Debbie Pope
August 28, 2024
What past experience are you most excited to bring to your work at Passion Fruit?
My time as a Product Manager gives me perspective outside of the Salesforce ecosystem, and plenty of experience pinpointing the technology decisions that will drive the largest outcomes for organisations and end-users. This means taking into account the technical landscape, existing/future team competencies, long-term vision, and budget. I bring these spidey-senses, along with an easygoing approach to launching complex technology projects.
What inspired you to pursue a career working with nonprofits?
The people drew me in, and the missions kept me coming back. I’ve pivoted between for-profit and nonprofit a few times in my career, and I’d say there are more similarities than differences - a for-profit enterprise and a nonprofit have more in common than an enterprise and startup.
After being part of multiple acquisitions and restructures in the for-profit world, my perception of where I can have the most impact shifted back to the nonprofit sector. I’m loving the fast value I can deliver back in the Salesforce space, particularly with the renewed investment in Nonprofit Cloud. It’s like coming home, but with more flexibility and fewer Apex errors.
What do you enjoy most about your role and working at Passion Fruit?
The ability to get hands-on with Salesforce and adjacent platforms, and keep my understanding of the tech ecosystem fresh. The support I have from an amazingly talented team, and the calibre of impact we get to deliver is also a highlight. An overwhelming majority of the work we take on is the perfect blend of:
1. The right technology
2. With the right team at the helm - on the client side and of course at PFP
3. Scoped for high-impact outcomes
The result: fun projects with great momentum and lasting relationships.
What accomplishments are you most proud of?
I was a few months into being the second tech team member at The Trevor Project when COVID hit, and we pivoted to a fully remote company in months. I’ve never seen more collaboration and camaraderie (and less bureaucracy) than at that time. We managed to maintain services to support the young people who relied on our crisis support centre through some challenging times. It was like a real-life version of "Survivor," but with more Zoom calls and fewer coconuts.
Let's learn about some of your favourites!
1. Favourite place travelled? Thailand - the food!
2. Favourite artist? I’ll always catch K.Flay when she’s in town for some nostalgic angsty teenager vibes
3. What are you currently reading/listening to? Enders Shadow by Orson Scott - a super interesting revisit of the book Enders Game
In three words, how would you describe Passion Fruit to other people who inquire?
Dedicated, trustworthy, long-term.
