Today we’d like to introduce you to Angela Brannon-Baptiste.
Hi Angela, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My journey has never followed a straight line—it has been built one experience, one challenge, and one opportunity to serve at a time.
I grew up in Arizona and earned my degree in Political Science from Arizona State University, but my career truly began in government nutrition programs, including WIC and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program. There, I learned that food is about much more than nutrition—it is about dignity, health, and giving families the stability they need to move forward. Those early experiences shaped everything that came after. I worked directly with tens of thousands of women and children, developed nutrition education programs, and improved food distribution systems that served entire communities.
After leaving government, I combined my love of event production with my passion for giving back by launching Partying for a Purpose in 1997. What started as a way to host charity fundraisers soon became something much bigger. In 2004, together with my cofounder Shawn Heyl, we launched It’s All About the Kids® with a dream of making a difference. Over the next two decades, we built the organization into one of San Diego’s most recognized children’s charities, raising more than $20 million, providing more than four million meals, mentoring hundreds of young people, and helping hundreds of thousands of children and families throughout San Diego and Mexico.
Along the way, I had the privilege of producing hundreds of fundraising events—from intimate community gatherings to events at the Playboy Mansion—and creating innovative programs that addressed the changing needs of children. One of the most pivotal moments came in 2017 when we realized our greatest opportunity to make an impact was through food security. That decision led to our Feed the Kids initiative, which quickly grew into a large-scale food distribution program serving thousands of families every week.
After stepping away from the organization in 2025, I found that retirement wasn’t the end of my story. I continued listening to families and discovered a different problem: many people simply couldn’t find accurate information about where to get food and other essential resources. That led me back with a renewed mission to create FOOD HELP NOW SD, an initiative focused on helping families find food, find help, and find hope. Today, we’re building partnerships with schools, community organizations, and innovative companies to connect families with food assistance while also helping them build healthier, more stable lives. Our vision has grown beyond simply feeding people—it’s about creating pathways to long-term stability.
Looking back, every chapter of my life—from government nutrition programs to entrepreneurship, nonprofit leadership, and now FOOD HELP NOW SD—has prepared me for the next. My mission has remained the same: bring people together, build meaningful partnerships, and create practical solutions that improve lives. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that lasting change happens when compassion is paired with action.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t think anyone who has built a nonprofit from the ground up would describe the journey as a smooth road. Every challenge has required us to adapt, innovate, and stay focused on why we started.
One of our biggest tests came during the 2008 economic crisis. Donations declined at the very time more families than ever needed help. We had to find new ways to raise funds, build partnerships, and stretch every dollar while never losing sight of the children and families depending on us.
Over the years, the nonprofit landscape has also become much more competitive. There are many wonderful organizations doing important work, but there are also more charities competing for the same donor dollars. In addition, the actions of a few organizations that have misused funds or committed fraud have unfortunately made donors more cautious. Organizations like ours, which are committed to transparency and measurable impact, have had to work even harder to earn and maintain trust.
More recently, the economy has continued to create challenges for both nonprofits and the families we serve. As the cost of housing, groceries, and everyday necessities has increased, we’ve seen demand for assistance grow while many donors have had to be more selective with their charitable giving. That reality has challenged us to become more strategic, build stronger corporate and community partnerships, and create programs that maximize every dollar invested.
Looking back, those challenges ultimately made us a stronger organization. They taught me to embrace change, think creatively, and never become comfortable doing things the way they’ve always been done. Every obstacle pushed us to innovate, and many of our most successful programs were born during difficult times.
I’ve learned that resilience isn’t about avoiding hard seasons—it’s about continuing to show up, finding solutions, and keeping your mission at the center of every decision. That’s the mindset that has carried me through every chapter of this journey.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about It’s All about the Kids® Foundation?
It’s All About the Kids® has always been about more than providing immediate help—we’re focused on creating lasting change. While we’ve evolved over the years, our mission has remained the same: helping children and families build healthier, more stable lives.
Today, our primary initiative is **FOOD HELP NOW SD**, a countywide resource designed to make it easy for anyone in San Diego County to find free food assistance and connect with additional resources that can help them move toward long-term stability. We believe that no family should have to spend hours searching multiple websites or making dozens of phone calls just to find their next meal. Our platform brings together food distributions from organizations across the county into one easy-to-use resource, helping families find food, find help, and find hope.
What sets us apart is that we don’t see food as the finish line—we see it as the first step. Food insecurity is often connected to larger challenges like financial stress, health, transportation, housing, and access to community resources. That’s why we’re building partnerships with schools, healthcare providers, businesses, technology companies, and community organizations to create a more complete support system for families. Our goal isn’t simply to distribute food; it’s to connect people with the resources and opportunities that can help them build healthier, more stable futures.
Throughout our history, collaboration has been one of our greatest strengths. Rather than duplicating services, we believe in bringing organizations together, highlighting the incredible work already happening in our community, and making those resources easier for families to access. When nonprofits, businesses, schools, and local leaders work together, everyone has a greater impact.
What I’m most proud of is that we’ve never been afraid to evolve. Over the past two decades, we’ve continually listened to the community and adapted our work to meet the greatest needs. Whether it was providing millions of meals during times of crisis or now developing innovative tools like FOOD HELP NOW SD, we’ve always been willing to rethink what’s possible if it means serving families better.
If there’s one thing I’d like readers to remember, it’s that solving hunger requires all of us. Whether someone volunteers, donates, becomes a corporate partner, shares our resources, or simply tells a neighbor where to find help, every person can play a role. Together, we can ensure that families don’t just find food for today—they find the support, connections, and hope they need to build a stronger tomorrow.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I’ve always believed that the biggest risk is staying comfortable when you know you can make a greater impact.
Looking back, there have been several moments when I took what others might have considered significant risks. Leaving a stable government career to become an entrepreneur was one. Starting It’s All About the Kids® with very limited resources was another. There were no guarantees that people would support our vision, but I believed that if we built an organization with integrity, measurable impact, and genuine relationships, the community would respond—and they did.
Perhaps the biggest risk, though, was choosing to evolve instead of staying with what was familiar. After more than 20 years, It would have been easy to continue doing the same successful fundraising events and programs. Instead, I listened to what families were telling us. They didn’t just need food—they needed a better way to find it. That realization led me out of retirement to create FOOD HELP NOW SD, a completely new direction for our organization. Starting something new after you’ve already built a successful nonprofit is a risk, but I believe organizations have to evolve if they want to remain relevant and create meaningful impact.
That doesn’t mean I take reckless risks. I’m actually very strategic. I ask a lot of questions, gather data, listen to the people we’re serving, and surround myself with smart people who aren’t afraid to challenge my ideas. Once I believe in the mission and the potential impact, I’m willing to take the leap.
I’ve learned that innovation and risk go hand in hand. If you’re trying to solve the same problems in the same way, you’ll probably get the same results. Real change requires the courage to try something different.
At the end of the day, every meaningful accomplishment in my career started with someone saying, “I’m not sure this will work.” I’m grateful I didn’t let that stop me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://itsallaboutthekids.org
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/itsallaboutthekidscharity
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/itsallaboutthekids
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/itsallaboutthekids
