Dominique Rust, 2025 Outstanding Women in Business Recipient

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Dominique Rust has been a mission-driven leader and community pioneer for over 30 years. In her role at Catholic Charities, she oversees the organization’s social services division, which collectively serves approximately 1-in-11 New Hampshire residents each year and includes programs like the NH Food Bank, St. Charles School in Rochester, New Generation in Greenland, Liberty House in Manchester, CareGivers of Greater Manchester and Greater Nashua, and Monadnock at Home in the Monadnock Region, among others. Additionally, Rust manages the implementation of technology to streamline service delivery and maintains collaborative relationships with state and community agencies.

What were the early days like at Catholic Charities?

I had been on the for-profit side of the world for a good number of years, and then had an opportunity to join Catholic Charities back in 1990. I first started out as their accounting manager, and over time, I had two or three different positions.

My first impression of Catholic Charities was interesting. Within my first couple of weeks on the job, I’m sitting in my office, which happened to overlook the front entrance, and this limo pulls up, which I thought was odd. And this camera crew and a couple comes out with balloons and everything. They were celebrating a child’s adoption. Seeing the joy of what was going on in their lives is something I never forgot. And it made such a profound impact on me where I said, “OK, this was the right move for me to move into the nonprofit world.”

It’s pretty commonplace these days that you move quickly from one job to the next — I’ve moved into a number of different positions but have stayed here. And the majority of that is based on the work that we do, trying to improve people’s lives.

How valuable is mentorship to you?

I have been privileged to have some great mentors, especially early in my career, who were just willing to take a chance. I was moving from a position in which I traveled the country doing trade shows. And as wonderful and exciting as that sounds, it wears on you after a while. And so, I was looking for what was next and had a great mentor who said, “come over to the accounting side. You’re pretty detail oriented. You’re used to running a little crew when you’re out on the field.”

Sometimes the mentors in your life are not the VP; it’s not the president, but it’s somebody you admire. So, my advice is to find that person and just talk with them about what they might suggest to you. And more importantly, to listen to their advice, because you have to be able to take feedback.

Ask the questions, be involved. But also, listen and communicate. Communicate what’s going on, even if it’s not good news.

What are the biggest challenges you’re seeing in your industry?

The challenges change all the time. We’re in a very interesting period right now. The needs are not different, but in the nonprofit world, how are we going to fund them going forward when we have been so reliant on federal and state funding? When you think about the headlines about the interest rates, inflation, people are having to make very difficult choices. But when you actually listen to those particular clients, when you’re listening to seniors talk about running out of money and making that decision between how are they going to make that prescription last longer? So, whether it’s seniors getting community services, or the mother with three kids who calls and they have no heat, they’re heartbreaking stories, but they’re real stories.

What advice would you give to a future female business leader?

Learn to have a conversation with grace. I’ve been told I’m direct by my boss a few times, and it took me a while to figure out how to have that conversation with grace, how to get my point across, but how to leave room in the conversation for both sides to win.

Don’t wait for someone to see your skill set. If there’s a position that you want and you’re qualified, you need to say so. Just because you have worked hard and done well doesn’t mean you know they’re waiting for you to say, “I’m interested in this position. I’m interested in moving up.” And if you don’t say so, you’re going to end up with hurt feelings.