Meet Taimi Ando, Barclay Friends' New Director of Culinary Services

Taimi Ando headshot 2

Taimi, who was born in Japan and moved to the U.S. at 17 years old, began his career with Kendal in 2014 as a hospitality intern at Kendal at Hanover.  The internship was provided through the partnership between Kendal and Friends Service Alliance (FSA).  Taimi was a student at Penn State when he gained experience in the community’s dining, housekeeping, facilities and grounds keeping departments. It was also at Kendal at Hanover that Taimi first met Kendal’s current Vice President of Culinary Services, Operations and Procurement, Ben Butler. Ben, who was then a director at Kendal at Hanover, would go on to stay in touch with Taimi and served as a helpful mentor and connection.

Taimi’s strong work ethic and willingness to network would soon lead to new opportunities. When Ben saw a dining room management position open at Collington in 2016, Taimi was at the top of his list. He reached out to the recent graduate and Taimi excitedly accepted. In this role, Taimi oversaw all of the front-of-house work, including catering, and training and scheduling dining room staff. He was later promoted to Interim Assistant Director of Hospitality where he oversaw dining and housekeeping. Recently, Taimi played a major role in updating Collington’s dining room guidelines and making new food safety changes in the wake of COVID-19. Along with Collington’s Director of Culinary Services Christian Ramsey, Taimi also helped prepare and open Collington’s latest bistro.

The connection Taimi has to Ben Butler once again helped him make the next move in his career to his new position at Barclay Friends. Ben reached out to Taimi immediately once the position opened.

Taimi, now in his seventh year with the organization, is looking forward to continuing his career at Barclay Friends and urges his fellow Kendal staff members to develop relationships across the system.

Congratulations, Taimi! 

Original Author: Michaela Paris for Kendal Corporation