Meet Nora McDonald, DG PENCIL Box Manager

PENCIL is thrilled to welcome Nora McDonald as the new manager of the DG PENCIL Box. In this role, Nora ensures MNPS educators enjoy a welcoming shopping experience while keeping the warehouse safe and organized for staff and volunteers. 

Nora has been part of Nashville’s nonprofit community since 2013, when she moved here for a year of AmeriCorps service with PENCIL. Since then, she has built a career focused on volunteer and community engagement, logistics, and program management. Her journey has included roles at Second Harvest, where she coordinated volunteers and later managed the Farm to Families program, and at the Nashville Food Project, where she served as Farm Manager at Mill Ridge Park. Across these experiences, Nora discovered her passion for community building and the joy of connecting people through meaningful work.

Most recently, Nora was part of the Corporate Volunteer Projects Team at Hands On, where she organized and supported a team of exceptional project managers to plan and facilitate large-scale corporate volunteer events throughout Nashville – ranging from school beautification projects to park cleanups – and helped lead community recovery efforts during times of natural disaster.

Q&A with Nora 

What about this position interests you? There are two main draws. First, I had a wonderful experience at PENCIL as an AmeriCorps member, so returning feels like coming full circle. Second, the chance to build community in such a meaningful way is different from much of my work in recent years, and that excites me. 

What excites you most about being here as DG PENCIL Box Manager? The team at PENCIL truly “walks the walk” of community building and caring for others – both externally and internally. It’s rare to find such a supportive environment, and I don’t take that for granted. I’m also eager to spend time with the educators who shop here. I know how hard they work, and I look forward to hearing their stories and making sure they feel seen and supported. 

What has surprised you so far? Seeing the value of teachers’ supplies quantified in real time has been eye-opening. I knew classroom supplies were expensive, but watching how much teachers would otherwise pay out of pocket to set their students up for success continues to amaze me. 

When you aren’t in the PENCIL Box, what do you enjoy doing? The gym is definitely my happy place—I love lifting weights. I also play music with my husband, Cody, and I’m currently training for my first marathon this spring with my best friend, Kellie (who is also a PENCIL AmeriCorps alum!). 

Any pets? Yes, several! I have a dramatic and hilarious red heeler mix named Poppy, two senior cats—Peanut, a vocal gray tabby, and Frasier, a sweet Siamese (fun fact: Frasier once came to work with me at PENCIL back in 2013!). And I also have twin boy rats, Castor and Pollux, who are very sweet and very smart, albeit a little stinky.