Gilda E. Nardone

Gilda E. Nardone is an American women's employment advocate and nonprofit director. She is the executive director of New Ventures Maine, a career counseling and employment development program for middle-aged and older women who have been thrust into the role of family breadwinner due to the death or disability of a spouse, divorce, or separation. Nardone has been one of the directors of the organization, headquartered at the University of Maine at Augusta, since its inception as the Maine Displaced Homemakers Program in 1978. She was inducted into the Maine Women's Hall of Fame in 1991.

Early life and education Nardone grew up in Presque Isle, Maine, United States, the daughter of Orlando Nardone and Sara (Sally) Culberson Nardone. She has one sister and one brother. Nardone attended Westbrook College in Portland, Maine on a scholarship and graduated with an associate degree, entering the workforce as a secretary. The program, headquartered at the University of Maine at Augusta, assisted middle-aged and older women thrust into the role of family breadwinner after the death or disability of a spouse, divorce, or separation. These women were called "displaced homemakers" because their original goal had been to nurture their families in the home rather than enter the workforce.

By 1993, 1,000 women annually were signing up for the program, In 2016 the program was rebranded as New Ventures Maine, with Nardone continuing as executive director.

Awards and honors In 2008, Nardone was named the Women in Business Champion by the Maine and New England chapters of the Small Business Administration. She is also the recipient of the 1989 Progress Award from the Maine Commission for Women, and the 1991 Maryann Hartman Award from the University of Maine Women's Studies Program. In December 2021, she received the Merle Nelson Women Making a Difference Award from New Ventures Maine.