Debbie Espinosa, MPS, CNP

Las raíces culturales de Debbie de dedicación a la familia, la comunidad y el cuidado de los necesitados han sido la base de su pasión por trabajar en el sector sin fines de lucro. Como hija de una familia de inmigrantes filipinos, atribuye la base de su fuerza interior y carácter a las lecciones aprendidas del viaje de su familia a los Estados Unidos. Sobre la base de su creencia de que el sueño americano se puede lograr a través del trabajo duro, la perseverancia y el cuidado de los demás antes que de uno mismo, en febrero de 2018, Debbie se convirtió en presidenta y directora ejecutiva de FIND Food Bank, el banco regional de alimentos del desierto.

With over 30 years as an experienced Non-profit professional, Debbie’s both planned and serendipitous path has afforded her experiences at the regional, national, and international levels. These include Director of Programs for the Contra Costa and Solano area (overseeing a 16 county food bank in Northern, CA), the Compliance and Capacity Development Manager for 37 food banks in the Southwest Sector of the US at the National Office of Feeding America, Special Assistant to the CEO of Fair Trade USA and Branch Executive for the Oakland YMCA, and the Strategic Programs and Operations consultant for the Global Food Banking Network and Walmart Mexico y Centro America. There she supported the development of the first national food banking networks in Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. Recognized for her work in nonprofit management and hunger relief Debbie has keynoted and led workshops at 5 national conferences in these subjects. From 2015-2017 she served as the National President of the Association of Certified Non-Profit Professionals. In 2015, she was featured in the Revisión de negocios de la Universidad de Baylor for her “hard-core business acumen” in cross-sector management of both Non-Profits and For-Profits. In 2017, she was a nominee for the Independent Sector’s NexGen award and was presented with a national Non-Profit Leadership Award by the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance. In 2021, she was featured in multiple local, state, and articulos nacionales por su capacidad de pivotar FIND para servir a más de 190,000 personas con inseguridad alimentaria (más de un 110% aumento de personas) within 6 weeks of the onset of the covid pandemic. In 2022, she was awarded the Mary T. Roche Award from the Woman’s Leaders Forum of The Coachella Valley. In 2024, she was awarded the Women in Leadership Award for Non Profits by Palm Springs Life Magazine.

Debbie currently and has severed in national positions in the Feeding America (FA) Network, the largest nonprofit in the United States. She is a member and the immediate Past Chair of the FA National Advisory Council, which is the top decision making body for the network, focused on overall strategy and innovation of the 200 Feeding America Network food banks in the US. She has also served as a member of the Feeding America Contract Task Force, the National Feeding America Strategic Framework Planning Council, whose goal is to establish the national 2030 Strategic Framework for the Feeding America network of food banks, and the Feeding America National Board of Directors. Additionally, she currently serves on the Non-Profit Leadership Alliance National Board, and the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) Riverside County Board.

Debbie creció en Puyallup, WA, y se mudó a California después de graduarse de la universidad. Ella se enorgullece de reclamar el noroeste del Pacífico y California como sus hogares. Su educación incluye el Programa de Bachillerato Internacional, una Licenciatura en Artes de la Universidad de Rockhurst con una doble especialización en Religión y Sociología Comparada con una especialización en Servicio Humano, una Maestría en Estudios Profesionales en Desarrollo Comunitario y Económico de la Universidad de Penn State, y está certificada Profesional sin fines de lucro (CNP).

Most importantly, Debbie has two wonderful daughters, a college student and a recent college grad, and a one-eyed Shih Tzu named Pabu (“Paw-boo”).  Because of her passion for feeding people combined with her love for the Arts and all things outdoors (gardening, golfing, hiking, skiing, basking in the sun), the beautiful Coachella Valley makes her feel like she’s “Living the Dream” every day.