A Fresno native, Barry Falke attended and graduated from California State University Fresno in 2001 where he received his bachelor’s degree in organizational communication and went on to attend Fresno Pacific University where he completed a master’s degree in Theology in 2004. In 2018, Falke completed his Master’s in Business Administration with emphasis in global leadership and human resources management from Warwick Business School in Coventry England.

Falke served as President/CEO of Rotary Storyland & Playland in Fresno from 2006-2012, where he oversaw a team of 50 team members and brought passion and energy to a 60-year-old community benefit organization. In his tenure, he worked to raise community exposure and over 5 million dollars for capital improvements from the local community for the betterment of the two beloved parks.

In October of 2012, Falke became the Director of Corporate Giving and Mission Driven Business with United Cerebral Palsy of Central California. At UCP, Falke brought new energy to the fundraising and marketing department for United Cerebral Palsy and was honored in 2014, as one of the national organizations top ten emerging leaders.

In May of 2015, Falke took on a new challenge as Executive Director of the American Red Cross serving seven counties within the Central Valley. In that role Barry had the privilege to work with staff and volunteers in advancing the life-saving work of the American Red Cross and promoting its services throughout Central California. Barry also played leadership roles in many critical disaster operations over the past number of years including Hurricane Harvey & Irma in 2017 and devastating wildfires in Northern and Southern California in 2017 and 2018.

In June of 2018, Barry accepted the opportunity to become the Chief Operating Officer of the Pacific Division of the American Red Cross. In this role, Barry works to advance the mission of the Red Cross in the 10 regions throughout California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho & Montana and all US territories in the Pacific, serving nearly 57 million US residents. His responsibilities include oversight of several national initiatives and division leadership in the areas of real estate, facility management, fleet, human resources, finance and information technology. As the COVID-19 pandemic began in March of 2020, Barry served as Vice President of Humanitarian Services Operations in an interim capacity where he collaborated across all lines of business to ensure the safety of staff, volunteers and donors.

Some of Barry’s other achievements include being a past graduate of the Disney Institute and Leadership Fresno. In 2009 he was named one of Fresno’s Top 40 business professionals under 40. In 2019 he was named the Public Relations Society of America’s “Executive of the Year” for Central California. Last year, he was honored to be recognized as the “Top Dog -Alumnus of the Year” at California State University Fresno College of Arts & Humanities. He is a former Rotarian and former President of the Leadership Fresno Alumni Association. Most recently he completed six years as Treasurer of The Whitney Foundation where he proudly raised the spirit of philanthropy in the Central Valley, Boise, Idaho, and Salt Lake City areas and helped resource over 5 million dollars to community benefit organizations.