Alexandra DeSorbo-Quinn (alex@pilotlightchefs.org) is the Executive Director of Pilot Light and is responsible for leading the development of Pilot Light’s vision and strategic goals. She was hired to the organization in 2014 by its founders as its first staff member and since then, has been proud to work in partnership with many educators, chefs, and community members to grow the reach of its food education programs from one school to 79, impacting over 20,000 students nationwide.
Alex began her career at Harlem Hospital in New York City managing its Stroke Center. After seeing that education was key to preventing stroke and saving lives, she became engaged in public health education programs that harnessed hip hop music to engage students and their families around stroke education. Alex went on to join the research faculty of the Neurological Institute at Columbia University, where she managed two federally-funded community-based studies looking at the impacts of arts-based public health education in New York City Public Schools and faith-based institutions. Alex currently serves on the Advisory Board of Hip Hop Public Health. She has also served as a Trustee for the Society for Public Health Education.
A graduate of Bryn Mawr College, Alex earned her Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and a doctorate in health education from Teachers College of Columbia University. She was a 2018 fellow of the University of Chicago’s Civic Leadership Academy.
An upstate New York native, Alex lives in the Chicago area with her husband and three young children. She loves to bring her passion for food education home by testing Pilot Light lessons and recipes with her family!