Executives and Board
A tireless advocate for the hungry for more than 40 years, Catherine D’Amato assumed the leadership of GBFB in 1995. During her tenure, she has transformed GBFB into a $180 million charitable business and increased GBFB’s distribution from 7.5 million meals a year to nearly 90 million healthy meals per year. She has grown GBFB’s network to include 600 partner food pantries, meal programs and direct distribution sites across the 190 cities and towns in Eastern Massachusetts.
Under D’Amato’s guidance, GBFB was able to rise to the challenge of an unprecedented surge in hunger brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent affordability crisis that continues today with 1 in 3 people experiencing food insecurity here in Massachusetts according to GBFB’s research.
Pranita Amarasinghe joined the Greater Boston Food Bank as Chief Financial Officer in December of 2019. She is responsible for Finance, Accounting and Risk.
Prior to joining GBFB, Pranita was the Chief Operating Officer at Boston Senior Home Care (BSHC). In addition, Pranita has worked in senior positions at several non-profit organizations including Central Boston Elder Services (CBES), Cambridge Housing Authority (CHA), New England Organ Bank (NEOB) and the Mentor Network. Her major accomplishments in these positions include creating new programs to move tenants out of public housing at CHA, establishing new fiscal policies and procedures at NEOB and streamlining processes and creating efficiencies.
Pranita is a seasoned financial professional with over 30 years of experience with both non-profit and for-profit organizations. Her expertise includes budgeting & forecasting, management reporting, international financial reporting, multi-national audits, cash management, staff supervision, IT management and contract negotiations. For-profit experience includes the multi-national retailer, Gap, Inc. At Gap, she managed $2 billion in fixed assets through consolidation of multi-national accounts. Pranita received her financial training at Ernst & Young (E&Y). She earned both an MBA, and a BS in Business Administration, from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California. She is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in California and member of the Massachusetts Society of CPAs.
Cheryl Schondek is the Chief Operating Officer at The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB), overseeing the acquisition, and distribution of all healthy food, as well as managing the food procurement, the entire warehouse operation, building, facilities, budgets, transportation and logistics, inventory teams, volunteers and community impact including all partner agencies. Since joining GBFB, she and her team have grown GBFB’s food acquisition by more than 95% and increased the volume of fresh food for clients in eastern Massachusetts.
Prior to her decision to join GBFB in 2014, Schondek had a successful corporate career at Shaw’s/Star Market, Albertson Supermarkets for more than 25 years, managing perishable, nonperishable, private brands, supply chain, and product management departments. Schondek has received numerous recognitions for her many accomplishments throughout her tenure in food retail including the Griffin Report Women of Influence.
Schondek is highly active in the food industry, chairing the GBFB Food Industry Committee. She is an executive board member of the New England Food Foundation, serving as President, a board member of the New England Region of the Network of Executive Women, and a founding board member of the New England Produce Council. Cheryl was a member of the Supervalu Corporate Diversity and Inclusion Board and was the president of the Shaw’s Affinity Group – MESA, founded on Mentoring, Encouraging, Supporting and Achieving. Recently, she joined the Board of Directors for the Transportation Association of Massachusetts and is on the Board of Directors for Hope and Comfort, a local nonprofit with a mission to supply health and personal care items to families in need. Cheryl is also a Board member of the Newmarket Business Improvement District, serving on the safety and transportation subcommittees. Cheryl has a passion for learning, with degrees from the University of Vermont and Bridgewater State University and has completed course work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Executive Supply Chain session and Cornell University Produce Program.
O’Neil A.S. Outar is the Executive Vice President of Advancement for The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB), overseeing communications, fundraising, marketing, and public affairs.
Prior to joining GBFB, O’Neil spent 30 years in senior fundraising and engagement management roles at Rhode Island School of Design, the University of Pittsburgh, Harvard University, the University of Alberta, MIT, and Tufts University. Among his accomplishments, he has led or played leadership roles in campaigns ranging from $9 billion to $500 million and established the fundraising framework for signature programs in cancer research, energy, global partnerships, graduate education, and student leadership development.
Currently a Special Adviser to The Guyana Foundation, a member of the Advisory Board for the Harvard Data Sciences Review, and an Advisor to Project Citizenship, O’Neil was a past member of the Board of Directors for Project Citizenship, trustee of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, a Commonwealth Study Conference Leader, a Ditchley Scholar, a member of the World Economic Forum’s Knowledge Advisory Group, and an MIT Leader-to-Leader Fellow. A first-generation college graduate, O’Neil was born in New Amsterdam, Guyana, and is named in honor of his father’s favorite Australian cricketer, Norman O’Neill. He was educated in Brooklyn (N.Y.), New Hampshire, and Massachusetts and holds a Master of Arts in Urban and Environmental Public Policy and a Bachelor of Arts, both from Tufts University.