At just 17 years old and still a junior in high school, Rhonda Adams chose to honor her mother’s dream by enlisting in the Army. In her senior year, Adams graduated in May and was deployed to the front lines by July.
“This was my opportunity to do something different,” Adams said.
After dedicating more than two decades of her life to serving her country, the 21-year veteran now carries the lessons she learned in the military to lead her local community. With approximately 617,790 people facing hunger in Wisconsin, Adams is once again on the front lines as executive director at the River Food Pantry, the busiest food pantry in south central Wisconsin.
“The military has a way of chasing you and molding you to the person that they want you to be,” Adams said. “Be compliant, be respectful, disciplined, head down, get the work done, get the job done.”
Since her childhood, Adams has continually grappled with the importance of serving others whenever and wherever possible. She grew up in a Christian household and was instilled with the teachings of Jesus that emphasized what it means to lead and support a community’s well-being.
“I get to make a lot of decisions, but my decisions are driven by the people that we serve,” Adams said.
After her military service, Adams spent a decade as division sales manager at Avon, a role she considers the pinnacle of her career. She explains that in the corporate world, leaders often wield power with an iron fist, imposing demands without justification rather than being receptive to constructive criticism.
Over time, Adams grew increasingly curious about the nature of human struggle and what distinguished those who experienced it from others, leading her to exit the corporate world to work in social services.
Charles McLimans, Adams’ predecessor and the first professional executive director of the River Food Pantry, recounts his first impressions of her.
“Her level of commitment to the mission and how much she really cares for people is something that impressed me right away,” McLimans said.
Eight months into his role as executive director, McLimans was responsible for hiring a new development director and decided to conduct the search himself. After interviewing several candidates, he explained that he wasn’t finding the caliber of candidates he was looking for until he asked to see Adams’ resume; she wass the operations director at the time.
He recalls asking her, “So, you took your team to number one in the world twice. How did you do that?”
Before Adams could respond, McLimans said that he already knew the answer. He explained that Adams’ success stemmed from her being both a people person and driven to succeed, qualities he says transcend transactional interactions and are rooted in building strong relationships.
Helen Osborn-Senatus, the operations director at the River Food Pantry, highlighted Adams’ strong work ethic.
“Her mindset, whether it’s work or fun, is always ‘how do we do this well?’” she said.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — and with little time to plan — McLimans and Adams were forced to transform an indoor shopping and meal experience to curbside and home deliveries.
“If we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die. But people are gonna eat,” McLimans said.
Adams, who recently celebrated her 60th birthday, describes herself as a “servant leader,” an approach to leadership that is fundamentally rooted in putting the needs of others first.
“That’s what servant leadership is all about,” she said. “It’s not about me, it’s about those we serve.”
