Video summary
Patti DeBow shares her unique journey from studying art and theater to earning a math degree, which led her into a career focused on data modeling within the insurance industry. Initially fascinated by forecasting natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes, she eventually realized that sitting at a desk all day was not for her. This realization prompted her to attend business school and transition into consulting, where she discovered a deep passion for the social sector. Her diverse background allows her to leverage both creative thinking and analytical skills, proving that her early academic interests continue to benefit her professional life today.
Beyond her corporate roles, Patti is deeply committed to giving back through various non-profit engagements, crediting early mentors like those at the Human Rights Campaign for inspiring this desire to serve others. One of her most significant contributions is serving as a board member for the District Alliance for Safe Housing, an organization she has supported for nearly six years. She believes that providing safe housing is fundamental to helping survivors of domestic and sexual violence thrive, noting that society often struggles to address this basic need effectively. Her dedication extends to personal relationships as well, where she shows love by listening to friends in distress or cooking delicious meals for those going through a tough time.
When asked about her interests outside of work, Patti reveals herself to be a voracious reader who enjoys dystopian and apocalyptic fiction. She finds fascination in these stories not because she wants to survive the apocalypse, but out of curiosity regarding how others might endure such scenarios, acknowledging that she likely would not be foraging for food or fighting off wild animals. This love for storytelling complements her musical taste, as she is a dedicated Spotify playlist curator who grew up during the mixtape era of the 1980s. She recently selected "I Love It" by Icona Pop and Charli XCX as her uplifting song, noting that it is impossible to hear without immediately starting to dance.
The interview concludes with Patti expressing gratitude for the opportunity to share her story and connect with the community. Her narrative highlights a person who seamlessly blends analytical precision with creative passion, all while maintaining a strong commitment to social causes and personal relationships. Whether she is analyzing data models, advocating for safe housing, or curating music playlists, Patti approaches every aspect of her life with enthusiasm and a genuine desire to make a positive impact. Her story serves as an inspiring example of how one can pivot career paths based on personal values while remaining dedicated to helping others in meaningful ways.
Read the full video transcript
hello everyone welcome back to our
newsletter and this is the meet the team
Edition with Patty Dube hi Patty hi
how are you
good how you doing today bye-bye great
it's nice to see you nice to see you too
and we're so close we're in the same
state right now which is very exciting
hours away
let me get started with our first
question here it was a sort of an intro
about yourself tell us how you get
started in your career you know some fun
tidbits so I am originally from
Philadelphia where I grew up went to
college
I actually went to college to study art
and theater but then changed my mind and
got a math degree in half like through
college and so I started my career doing
data modeling
um in the insurance industry uh I did
forecasting of natural disasters like
hurricanes and tornadoes and stuff
sounds really cool it was very hard for
me to just sit at a desk all day and
look at numbers and so
um well I learned a lot
um I decided to go on to business school
to do something a little bit different
and found my way into Consulting from
there so that's how I got my start
um but have always really loved doing
work in the social sector that's how I
found my way to ptko nice I that's my
favorite question or favorite thing to
do with everyone is I find out like
where they how they got here it's always
interesting yeah it's not what I thought
I'd be doing when I went to college to
study art but uh who knows that's your
brains you went creative and then
numbers like yes I find that both of the
both of the skills still helped me in my
career today so
slides look good what is something
people should know about you aside from
work I guess I am a pretty voracious
reader and I really love to read
dystopian and apocalyptic fiction
it's maybe a little bit depressing but I
find it fascinating perhaps because I
know like I will not survive when this
happens I don't I don't anticipate being
the person like living in the woods and
forging for my own food but I'm very
curious about you know the people who
think they could do those things and so
that's one of the ways that I check out
and relax is about the apocalypse
maybe reading all these books will help
you in the apocalypse when it's time
maybe I don't know uh my partner and I
we have a pact that we're just like if
this if stuff really goes down we're
like going out in the first phase it's
like I don't know that I want to be
foraging for food and fending off style
uh what is one thing you're passionate
about
or two one or two
yeah I am very passionate in general
about kind of giving back
um you know it's sort of how I found my
way to uh into social sector nonprofit
sector work
um you know I think many of us
um that do this sort of work bring that
passion to it but I've always been
involved in in sort of non-profit work
and I I credit some of my very early
mentors you know even early my career I
was working in insurance and and some
folks I didn't got me involved with the
Human Rights Campaign as a volunteer and
then a board member
um and that really just like spurred
this whole desire to to give back and
work on the social issues that really
affect not just me but you know others
in our world and so today one of the
places that I pour a lot of my passion
is I'm a board member at the district
Alliance for safe housing which provides
housing and services for survivors of
Domestic and Sexual Violence and that
feels really important to me because
housing is so fundamental like it just
is a thing I wish we could get right as
a society that like you know the Housing
Shelter like people need it and it's
hard to expect people to you know uh
Thrive without it and so that has been
really work I felt really connected to
I've been working with them for almost
six years so yeah
very cool love that how do you show up
for people you love I think in general I
am very giving of my time to those
people that I love you know and that can
be in all sorts of ways I mean I try to
give people what they need you know so
if friends are going through something
tough whether that's like a listening
ear or cooking food for people I do I
like to feed people that's just like
something I was taught in my family but
if I ever know folks having a rough time
I will just like bring them some
delicious food because I love to cook
it's beautiful I agree except for the
cooking I hate cooking
well maybe I can I can bring some
delicious food to you
and our last one here just like our
podcast what's the song that uh uplifts
you get to go and motivates you
yeah this one's really hard because
maybe this should have been my fun fact
but I am like a Spotify playlist junkie
I love to make playlists um I don't know
maybe it was like growing up in the like
80s mixtape era where like curating a
playlist I think I was scanning through
my list just before we got on I think
I'm gonna pick um I love it by Icona Pop
and Charlie XCX oh
okay such a good like you can't hear
that song and not just start dancing
it's so good yeah it's so good it's so
good I spend maybe in an ordinant amount
of time making playlists on Spotify so
this was a hard question but
um I really love the evolution of our
Spotify playlist from all our folks so
good songs I like that a lot it'll be
fun to add to the playlist for our
community so that's good thank you for
joining us today Patty it was nice
having you thanks for having me uh thank
you all for joining us and watching we
meet the team interview with Patty have
a great day
good day everyone
okay