From Maine, With Love - An Allagash Brewing Podcast

S2 Episode 3: Helping Immigrant Women Find their Voice in Maine

• Allagash Brewing Company • Season 2 • Episode 3

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Claudette Ndayininahaze came to America as an executive with 15 years of experience in the brewing industry back in her home of Burundi. When she arrived in Maine, she could only find work in housekeeping. So, she decided to lift herself by lifting others.

By starting In Her Presence, an organization built around English language learning, Claudette and her team is helping immigrant women in Maine not just find their footing, but thrive—for the betterment of themselves and our community as a whole.

In this episode, Jeff Pillet-Shore, our Marketing Director, and Zoe Malia, our Sustainability Coordinator, chat with Claudette and Mary of In Her Presence about their mission, their journeys, and how we’ve created a durable, and fruitful, relationship between our organizations.


Jeff Pillet-Shore:

This is from Maine with Love, an Allagash Brewing podcast, where we talk about beer, our community here in Maine, and things that generally make us happy. I'm Jeff Pillet-Shore Marketing Director, and I'm joined here today by Zoe Malia, our sustainability coordinator, Claudette Ndayininahaze, co-founder and executive director of her presence in Mary Faulkner, the Chief Impact Officer of in Her presence. Because Zoe and I have had the honor of working so closely within her presence over the years, we thought this would make for a special and fun conversation to share the work that they've been doing and how honored we've been to support them over the years.

Brett Willis:

That's the voice of Jeff Pillet-Shore, our marketing director here at Allagash. And it's for a reason, uh, because I'm actually not on this episode, and it's not just because I was sick, which I actually was. Uh, it's because we are talking to in Her Presence, which is just a really inspiring organization that works with immigrant women here in Portland, Maine, uh, and beyond, and who we've been lucky enough to form a pretty deep relationship with, uh, through a bunch of different people on staff. And so Jeff and Zoe, Malia, our sustainability coordinator, actually have both had really cool, interesting in depth experiences within her presence in just such unequivocally positive ways. And, uh, it was a really cool one, honestly, for me to hear secondhand, uh, just because, you know, I knew some of these stories, but hearing it from Claudette, from Mary, from Jeff and Zoe is just, uh, you know, it has a separate sort of power that, uh, you know, you couldn't get any other way. So if you want to hear more about the relationship between beer and helping immigrant women find their place and thrive here in, uh, Portland, Maine, then this is the episode for you

Jeff Pillet-Shore:

Carrying on the tradition that Brett has bravely set for us. We always like to start off with a little bit of a, a, an icebreaker, a bit of a secret question. So, uh, these are prepared for me. It's actually like, uh, double blind. And so, um, I'll start off with a question for Claudette. What is your favorite soup to make?

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

So, my favorite soup is a mix of different veggies, carrots, um, spinach, uh, squash, onions, all those veggies together. They make the beauty and beautifuls.

Jeff Pillet-Shore:

Oh my gosh, I can picture that right now. I can picture that right now. That is amazing. I think we now have a new meal idea for the next time we get together.<laugh>, uh, Zoe, would you like to the honor of the next question?

Zoe Malia:

Yes, absolutely. Um, Mary, hi<laugh>. Hi. Um, what was the subject of the favorite photo you've

Mary Faulkner:

Ever taken? Oh, that's a tough one because I, I'd like to take pictures, a lot of pictures. I took pictures of all of you just a second ago. Mm-hmm.<affirmative> before we started. Um, my favorite picture, the first one that popped into my mind is a picture of my dog,<laugh>. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. He looked really cute with one ear flipped back over next to his favorite toy. What's his name? Honus. Oh, that's the good news. Yeah.

Jeff Pillet-Shore:

Wow. Is that a baseball reference? It

Mary Faulkner:

Is. Honus Wagner. You got it.

