Mackenzie Fankell, left, and ‘Thirty Under 30’ teammate Erin Taylor unpack some produce at the Fish & Loaves Food Pantry in Taylor, MI. The ‘client-choice’ pantry resembles a supermarket.
Friendship and the Food Pantry
These two young Ford employees found common ground while participating in “Thirty Under 30,” the company’s year-long community service program that opened their eyes to the extent of food insecurity in southeast Michigan.
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Mackenzie Fankell and Erin Taylor didn’t know each other in early 2017 when they applied to “Thirty Under 30,” Ford’s year-long program that allows its younger employees to step away from their desks for a few hours a week to work closely with local nonprofits that serve the community.
Both women were assigned to a group of five peers from across the company who would work with a local food pantry. At one meeting early on, Mackenzie, an analytics scientist and third-generation Ford employee, had a bonding moment with Erin, an engineer who had recently moved to Michigan from Ohio. “We were discussing our grandmothers. They are both at an age that they aren't expected to snow-blow their driveways.” Mackenzie recalls. “But they insist on doing it themselves. I love that the two of us come from a long line of strong women.”
Fresh mangoes are available to clients, who may not otherwise be able to afford or have access to seasonal produce; Fankell, a former Girl Scout, has been actively involved in the community from a young age.
That strength came in handy during the program’s intense ideation process, for which both women took a deep dive into the issue of food insecurity—the lack of consistent access to food. Mackenzie, for one, was excited to put her job skills to use outside of the office. “I’d done a lot of community service work in the past, including Teach For America, but I’d never done anything that tapped into my specific skill set.” she says.
Erin first learned of the three-year-old program, run by the Ford Motor Company Fund, weeks after moving from Akron, Ohio, to join the company. “I was new to southeast Michigan, and saw this as a great opportunity to get involved in the community,” she recalls. Both women were among 300 applicants to the competitive program.
During her team’s research phase, Taylor bagged groceries and stocked shelves at the food pantry; Ford employees (including the ones pictured above) are encouraged to take occasional days off to volunteer.
Erin and Mackenzie got to know each other better as they spent time with both volunteers and clients at Fish & Loaves, a food pantry in Taylor, MI. The women and their team members observed that the facility relied solely on paper to keep track of volunteer schedules and inventory, which was eating into the volunteers’ time.
The “Thirty Under 30” fellows used a problem-solving approach known as ‘design thinking,’ developed by the Henry Ford Learning Institute, to generate ideas for bar-code technologies that will help the non-profit run more efficiently. During the team’s brainstorming sessions, Erin and Mackenzie struck the perfect balance. “I get excited about generating lots of ideas,” says Mackenzie. “Erin’s good at taking a step back, reflecting on our ideas, and asking good questions.”
"We're both data-driven and people-driven."
— Erin Taylor, 2017 fellow, Ford’s “Thirty Under 30” program
As Mary Hollens, Fish & Loaves’ Executive Director, points out, “The work the 2017 ‘Thirty Under 30’ fellows have done here has made a tremendous difference.”; Fankell, left, with Taylor and Hollens, inspects a new shipment of potatoes.
The year-long program ended in late 2017, but Erin and Mackenzie’s group is still working to improve Fish & Loaves’ technology, thanks to a Ford grant they received to continue work on the project.
Mary Hollens, Fish & Loaves’ Executive Director, is thrilled with the ideas that the “Thirty Under 30” team generated for updating the food pantry’s antiquated systems. “The more we can automate, the more we can serve. We can know exactly what our resources are and how we’re using them,” she says.
Both Mackenzie and Erin are excited to evolve the barcode system—and their friendship. “You don’t necessarily meet people often who love their jobs but feel there’s that one piece that’s missing: giving back to the community,” Mackenzie explains. “When I spoke to Erin, I realized that there are others like me out there, and it’s a special bond.”
