bank, Carpenter worked as the director of research and policy at the Women’s Fund of Greater Chattanooga. While at the Women’s Fund, she wrote legislation, advocated on behalf of women’s issues and led advocacy education programming, according to the release. Carpenter received a PhD in Sociolinguistics from Duke University, a Master’s Degree in English language studies and a Bachelor of Arts from North Carolina State University.