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

Oh,

Jeff Pillet-Shore:

I thought it was, oh, that's that funny. That is much better than I even imagined. Yeah, that is fantastic.<laugh>. Uh, wow. Well, on, on that note, with the ice broken, um, you know, as I mentioned, we've been, we've, we've had the honor of knowing you and working with you for many years. And I think where I wanted to just start the conversation is really just understanding how, when you want to introduce someone new, someone who isn't familiar within her presence to the work that you're doing, how do you talk about it? Can you sort of introduce us to, and help us understand what you are striving to do within her presence?

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

So when we, uh, we want to introduce someone to our work first, I think we meet face-to-face because in person I think is more at attracting, of course, during the pandemic, we have been, um, doing that on Zoom, but I think in person is more attractive than we set up the meeting and we talk about what we do. And there there's an engagement, I think of the passion we have for our work and the impact we are making in the community to see and the interest from the person we are talking with.

Mary Faulkner:

To add on to what Claudette said, when, when I am asked by my friends, um, you know, what kind of work do you do? I tell them, I work with immigrant women. I work for an organization that empowers immigrant women and families, um, to speak English, find jobs, and connect with the community in Maine so they feel comfortable here because this is where they're gonna live and make it their home.

Jeff Pillet-Shore:

That's incredible. When you first started, and, and I think if you can tell us the origin story of in her presence, how did it start? Who started it and what was the need that you first saw that you wanted to meet?

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

So I actually start the organization, and that was my idea, uh, because, uh, back home, uh, I used to work with people to support people. I was, um, into, uh, I was a girl scout, maybe you didn't know that. So I was a girl scout. It's all making sense now.<laugh>. Yeah. I was a girl scout that I was a girl scout, and also I was involved with, uh, Heineken company, um, during the, going to the market building relationship and, uh, client satisfaction. And from that, uh, I learned how to support people. And when I came here, it was so hard to be supported because you leave everything behind. Uh, all the, the, all the, the food, your job, your family, everything is behind. There is a corrective, uh, loss you have and you carry on when you come here and arriving here, it was so hard. I didn't have anyone to hold my hands and to coach me to show me where I need to go, all the pathway to the integration. And then, um, I realized someone needs to stand up for others. And I did, but I don't, I didn't want to do it as someone coming from Burundi, only one community, I needed to be inclusive because where I was working, I was getting anyone knocking at the door. And also having the women coming here, single, seeing single women coming, uh, women having children has been, but I felt the woman was kind of the pilot and having everything on her shoulder. And then we decided to initiate the, in her presence, Dedicated for women. And I was Mickey Bondo from the DRC.

Mary Faulkner:

So when I joined in her presence five years ago, um, in her presence, the main focus was just English classes one day a week. Um, and I was inspired by Claudette's story where, you know, she had been an executive at Heineken for 17 years and arrived here and could only find a job in housekeeping. And of course that was such a surprising revelation to me. And yet not that surprising because if you don't speak English, you, you can't show your skills as an executive. Um, so as a someone who has a background in teaching English and in the business world, I found it just incredibly, um, motivating that there was a whole group of immigrant women coming, living in Maine already and, and coming all the time that were in similar circumstances. So since that time in her presence has grown significantly, we have classes now almost every day of the week except for Sunday. Um, and we've developed a lot more programming and I am honored to work with her for time.

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

Yeah. One thing I can add, uh, thank you, Mary. One thing I can add is, um, so when we began the, um, the organization, we didn't picture the language, as I say, it was so hard to navigate the system, the complexity of the system. Then we explored the yoga class back in 2015, and from that we were 12 women. And from that setting up and platform transcended the language because that's what we were lacking, everybody who were doing the yoga class,

Jeff Pillet-Shore:

That story is so amazing cuz it's, it's like a perfect microcosm of the ways in which, in her presence is so much about language, but so much more than just language. You know, it's, it's like how does yoga fit into this thing? Isn't it just job training or isn't it just, but it's, it's so much bigger than that.

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

Yes,

Mary Faulkner:

Yes,

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

That's true.

