Odonna Mathews

Odonna Mathews is President of Odonna Mathews Consulting, specializing in consumer communications, health and food safety initiatives as well as media skills presentations. Odonna also provides voiceover talent for various organizations. She is a speaker at numerous industry conferences and has over 30 years of experience in the food industry.

Formerly she was Vice President - Consumer Affairs for Giant Food and Stop & Shop Supermarkets, which represent 550 stores on the East Coast. Her responsibilities included developing consumer programs and keeping management informed of changing consumer concerns and issues. She was responsible for handling all customer communications for the company and is well known in the Washington area for her consumer messages on local radio and television stations as well as in Giant's weekly circular.

Ms. Mathews served as Director of Consumer Affairs when Esther Peterson left Giant in 1977 to serve as President Carter's Special Assistant for Consumer Affairs. In 1984, Ms. Mathews was promoted to the position of Vice President. In September 2005, Odonna Mathews retired after 33 years of service with the company.

Ms. Mathews received a Bachelor of Science degree in Management and Consumer Studies  and her master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Maryland. She was selected as the l981 recipient of the Alumni Award of Distinction by the University of Maryland's College of Human Ecology. The University also honored her in l998 with the President's Distinguished Alumnus Award which is presented to an alumnus or alumna who has been nationally recognized for excellence in his/her profession or field of endeavor.

She received the 2005 Esther Peterson Consumer Service Award from the Food Marketing Institute in recognition of a lifetime of dedicated service to consumers and for consistently promoting the highest standards for nutrition, food safety and availability of consumer information, thereby helping the food industry better serve their customers. She was also named a member of the Maryland Food Industry Hall of Fame for 2006.

Ms. Mathews currently serves on the Corporate Advisory Committee for the Food Marketing Institute's Partnership for Food Safety Education. She is currently a member of the University of Maryland Board of Visitors for the College of Health and Human Performance.She has recorded various public service spots for the Capital Area Food Bank. She has been a Board member of the National Consumers League and the University of Maryland Alumni Association Board of Governors. In l997, she was honored as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women, awarded by The Daily Record and she received the N.M. Cohen Award, Giant's top recognition for outstanding service to the company. She received the “Outstanding Woman” award in 2004 from the Southern Prince George's County Business & Professional Women's Club.

Ms. Mathews formerly served as a Board member of the National Capital Area Chapter of the American Red Cross and was past President for the D.C. Chapter for the Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals and received its Distinguished Member Award in 1987. She was also a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Dietary Guidelines Implementation, is past Chairman of the Food Marketing Institute's Consumer Affairs Committee and is past Chairperson of Giant's United Way Campaign.