Debbie Gonzales

"Success of an organization depends upon the leadership of the people behind it." — Benita R. Delfin

Debbie Gonzales is the ninth and tenth president of FFRGOC. She has proven to be a true leader of the FFRGOC complete with attestations below from people, who have known and worked with her through the years plus my own exposure and experience.

"The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly." — Jim Rohn

The above quote describes her as a leader to a "T".

Professionally, she has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with emphasis in Management and Master in Management.

She also passed the rigorous certification to be a Certified Management Accountant (CMA), currently on Inactive Status and worked her way up in the corporate ladder to various responsible managerial positions.

Helen Alonso, our past FFRGOC Treasurer and our current Auditor, provided me with the framework to build a good profile of her background and accomplishments which are as follows: • Held various positions working her way up from the Southwest Area Chapter Director to the Board of Director as an Auditor, Treasurer, First VP then landed to be the President for two terms of FFRGOC; • Hands on involvement during the Christ Forever Capital Campaign for Christ Cathedral in tandem with FFRGOC 18th Anniversary Ball Fund Raising Efforts; • Responsible for the planning and creating of the "Most Ambitious FFRGOC Fundraising Campaign" related to the Commemorative Book in 2013 which also coincided with FFRGOC 20th Anniversary. Using her expertise in finance and people oriented skills plus dedication and tenacity, this Commemorative Book came into fruition; • Recipient of the Presidential Flame Award due to her numerous involvement with FFRGOC ever since its inception in 1993; • Provided pivotal direction to have an existing website today by motivating the right person and have the funds to support the website which has been attempted on several occasions before but only now that our website is live with continued updates and developments.

Lorraine Betts, our PRO for FFRGOC, as one of our millennial, describes her: • To have an infectious laugh and certain calmness which makes her a cool leader; • Tenacious and forward-thinking in achieving and getting the tasks done and on time and • Enjoyed working with her in the past four years as the Secretary and Public Relations Officer to keep the legacy of FFRGOC alive.

Fely Claudio and Wally Claudio, our current First VP Internal Affairs and Director of Religious Enrichment are very pleased and honored to serve as Officers of FFRGOC and below is what they shared: • Debbie epitomized a true example of servant leadership with her dedication to our devotion to our Blessed Virgin Mary; • With her leadership, FFRGOC thrives and impacts many lives even in the midst of COVID19 pandemic; • Keep us all focused to our mission: — Promote praying the rosary, — Support our Filipino seminarians and local charities like Mary's Kitchen, — Have social activities that enhance our cultural tradition and close relationships with our Catholic Filipino Community like Pista ni Maria and Simbang Gabi.

Eli M. Ruiz, our current FFRGOC Seminarian Program Chairman and previous FFRGOC President shared with us his good thoughts on Debbie's two terms as President as follows: • Started her first term with the preparation of the grand celebration of the 25th Anniversary started by previous president and guided it to fruition with great success; • Her first two years was on a "normal" setting which resulted in great participation among Area members in various usual FFRGOC activities including fund raising efforts to support our seminarians. It was during her term that FFRGOC supported five (5) Seminarians, the most in any given time in the history of FFRGOC. And that is indeed a record! • The last two years coincided with COVID19 guidelines affecting everyone but did not stop Debbie to lead FFRGOC through baby steps having zoom meetings to pray and be connected to FFRGOC members. Through her leadership, FFRGOC followed COVID19 guidelines and able to make FFRGOC alive and kicking.

Mel Gallardo, FFRGOC past president gave us also some insights especially knowing and working with her more than most of us and he shared the following good thoughts about her: • Debbie has been an active member of FFRGOC since the beginning. • She was the first treasurer and held other Board member positions through the years until she became President for two terms. • Her service to the organization has been impeccable. • The handling and organizing of the 25th year anniversary was the highlight of her achievements but most important is the way she kept FFRGOC together during this pandemic. • She maintained the traditions and affairs of FFRGOC with steady hands and a true leader indeed!

Mary Ann and Glenn Puzon, current Director of Social Activities and Director of Charity had this impression with Debbie as a leader: • A leader with good accounting skills that she methodized the financials complete with projection and actual and amazingly always in order; • She is just not a good communicator but also a good listener and very positive in her approach; • As two terms President, she brought people to work well together and able to raise funds despite the challenges of COVID19; • A great leader and a great friend to boot which I totally agree.

Lino Aldana, past president of FFRGOC shared his awesome contribution as to her leadership role which is as follows: • Debbie is a leader and much sought after for her leadership; • Had been involved with FFRGOC since inception to date in various positions as mentioned above; • Special mention to her work in producing 20th FFRGOC Anniversary Program where she gave it her best shot; • A leader that shines when faced with most of uncertainties like COVID19 which she did with persistence and determination to connect members in our faith via Zoom meetings, emails and other mode of communication via social media or print and held events following the strict COVID19 guidelines; • Appreciate your contribution in total to FFRGOC.

Boots Mercado, our current FFRGOC treasurer, summarizes her impressions on Debbie's leadership using her name, DEBBIE, to share her thoughts: • D – Dynamic, a productive leader with continued progress by engaging people with various skills; • E – Exquisite, wonderful and nearly perfect leader; • B – Brave, a leader who is not fearful on challenging situations; • B – Beautiful inside and out as a person; • I – Idol, a person regarded by people with admiration, adoration and devotion; • E – Earnest, a person who is very serious and sincere in what they do.

Joe Arevalo, a seasoned FFRGOC President for three terms, shared with us his thoughts on Debbie's leadership which are as follows: • A good communicator to people at all levels and at the same token a good listener; • Her idea and innovativeness are ambitious but realistic; • Very passionate and driven about the work she does; • Willing to take calculated risk; • Project and act as a hard working and confident leader.

I believe these attestations are more than enough for the readers to know what kind of leader, Debbie Gonzales is.

On a personal level, Debbie Gonzales, is married to Elizer Gonzales for forty years. They have one daughter — Desiree Gonzales Rimando and married to JR Rimando and blessed with four children — Alekzander, Ethan, Sophia and Annie.

As the web administrator of FFRGOC website, I find this quote very apt to describe her as a leader. In my many years of different corporate experience and having worked for a lot of executives and peers with different styles, this is how I describe Debbie.

"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it." — Theodore Roosevelt

Thank you all for your contributions to Debbie's profile and most of all to Debbie for leading FFRGOC through the years.