2011 Ruby Award Recipient
Lisa Houston
CEO and President
Lisa Houston moved to the Coachella Valley in 2001 from her native Canada. Since relocating to the desert she was active in the real estate land development business for many years. Recently, Ms. Houston has turned her attention and business acumen to the important issue of feeding the food challenged residents of the Coachella Valley. Lisa, presently is the CEO and President of FIND Food Bank, Inc., located in Indio, California. FIND has become the hub to a network of over 100 non-profit agencies throughout the Coachella Valley and High Desert, including: Martha’s Village and Kitchen, the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission, Well in the Desert, Food Now, Catholic Charities YMCA, Boys and Girls clubs and many other organizations.
Prior to taking over the CEO position at FIND, Ms. Houston owned a successful Financial Planning Company in Canada, where she was a licensed Certified Financial Planner and Stock broker. For the past eight years, Ms. Houston has held several positions on the Executive Board of College of the Desert Foundation, including Treasurer and President.
Married to local businessman Jim Houston, Jr., Lisa and Jim reside in Thermal, California, with their eight-year old son J.T. Although, Lisa and her family are involved in numerous charitable endeavors throughout the Coachella Valley, Lisa has found her true passion in her work with FIND. Her motto for success is “Dare to Dream.”
Each day, Lisa aspires to create opportunities for food challenged individuals and young people in the Coachella Valley to realize that anything is truly possible. Through the strategic plans of FIND Food Bank to ensure sufficient food is brought into the Coachella Valley to meet the needs of those families, seniors and homeless, that find themselves to be food insecure, to the first line of defense programs, case management and CalFresh (food stamps) assistance.
A ruby is a deep red gemstone associated with wisdom, importance, vitality, strength, vivacity, power and love: all words embodying the strong and compassionate women who are our award recipients.
The Soroptimist Ruby Award honors women who have worked to improve the lives of women and girls through their professional and/or volunteer work.
