LEADERSHIP

Libby Stephens
Chief Executive Officer

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Libby Stephens
CEO

Libby Stephens is the Chief Executive Officer of the West Texas Food Bank. She has been with the Food Bank since 2012. Libby completed the organization’s very successful $13.3M capital campaign to build new facilities. In a short span of 13 months, she energized the community, winning significant support from foundations, corporations, and individuals by 2014. Because of this effort, a new 61,000 square foot headquarters and distribution center opened for service in January 2016 in Odessa, and a new 20,000 square foot Volunteer and Education Center in Midland began providing services in January 2017.

Under Libby’s leadership, the West Texas Food Bank has grown to distribute over 13 million pounds of food, including 3.3 million pounds of fresh produce, through our collaborative partnerships with 90+ agencies. She coordinated the Food Bank’s relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Harvey that provided over 600,000 pounds of commodities to our neighbors in need on the gulf coast of Texas. On a state and national level, Libby’s advocacy work for the Farm Bill is currently raising awareness to the issues local food banks face, and deepening relationships with our federal and state legislators.

Libby is a demonstrated expert in moving organizations into high visibility, in order to promote their messages and increase revenues and growth. In addition to previous civic roles, she currently serves as a past Board Member with the City of Odessa’s Zoning Board and a current board member with the Education Partnership for the City of Odessa. She serves on the state level as a Board Member of Feeding Texas, where currently serves on the Executive Board. She is also a founding member of the Laura W. Bush Institute Community Advisory Board for the Permian Basin.

Libby received the 2014 Beacon Award for Excellence in Organizational Leadership from the Nonprofit Management Center and received the Heritage Foundation Award for Humanities. She received the Salvation Army Unsung Hero award in 2016, and in 2017 she was chosen by the Young Professionals of Odessa as one of the outstanding individuals under 40. Libby is also honored to have been a Glenn Shepard Excellence in Leadership Award finalist. In 2019, Libby received the Dick Goebel Public Service Award for her work on the Farm Bill. In 2021, Libby received the Women of Distinction Award from the Girl Scouts of the Southwest.

Joseph (Joey) E. Ruiz Jr.
Chief Financial Officer

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Joseph (Joey) E. Ruiz Jr.
Chief Financial Officer

Joseph “Joey” Ruiz joined the West Texas Food Bank in 2011, and currently serves as CFO. He is responsible for overall leadership, coordination, and management of Food Bank operations, and oversees the development and implementation of financial management strategies across the organization. He also supervises IT network structure, management, security and maintenance. An Odessa native, Joey graduated from Permian High School. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. Before joining the West Texas Food Bank, Joey served as senior accountant for Commercial State Bank in Midland, TX. He has also worked as branch manager at Security State Bank and Western National Bank.

Kelly Boydstun
Director of Impact and Strategy

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Kelly Boydstun
Director of Impact and Strategy

Kelly has been with the Food Bank since 2016. She was promoted to Director of Impact and Strategy in 2021. Prior to becoming Director of Impact and Strategy, Kelly was the Director of Programs and supervised 7 Food Bank programs. Kelly is now responsible for writing grants and assist the development team with fundraising events and special projects. Kelly’s background includes working with individuals with disabilities and women and children social services. Kelly is from Odessa and earned a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Professional and Social Service from the University of Hawaii and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.

Brent Oden
Director of Programs and Advocacy

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Brent Oden
Director of Programs and Advocacy

Brent joined the West Texas Food Bank in 2018 to assist with Governmental Affairs and Advocacy. Brent was promoted to Director of Programs and Advocacy in 2021. He is responsible for managing and implementing all governmental and non-governmental programs at the Food Bank. These programs include Kids Café, SNAP outreach and assistance, SNAP-Education, Food 2 Kids, School Pantries, Internal Pantries, Mobile Outreaches, CSFP, and social services to name a few. In addition, Brent oversees our partnership with the Permian Basin Master Gardeners and he supervises the Innovative Garden Project. In addition, he oversees two Kids Farmers Markets and an Earth Day event every year. Before joining the West Texas Food Bank, Brent served for 13 years as the West Texas Regional Director for U.S Senator John Cornyn and 11 years as the Area Director for U.S. Congressman Mac Thornberry. Brent holds a Bachelor’s Degree from West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas.

Mark Matthews
Director of Operations

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Mark Matthews
Director of Operations

Mark is the Director of Operations for the West Texas Food Bank. He is responsible for leading business operations, logistics, quality, and community impact. He is a proven leader in the world of operations and logistics, having experience in managing operations across multiple sites, facilities management, and warehousing.

Prior to joining the West Texas Food Bank in 2019, Mark worked for Glazers as their Warehouse Operations Manager. During his time at Glazers, Mark served the West Texas and Trans-Pecos areas while gaining valuable experience in team building, change management, customer/vendor relationships, multi-facility management, and budgetary/financial planning.

Mark holds a bachelor’s degree in Ranch Business Management from Texas Christian University.

Nancy Salcido
Director of Human Resources

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Nancy Salcido
Director of Human Resources

Nancy Salcido joined the West Texas Food Bank in 2012. Nancy became the Director of Human Resources in 2020. She is an Odessa native and Odessa High School graduate. Her background includes working over 10 years for the State of Texas, HHSC and Child Support Division. Nancy completed HR Certificate Courses at Odessa College in 2020. She is responsible for the development and implementation of the Human Resource Department. She is a member of Church of the Way and loves spending time with family and working on home projects. She believes in the Food Bank mission and loves Texas.

Autumn Simpson
Director of External Affairs

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Autumn Simpson
Director of External Affairs

Autumn Simpson is the Director of External Affairs at the West Texas Food Bank. Autumn joined the Food Bank in 2018. Prior to serving as Director of External Affairs, Autumn led a team of four in overseeing the Food Bank’s Food2Kids Program, School Pantries, Internal Pantries, Senior Box Program, and Outreaches.

She graduated from Odessa College in December of 2021 and has her bachelor’s in communications from the University of Texas Permian Basin. Autumn received her Nonprofit Executive Leadership Certification in 2021 from the Nonprofit Management Center of the Permian Basin.

Autumn was awarded the “Janet Lawrence Award” from the Junior League of Odessa in 2022. She is also a 2023 Odessa Under 40 Honoree.

Martha Carrasco
Director of Community Involvement and Events

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Martha Carrasco

Director of Community Involvement and Events

Martha Carrasco joined the West Texas Food Bank in 2019. She started out working with our Kid’s Café program and delivering meals to our sites. Martha is our Director of Community Involvement and Events where she works closely with the development department. Martha has worked closely with volunteers, events, and donors which has helped give her full circle knowledge of what the West Texas Food Bank does for the community.

Martha resides in Midland, Tx with her husband and 2 daughters. Martha went to Lee High School where she was top of her class. She is continuing her education at Midland College. She is an active volunteer in her daughter’s school activities.

Kayla Castleberry, MPH, RD, LD
External Programs Manager

Kayla joined the West Texas Food Bank in 2022 as the External Programs Manager. She is a registered dietitian who previously worked in outpatient pediatrics for a hospital. Kayla has always had a heart for Food Banks. She has worked in researching ways to improve the nutritional quality of Food Banks and Food Pantries across the US. Kayla obtained her undergraduate and master’s degrees from Oklahoma State University and she did her dietetic internship through Texas Tech University.

Kayla has made huge strides in making new partnerships for SNAP-ed nutrition classes and working with the Kids Café to expand the number of students we are reaching with hot meals every day. She loves working the Kid’s Farmer’s Markets and getting to help children try new fruits and vegetables!