Desiree is a seasoned executive with federal government and private sector experience. Most recently she was at AmeriCorps for three years first as Chief of Staff and then Director of AmeriCorps VISTA, where she is credited with a model Food Security Initiative (FSI).  Started in the fall of 2020, this initiative is a comprehensive and collaborative statewide approach to food security.  The first four states included in the initiative are Texas, Ohio, Maine, and New Hampshire.  In 2022, Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, and Puerto Rico were added to the project.

 

Desiree is mission driven; passionate about creating and delivering forward thinking initiatives, aligning resources, building partnerships, and rallying teams to inspire action and drive social change.  She is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). At AmeriCorps VISTA she prioritized DEI training for the staff and the agency. She managed a $98M budget, 32 staff, 700 Grantees and 7,000 volunteers.  

 

She has extensive experience in communications and public relations honed while at the U.S. Trade Administration, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of the Treasury. She was nominated by President George Bush and confirmed by the senate as Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and Private Sector Liaison, at the Department of the Treasury.  

 

Desiree believes in volunteering and giving back to the global community.  She has been volunteering since the third grade.  She is on the board of the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, the HCS Family Services, a local food pantry serving over 1,000 households a month and a volunteer for DuPage Pads providing interim housing to those temporarily experiencing homelessness.