Gabriella Snyder Stelmack

Mystic Valley

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If you had told Bread of Life’s Gabriella Snyder Stelmack 40 years ago that she would become the executive director of one of the largest food security organizations in Massachusetts, she probably would not have believed you. Born in upstate New York, Snyder Stelmack came to Boston in the hopes of becoming a singer. However, after being introduced to food insecurity work through a role at TriCAP in Malden, she felt drawn to continue down the nonprofit path, leading her to join Bread of Life in 1991 and eventually become executive director in 2018.

Beyond providing food (over 1.5 million pounds of it per year), Snyder Stelmack describes Bread of Life as a place where people can find community. “People obviously come to us for food, but Bread of Life also provides an opportunity to give back and become part of the work,” she says.

The organization has come a long way since its inception. This August, Bread of Life opened a new headquarters in downtown Malden. The facility brings all Bread of Life programming under one roof: food pantries, evening meals, and more. “It’s wonderful to see the community come together, because no one person can do this work alone,” says Snyder Stelmack. 

Snyder Stelmack knows there’s a lot of work left to be done. “We know we can’t solve all the world’s problems, but we can assist people during times of trouble,” she says. “This isn’t about my impact; it’s a community effort.”