Mary Faulkner:

We've taken a whole person approach because, because obviously, you know, people don't succeed in their jobs if they don't feel good, if they're not healthy, if they don't know how to access services or just even get around the city, there are a million things that can keep somebody from being successful in their job. And it's, if you don't take time to address each one of those things, if someone doesn't help people figure that out, they're never gonna be the best possible employee. So we have developed a really personal, individualized approach to our training programs, um, that we've had a lot of success with, and that women seem to respond to these deep personal relationships create in her presence, feeling as a family, it's a family for me. And we think of everyone who participates as members of a family. So yeah, do all things with love, I think.

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

And what we have seen, um, most of organization, they do address the basic needs, but they don't go beyond and create an independence for someone. And that for us, for in her presence, that's our goal. How do we sustain how someone can come learn English, but also create, um, uh, short, mid and long term for that person to succeed in their life so they can advocate for themselves and for their families, but also for the community. That's, I think, the goal and when you see our program are interconnected, as Mary say, it's the whole person, they are interconnected. Because when you just come to our program, there's the language first, of course, because if you don't have the language, you don't communicate. But there is the language, but they are also those, uh, backbone program created based on the needs for someone like the childcare. If you don't have anyone taking your child, how are you going to have time and have the language? So they are that leadership. So we have leadership and career, uh, program to see how can boost the leadership for our women and family so they can know how to be independent and sustain and integrate.

Zoe Malia:

That's really wonderful. You know, I've known both of you for a couple years, um, but to just hear you talk about it, uh, in this setting, and these are things that I get to see you do every day and get to work with you. But, um, yeah, hearing these stories and these connections is really incredible. Um, and one of the things, Mary, that you said is once you connect within her presence, you can never get away<laugh>, which is so incredibly true. Um, you know, I think many people at Allagash can relate with that. Uh, once, you know, we meet Claudette, Mary, or any other members from in her presence, we just want to keep connecting and keep learning from each other. Um, and I've learned so much from you both, um, but I would love to just hear how, how did you initially actually get connected with Allagash? I'm not sure what that first, um, connection was or how it happened. Claudette's laughing<laugh> sounds like it was probably a funny story.

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

Yeah, I'm laughing because I think, uh, I was there the first one, uh, who came looking for Allagash. And, uh, I, of course, as I said from the beginning, uh, I was an executive, uh, at the Heineken company producing beer and soft drinks, and that was my dream. And when I arrived here, oh, I thought I was going to join again the Heineken company or even any beer company because I had those skills. A unfortunately, as Mary said, I applied for many, many jobs and they didn't get any feedback. I was shocked and discouraged. Then I took the housekeeping, of course, that time, but around the, the classes, I had someone working at Wex who was actually doing volunteer work with, uh, assisting Marie in her class, Rebecca. And she connected with Jeff and introduced by an email. So time went by and then actually I came, I said, Jeff set up the, the meeting and I came here. And that time of course, I was looking for a job, but they said they didn't have any job<laugh>. And I was like, okay. So<laugh>, when I was, uh, looking at the, your website, I saw that, oh, you are involved in the community. So I turned my search for job to how in her presence can connect with Allagash. And that was happened that day. It was April 15th, 2018, and it was the deadline the last day for the deadline for that grant. I went back to my office, applied for that grant, and we got it. And that was the first thing how we connected.

Jeff Pillet-Shore:

That's a great story. As you think about what it was like working with us, I'm curious, what advice do you have for other organizations who might think I wanna work within her presence or I wanna work with another organization that does somewhat similar work? What if, if you're a company, how should that company think about working with, with you or organizations like you?

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

I think, uh, first, um, I have seen through Allagash there are people who are engaged people committed people who want to do the work. And I can see you, I can see that time Celine was not in the meeting or is the human resources manager. She was not in the meeting, but she came to see me because she heard that I have been with Hanuk. And that was my first connection, I think with her. And we kind of bond together. And I think, uh, some advice for, uh, other organization, how they can do is being engaged, not only having, just giving money. It's, it's good, it's not bad, but how do you benefit both for the partnership? How do you go beyond, as I said, going beyond the basic need? So how do you go beyond the financial support and then you engage your employees, you engage yourself, and then you engage even the whole community to do the work?

