Gary Zapata

CFO

Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana, Inc.

Gary Alberto Zapata originally came to the Southeast Louisiana to attend Tulane University where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree. He subsequently entered the socially conscious workspace when he determined food stamps and welfare at the Louisiana State Office of Family Support. Mr. Zapata left New Orleans, staying away for nine years, initially to live and study in Barcelona where he attained an International MBA degree from Escuela Superior de Administración y Dirección de Empresas (ESADE). Mr. Zapata later relocated to Washington DC, where he worked in the areas of international development at Population Services International and in the Department of Defense contractor space while at Arrowhead Global Solutions.

It was in 2008 that Mr. Zapata returned to New Orleans to Serve as Chief Financial Officer at Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana. After seven years serving the organization, he sought out new opportunities in Seattle, Washington serving in both another international development organization and another social services organization. But alas, no other place is like New Orleans and so in 2019, Mr. Zapata returned to New Orleans, and later to Volunteers of America. Having learned his lesson, he has no plans to leave New Orleans again.