Roque Barros, Jr. has more than 30 years of combined experience in nonprofit and foundation management and has developed and led community building approaches and frameworks in urban and rural communities.  He is the first Executive Director for the Imperial Valley Wellness Foundation (IVWF) and is leading its efforts to strengthen the voice and visibility of underrepresented communities and vulnerable populations in the Imperial Valley.

Prior to IVWF, Roque served as the director of the Ford Institute for Community Building, an arm of The Ford Family Foundation. Under his leadership, the Ford Institute supported communities in developing comprehensive community visions and building the capacity to implement them. At the Jacobs Family Foundation in San Diego, Roque worked as the director of community building and served as interim president. While at the Jacobs Family Foundation, he led resident teams to develop the vision and implementation of Market Creek Plaza in Southeastern San Diego, a resident-owned community building and economic development project. In the nonprofit field, Roque served as the director of U.S./Mexico Projects with Los Niños, an international community development organization and later served as its executive director for 10 years. He has developed and directed sustainable programs that assist communities in finding opportunities, addressing their needs and developing solutions. He has also designed capacity building trainings and toolkits for resident-led community building efforts.