Aaron DeLaO, MPA

Director of Agency Services, Central Texas Food Bank

Aaron DeLaO (he/el) is a progressive social service and public health professional. He has led community needs assessments, planned and opened new community health centers within Travis County, and built collaborations and partnerships across community organizations to create and strengthen health and human service programming in the greater Austin community.

 He has worked to increase the impact health and social service programming has on the lives of those he has served and in so doing, aims to create a coordinated, cohesive social service ecosystem in our community. During his career, he has had oversight of a large network of healthy community food pantries, community health centers, fitness classes, vaccine clinics, mental health services, Community Health Worker programming, chronic disease management and care coordination services, ACA Marketplace insurance enrollment assistance programming, nutrition and health education programming, COVID-19 intervention programming, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts. He has also been responsible for employee wellness, with his team having won awards for this work from the Austin Mayor’s Health and Fitness Council. He is a skilled fundraiser, attaining millions of dollars in federal and foundation grants and cultivating relationships with individual donors to strengthen the programs he has overseen.

Currently, Aaron serves as the Director of Agency Services with the Central Texas Food Bank, head-quartered in Austin. In this role, he oversees the direct relationships and capacity building for over 250 hunger fighting partners in 21 Central Texas counties, ensuring that tens of millions of pounds of food and meals reach those who need it most. He also oversees $3 million dollars in grant-making to these partners to increase their ability to address food insecurity and strengthen their resiliency in an ever-changing landscape.

Aaron holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Texas Pan American (now Rio Grande Valley) in Edinburgh and a Bachelor’s degree in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a certified Health Promotor/Community Health Worker in the State of Texas. He also serves on non-profit boards around Austin and is the Board President for his 1,300 home HOA. Aaron and his wife, Joelle—who has also devoted her professional career to service as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker leading a high-risk pregnancy support program in a local community health center, have a son named Luka with whom they enjoy spending time with exploring Austin and travelling.