Samantha Z., Program Manager, Toast.org

Today we're sharing our inaugural Toast.org Impact Award winners. These recipients were selected during Toast.org's fourth annual Season of Giving, a month-long initiative that unites the strength of Toast’s people, products, and philanthropy to support organizations tackling food insecurity in the communities where we live and work around the globe.

This new annual program celebrates Toasters who go above and beyond in supporting Toast.org’s impact pillars: food, community, and environment. There are four award categories– three for individual Toasters and one for a team. The winners received a special Toast.org gift and a donation of $2,500 made in their name to an organization of their choice. Read more about the awards below:

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Local Leader: Noelle Holdsworth, Employer Brand Senior Manager & Toast.org Atlanta Committee Lead

This award honors a Toast.org Local Committee Chair who has demonstrated exceptional leadership throughout the year. This may include organizing events, fostering effective communication with Toasters in their region, and driving local engagement.

One of the nominators wrote, “Noelle is a true champion of Toast.org's mission. She brings the Atlanta community together to give back, empowers various Toast Communities to get involved, and even runs regular food rescue routes on her own. She often reminds Toasters across the company about Toast.org opportunities and shares her own personal stories about getting involved to inspire and motivate others.”

Congratulations, Noelle!

Cause Champion: Maria Anander, Design Operations Program Manager

This award celebrates a Toaster who has actively championed a specific cause or issue area within one of the three pillars of Toast.org (food, community, environment), making a meaningful impact through their advocacy and contributions.

The nominator wrote "Maria's passion and commitment to ensuring inclusivity has had a tangible impact on both our product and our company culture. She has championed accessibility through training programs, making it easier for teams across Toast Design to understand and prioritize accessibility in their work. By setting clear standards and pushing for accessibility testing, she has helped us create tools that work for everyone, including users with disabilities.”

Congratulations, Maria! You are truly a champion for all communities!

Customer Changemaker: Lauren Ettlinger, Senior Learning Designer

This award honors a Toaster who has empowered customers to drive impact across food, community, and environmental causes, helping them become changemakers in their communities. This may include building or promoting Toast.org product features such as Fundraising and Food Waste Reduction, partnering on volunteer or social impact initiatives, or other creative engagement tactics.

The nominator wrote “Lauren is deeply passionate about sharing the story of Toast.org’s product suite, particularly how features like Fundraising and Food Waste Tracking are driving real change. She is currently leading a video campaign to bring these "changemaker" stories to life, going on-site with restaurants using these features, in an effort to inspire others to take action in their own communities.”

Congratulations, Lauren!

Community Builders: Toast.org Ireland Committee

This award recognizes a group of Toasters who collaborated on a significant community impact project. This could be a Toast.org committee, an employee resource group (ERG), or a team that volunteered together.

The nominator wrote “The Ireland committee worked really hard over a number of months to years to build a solid partnership with Airfield Estate which led to the launch of the Airfield Community Garden sponsored by Toast.org. The Airfield Community Garden is a shared community space for people to come together and learn about sustainable food production, meet with like-minded people, and get their hands dirty helping in the garden and with the harvest of food crops. The committee organised a number of very popular volunteering events from the beginning of the partnership leading up to the launch, and has since returned to plant, prune, paint and more!”

Thank you all for your teamwork to make a significant difference!

Thank you to all of our winners for your incredible work and dedication to living our Toast.org mission. Your passion and commitment to driving positive change are truly inspiring, and your impact is something to be proud of. We’re so grateful for everything you’ve done and can’t wait to see what you accomplish next!