Business Leader honoree Liz Ostoich of Farm, The Front Porch, Tac/Quila, and Clandestino.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KELLY PULEIO
To lead is to serve. That message was clear in our interviews with the three outstanding local leaders who will be honored this month at Palm Springs Life’s annual Women Who Lead luncheon. The collective vernacular throughout these conversations emphasized themes of empathy, sacrifice, and support of diverse populations. Though each woman serves a different slice of the community pie, she does so with humility and a demonstrated desire to fulfill the needs of others.
“When you are offered a leadership position, it’s a gift you don’t take for granted,” says Debbie Espinosa, president and CEO of FIND Food Bank and this year’s Nonprofit Leader. Her fellow honorees — Business Leader Liz Ostoich and Rising Star Luisa Heredia — echo the sentiment.
Their leadership commitments are highly personal, and compassion guides their paths. Ego and pride pushed aside, they credit their staff, team, or colleagues for enabling their accomplishments and the ability to make a major impact in the communities of the Coachella Valley.
The 2024 Women Who Lead embody innovation, creativity, strength, and perseverance. Throughout their careers, many have told them they could never achieve their goals and were crazy to try. In spite of the obstacles, each one tried — perhaps tried again — and succeeded.
Their hearts for service also inspire. Through these women, we witness the power to transform what moves us into moving the needle and making a difference.
The Women Who Lead luncheon, presented by SBEMP Attorneys, takes place May 23 at The Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage. For more information and to secure your seat, visit palmspringslife.com/women-who-lead.
BUSINESS LEADER
Liz OstoichCo-Owner Farm, The Front Porch, Tac/Quila, and Clandestino
Former lawyers Liz Ostoich and her husband, Mark, left their practices in 2016 to become restaurateurs. They purchased a space in the historic La Plaza shopping district in downtown Palm Springs and opened Farm with eight employees. Tapping into their travels, the empty-nesters dropped a quaint parcel of the French countryside into a desert courtyard.
“I remember the first six months thinking, What have I done? I bet the bank on this. What happens if I fail?” Ostoich recalls. She pushed through her fear as a first-time business owner, problem-solving as she went. The process paralleled the days of earning her law degree and practicing as a young lawyer while raising their first child.
Eight years and three restaurants later, the couple supports 300 employees. Two of their original eight team members have risen through the ranks, from server to manager and from dishwasher to bartender, soon to be manager.
“We hold ourselves back from opportunities because we are afraid. Don’t be. Charge headlong into your dreams. Most things will work out if you try.”
The joy of feeding people, Ostoich says, means pouring into the future of her staff and crafting an unforgettable guest experience while meeting local needs. “This community is what makes us a success,” she says. “We give back because we believe it’s the right thing to do.” DAP Health, Dining Out for Life, Palm Springs Human Rights Commission, The Plaza Theatre, local law enforcement, LGBTQ+ organizations, and schools are among their beneficiaries. Ostoich also serves on several boards to donate “time, talent, and treasure.”
Managing a staff has taught her to step back and listen before reacting. “It’s a common mistake for leaders to think that nobody can do it better than they can,” she shares.
Farm ranks among OpenTable’s Top 100 romantic and outdoor dining restaurants in the United States. “I’m proud of our reviews,” Ostoich says. “But I’m most proud of our staff for creating an experience that results in those reviews. It takes everybody working very hard to produce timely, beautiful, quality meals.”
Luisa Heredia.
RISING STAR
Luisa Heredia
Chief Education & Community Engagement Officer Palm Springs Art Museum
Evolving the Palm Springs Art Museum into a more inclusive space is like a homecoming for Luisa Heredia. Born and raised in the Coachella Valley, she hails from a family who has served in the local education sector for generations. Her grandfather immigrated from the Philippines and her grandmother from Mexico, settling in the area as farmworkers.
“I am strongly rooted in this community,” she says. “My aim now is to create an environment where all of our communities and artists feel valued and embraced. And to make the museum a vibrant place reflective of where we are geographically and in this time period.”
To meet the challenge when she pivoted from academia to the museum world, Heredia leaned into her background — focused on institutional change and the arts — and embraced her habit of “doing things that are new and doing them anyway.” She was the first in her family to pursue a doctorate and leave the Coachella Valley for almost 30 years as she dedicated her research, teaching, and program development to community engagement and social justice. “I didn’t have a road map,” she says.
Heredia earned a bachelor’s degree from Notre Dame and a master’s and doctorate from Harvard University. She held positions at various institutions, most recently at Sarah Lawrence College where she earned tenure. “I think it’s important for our community to see this reflected in people who are in our leadership roles,” she notes.
“You bring so much more than a professional skillset. Our background, ideas, culture, and lived experiences are an important part of the value we add. Show up with your whole self and take up the space you rightfully deserve.”
Heredia’s return to the area opened a door to public programming for Desert X, then for the museum in a role she says feels tailor-made. “My team happens to be made up of all women of color and also reflects the geographic area, which has made a difference in engaging new audiences,” including programming such as free Family+ activity days and the Mythopoetica exhibition spotlighting regional artists that culminated in January. “We had 2,500 people attend our annual Day of the Dead event my first year. To see people come together across all of these different groups and feel like the museum was theirs on that day was a touching moment for me.”
Under the vision of her directorship, Heredia’s team is carving inroads for the museum to connect with and welcome those who have been historically underserved and amplify voices from marginalized groups. At the heart of it, she says, “being able to have that kind of impact is why I took the job.”
NONPROFIT LEADER
Debbie EspinosaPresident and CEO FIND Food Bank
“It’s very rare that people ever walk away from a Filipino house without taking food with them,” observes Debbie Espinosa, president and CEO of FIND Food Bank. “A lot of our culture is wrapped around food and making sure that people are well fed.”
That she has devoted most of her 30 years as a nonprofit professional to combatting hunger is partly “second nature.” The other part stems from her early work in youth development. “The kids were suffering from food insecurity,” she explains. “We couldn’t do afterschool programming on gang violence, suicide, and teenage pregnancy unless we fed them first.”
Debbie Espinosa.
Espinosa says her experience seeing people quietly struggling with insufficient nourishment in a country of abundance like the United States propels her passion for hunger relief.
In 2018, she started with FIND, a regional food bank for the Feeding America organization, and has since served as chair on the national council and on the national board of directors, then applied her findings locally. Beyond distributing fresh, healthy food, the organization maintains programs for workforce development, financial literacy, and youth leadership. Utility and housing assistance and Medi-Cal and CalFresh benefit information are also available.
“Think about others before yourself to be the best team player you can be. Do things with quality and efficiency. And make sure your work is something you can be proud of.”
When the COVID crisis hit, FIND doubled down on the frontlines, providing sustenance to 150,000 people per month (up from an average 90,000 monthly) along with COVID test kits. And after Espinosa, a single mom of two daughters, ages 19 and 21, received a breast cancer diagnosis last summer and endured surgeries and chemotherapy, she and her team at FIND partnered with Desert Care Network to spread the word about free mammograms during October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“That was turning my lemons into lemonade,” she says. “I learned that women, and primarily women of color, in low-income communities disproportionately have some of the highest rates of late-stage breast cancer diagnoses. We’ll continue to do that every October, as we continue to do the best we can for our neighbors. We call everybody that, because we are all neighbors in this community.”
FIND recently received a $3 million grant from Albertsons Companies Foundation and is expanding its facility by another 40,000 square feet. The organization’s work is never done, but Espinosa wishes otherwise. “My hope is that one day everybody will be food secure, and we will no longer be needed,” she says. “That would mean that everybody’s eating.”