Mary Faulkner:

<laugh>, Claudette's pointing at me now,<laugh>. So I agree with Claudette that connecting and developing a deep relationship is the, is the best way to go longterm. I would add that a successful relationship for working with any nonprofit, um, that works with immigrants is simply to know that your organization has a strong curiosity and desire to learn about people from other cultures. Because it's that curiosity and open-mindedness and acceptance of differences that helps us overcome any potential miscommunications or misconceptions that inevitably arise in any human interactions. And since all of our organizations or companies, whether they're for-profit or non-profit, have people, there will be those kinds of, um, things that happen. So curiosity, open-mindedness, willingness to learn. If you have those things, you want to bring more people on board, I encourage you very much to reach out to any organization that works with immigrants and get to know them, get to know about their culture so that you have a deep understanding with them. I assure you that it can not only benefit your bottom line, but it can also just enrich the experience that you and your employees have. Um, as an organization,

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

Either of the acceptance, and to be honest, I can tell you how many have been, has been brave to raise the understanding and the awareness and bridge that gap, that cultural gap. It's not easy. It's not easy. It takes the courage and it takes the, um, the passion to do the work and to connect and to see how you can support the people. And if you don't have that, my milestone being, having that passion, you are not going to work with immigrants because they have a lot, they have a lot going on, they are struggling. And sometimes it doesn't depend on them. It's because all the pressure, the cu the system, everything they are going through. So you need to be patient and that's how you can succeed, be involved, come build, have a coffee, have a coffee, have a tea, uh, with someone. Build that relationship first and trust. And that is going to bridge all the relationship and knowledge and being together so you can succeed.

Zoe Malia:

I think, um, everything you said just completely resonated with me. Uh, learning, just thinking about my experience working within her presence. Um, you know, there were times where I was afraid to make a mistake or I might say the wrong thing. Um, and it can hold you back. And I think that's what's holding a lot of people. Maybe businesses back is you're afraid to jump in and cuz you don't wanna mess it up. But I think what you just said is, you know, have a coffee like that is so simple,<laugh> and it can make a really big impact for um, everyone and ask questions and be curious and be okay with making a mistake cuz it will happen. Like Mary just said, yes, it will happen, guarantee it. Um, but it's understanding how to navigate it and just, um, learning more about each other is, is such a beautiful, um, piece and part of community that I think you, you have been able to foster through her presence. And some of the most memorable, um, times that I've spent within her presence have been just listening. Just listening to what you have to say, what the women and their families, um, are going through to learn more about the system. You know, you you actually walked us through the legal system and the challenges that immigrants and asylum seekers and all the different categories that there are, uh, just here in the state of Maine and the us And it's, um, learning that just was shocking to me and eye-opening. It's not something that is by any means, um, easy to navigate. So yeah. Thank you for educating us. Um, it's, it's incredible.

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

I remember, uh, I remember Zoe<laugh>, I remember the FaceTime. We placed, uh, our first intern three years ago. I got a feedback from not telling that oh, she, she has a fear to, uh, supervise the intern mm-hmm.<affirmative> because you felt that you could offend him maybe into the communication or into everything you were working together. But I remember when we said together, then express yourself, then we had, uh, com compromise and see, see how you can do that? See how you can get feedback from the intern from also your employee, how you build, kind of bridge that relationship. And then it worked and the result was to hire him as giving him a position. Mm-hmm.

Zoe Malia:

<affirmative>,

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

That was great.

Zoe Malia:

Yeah.

