Dr. Denise Herrera, Senior Capacity Building Officer at St. David’s Foundation, works with the Community Investments team to ensure that philanthropy takes into consideration the organizational health of non-profits to achieve their mission. She oversees all aspects of the capacity building portfolio – which includes grant making, skill-building workshops, various learning collaboratives, and strengthening the non-profit ecosystem in Central Texas.
Denise has devoted much of her academic and philanthropic career to leveling the playing field for underserved populations to receive quality health services and education. Her proudest accomplishment was establishing the “Herrera Internship Endowment” in 2016 – which provides internship and scholarship opportunities for Latina students throughout New Mexico. The fund, managed by the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation, was developed to honor Denise’s parents and grandparents who didn’t have the opportunity to pursue higher education.
Previously, Denise managed a large research and evaluation portfolio with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She has provided programmatic and evaluation expertise on national advisory committees and issues related to leadership development, community health, and civic engagement efforts in rural and urban areas in the U.S. and abroad. Denise completed her BS in Health Education from the University of New Mexico, MS in Family Studies and Human Development from the University of Arizona, and PhD in Health Education from the University of Texas-Austin.