Rev. Deborah Alvarez-Rodriguez

Pastor Deborah is a spiritual and strategic leader experienced in diverse and spiritually transformative practices, organizational effectiveness, and engaged collaboration and ministry. Harnessing the power of prayer, community wisdom, diversity and inclusion, and sacred text. Pastor Deborah has helped create numerous sustainable community, church, and environmental programs. Called to share the gospel in word, service, sacraments, and prayer, Rev. Alvarez-Rodriguez has served as a lay and clergy leader at Glide Memorial and Epworth United Methodist churches. She will be attaining a Masters of Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion in May 2018. She is a graduate of Harvard College.

Prior to ministry, Deborah was President & CEO of Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin for nine years. She served in an executive capacity at two Bay Area foundations and was appointed by former Mayor Willie Brown to lead the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families. She also worked for the San Francisco Health Department as the Assistant Director of Budget and Planning, and the San Francisco Unified School District.

Rev. Alvarez-Rodriguez grew up in Brooklyn, New York and also lived in Puerto Rico as a child. She is one of seven children born to Aurelia and Hector Alvarez from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. In 1984, she settled in the Bay Area. She and her spouse of 24 years, Willa, have a 14 year-old daughter named Sonia. They love hiking, music, spending time with family and friends, community service, church, reading and cooking. Pastor Deborah feels truly blessed and honored to be called to serve as Senior Pastor of Jones Memorial Church, a vibrant, faithful and historically significant African American church in San Francisco. She deeply believes that together and through God's grace all hope is made possible.