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

Thank you for doing

Zoe Malia:

That. Thank you. Uh, so this is the internship that, um, we worked on within her presence. Was it really three years ago? Cause I feel like that's just mm-hmm.<affirmative> incredible. Yeah. Um, where, uh, a member from the, in her presence community came on board and uh, we built an internship around it and I got to be the mentor and yeah, like Claudette just said, I was so afraid of messing it up<laugh>. I was like, you want me to do this and I'm just gonna mess it up. And um, Claudette was, took time out of her day to come and to speak with me and to talk to me about trust and building relationships and that that's really at the core of, um, of this, you know, that's really what matters most. And, uh, and to learn from one another. And I learned so much that through that experience that I'm so grateful for. Um, and I got to get a wonderful coworker out of it as well. Um, that, uh, that was just incredible. So yeah, thank you for taking time, um, to make that happen. So that was, that was great.

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

And I think it was also, it was not only on your side Zoe mm-hmm.<affirmative>, it was also on the side of the intern

Zoe Malia:

Mm-hmm.<affirmative>. Yeah.

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

Because as we said, yes, the mainstream community, um, needs to, um, to take that step of increasing awareness and understanding of the immigrant community, but also the immigrant community needs to do the same. So these common space and intersection where we can meet together to build the community together. Otherwise, it doesn't work. It doesn't work. And it worked because we were also coaching the intern mm-hmm.<affirmative> to see Oh, because the fear you had being afraid he was also afraid mm-hmm.<affirmative> of the unknown, the other employees, because I think he was the only one in your department mm-hmm.<affirmative> as an immigrant. So I think we worked on both sides, but the result was

Zoe Malia:

Positive. Yeah, absolutely. In any relationship, right? You wanna both parties or all parties to be working. Yeah. If it's just one party, it's, it's probably not gonna go all that well. So you're totally right. Um, yeah, it was incredible, I think for both of us and to, to do that work on both sides was really impactful.

Jeff Pillet-Shore:

Could you tell us a little bit more about, uh, groups of women that you worked on? And this would, would really sort of a question both for Zoe and Claudette and Mary. Um, the, uh, there's a group in inside Allagash of, uh, uh, women and non-binary individuals who then worked with, uh, partners from in her presence to sort of, uh, learn how to communicate and speak English better. And I'm just curious to hear how that worked from your side, uh, Claudette and, and how that worked from your side, Zoe.

Mary Faulkner:

Absolutely. Um, so we were fortunate enough to have volunteers from Allagash, um, join one of my career development classes, um, at the point at which they were ready to do interview practice. So if you're not familiar with looking for a job in a foreign country, I will just tell you that it's different everywhere you go from one country to the next. And it's quite different for our students from Africa who come here to learn the style of interview and the expectations that we have as Americans. It's something that it isn't intuitive at all. Um, you do have to be taught the form, the formalities of, um, how to behave in an interview and what's an appropriate response to questions that you can expect at every single interview. So of course we build this in this practice into our programming. And, um, some ladies from Allagash came, we were online, they joined us on Zoom and we practiced and everybody was worried, very worried in the beginning. Um, there were many emails exchanged about what questions were going to be asked and what would be expected from both sides. Um, so we, we nailed down the questions. I practiced with my students. I am pretty sure that Allagash practiced on their side too. And then we came together and I tried to make everyone feel comfortable, but of course it's on Zoom. So I sent everyone into breakout rooms and then I just prayed that everything would go okay because I can't see them or hear them all at the same time anymore. I can only jump in and out of their virtual experiences. Um, but it was lovely. It worked out so, so well. Um, we got my immigrant women in face of someone that they had never met before, but that they understood to be a practice employer. They loved it, loved a chance to talk to someone who was a real businesswoman, unlike myself. He was just a teacher. Um,<laugh>. They, they absolutely loved it. They loved just the opportunity to, to talk to another American born person who could respond to them as proof that their English works, right? Oh, I tried this and they, they understood me, was one of the comments that I made. Yeah. I'm like, yes, of course they understood you, but it's amazing how many people even who have higher levels of English aren't able to make casual connections with Americans outside a a classroom environment. So to have the opportunity to speak to other people was really exciting. And then we came back together as a group. We talked about what was said, and we had, um, some people from the Allagash volunteers shared their experiences as well. Um, and then gave a ton of advice to my students about things to help them not feel nervous when they go to an interview or something interesting or funny that happened to them in an interview. So be prepared for anything but all kinds of real world experience that I've never even thought of including, um, came out of that discussion. So it was just an unbelievably wonderful, rich exchange of, um, of ideas. And they learned, my students learned so much from it. Um, we were so, so grateful and we would love to do that again.

