As Associate Director of Philanthropy, Valerie has the honor of building trusted partnerships with visionary philanthropists and foundations who are investing deeply in our lasting solution to rural poverty. 

Valerie began her journey on our team as the first Regional Representative in Houston, Texas, in 2016. Valerie spent 5 years joyfully building new partnerships with families, churches, and foundations across Texas to support the global work of Plant With Purpose. Over the next 5 years, Valerie helped pioneer significant tree-planting partnerships including with TerraFund for AFR100 where our DRC program was chosen in the top 20 African-led restoration projects out of over 3,200 applicants. 

Previously in her career, Valerie was an Advocacy Advisor with Save the Children International in New York, following receiving her Master’s degree in International Relations from McGill University. After 10 years of living in the U.S. (New York and Houston), Valerie is excited to be back in her hometown, Toronto, Canada where she delights in raising her 6 year old triplet boys and enjoys playing volleyball, rock climbing and reading in her spare time.