Friends of Mercy Foundation Staff

Contact the Friends of Mercy Foundation at 661.663.6700


Toni Harper, LCSW, DBH

Vice President of Philanthropy

Toni HarperToni Harper joined the Friends of Mercy Foundation staff as the Director of Philanthropy/Major Gifts and Campaigns. In this role, she served as a liaison between patients, community members, physicians, hospital staff, and donors. Her responsibility was to raise awareness about the mission and outcomes of Friends of Mercy and to cultivate major gifts and connectedness to the Hospital. In November 2017 she was honored to step into the role of Vice President, Philanthropy. Toni has been associated with Mercy Hospital for more than 25 years, as a volunteer, contract social worker, donor, and former Foundation board member.

Toni is a licensed Clinical Social Worker by trade having worked in healthcare administration for more than a decade, including managed care, IPAs, TPAs, and ACOs in the commercial, Medicare, and Medi-Cal markets.  Her focus is patient-centered care through medical homes, care management, and behavioral health integration. She is honored to support excellence in patient care through the efforts of the Friends of Mercy Foundation. 

Toni received her Bachelor of Science in Non-Profit Management from Arizona State University (ASU). She then studied at the Institute of Economic and Political Studies at Cambridge University in England; received her Master’s in Social Work from Columbia University in New York City and then returned to ASU for her Doctorate in Behavioral Health.
 
Toni is a Bakersfield native who loves spending time with her family and her two teenage daughters, especially outdoors.  Her passion is continuing education, traveling, running, and yoga.  


Misty De La Torre
Director of Operations

Misty De La Torre

Misty De La Torre has worked for Friends of Mercy Foundation for almost 17 years, during that time she’s had the opportunity of being the Administrative Assistant, Database & Research Coordinator and now Director of Operations. In her current role, she is responsible for maintaining and ensuring the integrity of all development systems, including but not limited to CRM, Blackbaud Analytics, and BBMS. She is responsible for the Foundation’s gift processing and acknowledgment system as well as all financial reporting. Her position is responsible for the administration of the database and managing the production of all mailings. She is responsible for overseeing and managing all prospect research and integrating appropriate research findings into the database, following all HIPAA regulations. Also, since October 2019 she now helps manage Volunteer Services at Mercy Hospital Southwest and Mercy Hospital Downtown.

Misty graduated from Heald College in 1999, earning an Associate in Applied Science degree in Computer Business Administration. She is married to Francisco, and they are the parents of two gorgeous boys, Christian and Andru.

Jessica Turrubiates
Manager of Philanthropy

Jessica Turrubiates

Jessica Turrubiates joined the Friends of Mercy Foundation October 2016 in the Executive Coordinator position. Since 2020, Jessica is now the Manager of Philanthropy. In her role, she is responsible for receiving, depositing, and acknowledging all gifts made to the Foundation. She is also responsible for the management of all annual giving programs and special events as well as the Foundation's Sister Phyllis Hughes Endowment for Special Needs Grants Program which distributes funding to local nonprofit agencies. Since 2019, she manages Volunteer Services at Mercy Hospital Southwest and Mercy Hospital Downtown.

Jessica graduated from Bakersfield College with an AA degree and continued to California State University, Bakersfield and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration in 2013. She and her husband Joel enjoy spending time with family, traveling, and caring for their 3 Siberian Huskies.