Zoe Malia:

We would love to do it again. It was, uh, the women on our team, um, the folks, they were raving about it. Uh, after each session I had people come up that was incredible. I loved it so much. Um, uh, I learned so much with, you know, so and so that I was working with. They really connected and hit it off. Uh, so it was, it, it was such for both sides, um, so special. And I think also from our perspective, it was so eye-opening as well, you know, thinking about, oh my God, interviews, job interviews are the worst. Um, they're terrible, right?<laugh>. And so we're kind of all commiserating together and, um, in this like really pretty vulnerable space, it's, you're, you're putting yourself out there and that's scary. Um, but being able to do it in that classroom setting with other women was so supportive. Um, and I just was really, really inspired by your students. Um, a lot of them, you know, were at home. Uh, I got to meet and see some of their children, which was, I

Mary Faulkner:

Was

Zoe Malia:

Just like, this is so fun. Um, but also I would imagine so challenging. Like, they're here to learn, they're here to get a job and, um, they're practicing these skills that they can go out into the community and, um, apply them. So it was also just, uh, you know, acknowledging that challenge, um, as, as a woman and, and, and taking care of children or, or doing whatever they're doing. Um, but also seeing like, no, I'm here to do this and I'm going to, I'm gonna work really hard. And it was really special to just support just in any way we could, even if it was just listening, answering any questions we could. Um, so that's something we would absolutely love to continue to do, for sure. Um,

Jeff Pillet-Shore:

I, I think we just made Allagash podcast history. I think we actually just booked a project<laugh> on

Zoe Malia:

The podcast. I think so, yeah. We just committed for sure. That's awesome. Yes.

Jeff Pillet-Shore:

Yeah, for the next 20 minutes we will schedule meetings every month.

Zoe Malia:

<laugh>. Yeah. Um, and it was really fun at the end too. Cause we all got to meet in person. That's right. Yeah, that's right. We did a tour at the brewery and it was a blast. And your, your students had amazing questions and it was so much fun for all of us. So yeah, I think like completing that was really great and I would love to continue that work and I know a lot of people here would as well. Yeah.

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

I remember you were eating, uh, when we came here, we were eating together.

Zoe Malia:

Yeah, yeah. Yep. We shared a meal together. Um, yeah. And it was really special. Yeah.

Jeff Pillet-Shore:

I've been privileged over the years to hear different stories from different women that you've helped. I'm just curious, is there any standout experience that you can think of, of somebody whose life in her presence was able to impact in some very specific way? I, you know, I think hearing those stories is so extraordinary to recognize that the degree of fundamental challenges that folks are going through, and I'm, I'm wondering if you could tell us one of those stories yourself.

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

We have many stories. Have many stories. And for me, um, you know, the women leadership is not happening only when you get maybe high position. I think it's, for me, it's happening from the beginning when the woman is in touch with in her presence. And that's how the fire start and begins because they get to understand, oh, I can do more. I am not limited. And that, I think motivation. Mm-hmm.<affirmative> is giving the energy to the people to see how they can thrive and not survive in their community. So we place people in different jobs. High, uh, last year, last year we placed 38 mm-hmm. 38 people into high position.

Jeff Pillet-Shore:

That's Incredible. That's incredible.<laugh>.

Zoe Malia:

Oh my god.

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

<laugh>. Yeah. Wow. We, uh, we have different, the community initiative we create around the language, for example, it's also empowering the, the woman and showing them the pathway they can do, like in her kitchen, we were talking about food. So we take the skills of our women into the, the cooking, the cooking and nutrition, and then we bring that to another whatever, so they can use it and say, oh, I can maybe become, I can do my own restaurant in the future. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>.

Mary Faulkner:

Yeah. So Jeff asked who we can think of that we have impacted, and there are so many people. Um, but there are a few that really stand out in my mind. Um, we had five years ago, um, a group of ladies who started taking English classes, um, at the, they were located at Portland Public Library, and they had their kids in a separate room, and we had some volunteers teaching English with them. And these women didn't speak any English at all when they came here, um, and couldn't take classes anywhere else because they had young children that they couldn't leave alone. Um, and so they were this, this tiny group, and I remember when that tiny group got moved on up, kept getting moved up, and it got moved up to me eventually mm-hmm.<affirmative>. And I was so excited because these women had seen their own progress. They'd gone from zero level speakers, and I was teaching the quote unquote advanced class, which, um, isn't all that advanced, honestly, at that point. It wasn't. Um, but they were making big progress. And I can tell you that today, I can think of two of those women in particular. One of them is a student at SMCC getting a degree in social work. So Sure. And another of them, uh, you have met recently, uh, is working for Portland Trails a as an intercultural coordinator, and she is giving public presentations in English all the time. Um, these women were, you could tell then with no English, smart, motivated, hardworking. And those ladies, and this is not at all uncommon, but they worked jobs at night so they could study during the day, really around the clock over the last five years to try to improve themselves. And while there are many places in Portland that people can take English, and there are lots of organizations that are helping people, I would say that cluttered is right. What in her presence really has done for our women is to make them believe that they're, they have something to offer to help them think about and realize what it is they want to do, and believe that it's possible changing what and what someone believes matters so, so much. If you don't believe that you can achieve your goals, doesn't matter if your English is good or not, you have to believe and understand, you know, that you can do it to just, you know, keep going. So, um, I really love our leadership and empowerment piece. I think that's the magic, the secret sauce. Yes. I shouldn't be talking about it on a podcast<laugh>, given

Jeff Pillet-Shore:

It's, it's, it's incredible for me to hear it because I, I didn't know where that story was going. I've now met one of those women that you're talking about who's working with Portland Trails and, you know, you're talking about somebody who's, you know, literally transforming a community now mm-hmm.<affirmative> through her own work, and to think of where she was five years ago, but that you saw not even just that potential, but who she was sort of trapped in the trappings of, of, you know, a, a society that she wasn't from trying to figure that out. And that, you know, you enabled her to, to, you know, be in this place that she can make her community better is pretty extraordinary.

Mary Faulkner:

It's so exciting, it's so gratifying. And that's what motivates us every day to do. Yeah. This work. It's, it's really, really wonderful. And I think I'm really honored to be a part of it.

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

We are blessed to have you, Mary.

Mary Faulkner:

<laugh>,<laugh>. That's not what I meant.<laugh>.

Zoe Malia:

Interesting. Yeah. Um, well, Mary and Claudette, thank you so much for your time today and for all the work that you're doing in our community. Um, we feel extremely honored at Allagash to, to know you, um, just as individuals, but also to work with you, um, and, um, in her presence and all of the wonderful members that, uh, you support as

Jeff Pillet-Shore:

Well. I do still remember Claudette, what those first conversations were like, and, and honestly, you know, you're both patience and persistence with us as we, we sort of figured ourselves out as an organization to be able to sort of overcome those first, you know, what seemed scary in retrospect wasn't that big of a deal steps. Um, but they were, uh, intimidating at first. And, and, you know, it's thanks in part to your persistence and that, that we were able to get to where we are now and we're, we're better as an organization and people as a result. So yeah.

Mary Faulkner:

Thank

Zoe Malia:

You. Absolutely.

Claudette Ndayininahaze:

Thank you. And we are so grateful for everything you do, contribution, involvement, engagement, dedication, we all you,

Mary Faulkner:

We do love you. Thank you so much for having us.

Zoe Malia:

Thank you.

Speaker 7:

Woo.

Mary Faulkner:

<laugh>.

Speaker 8:

This has been an Allagash Brewing production. If you have something you'd like us to talk about on the show, send us a message. Podcast Allagash.