Dr. Cynthia Teniente-Matson is the president of Texas A&M University-San Antonio (A&M- SA). Dr. Teniente-Matson is a San Antonio native, with over 30 years of higher education administrative experience in Alaska, California, and Texas. In 2016, she led the university’s transformation to become a comprehensive university in addition to achieving the U.S. Department of Education Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) designation. She has led several strategic initiatives and partnerships including the creation of the Mays Center for Experiential Learning and Community Engagement, Cisneros Institute for Emerging Leaders, Institute of Water Resource Science and Technology, Cyber Engineering Technology/Cyber Security Research Center, and the university’s first Facebook CyberSecurity University Partnership.

Dr. Teniente-Matson created the President’s Commission on Equity (PCOE), to advance equality and inclusion. Her academic area of expertise is leadership development competency models for Chief Business Officers in Higher Education. She is a former board chair of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and currently serves as a faculty member for their Fellows Program and New Business Officer Programs. She currently serves as the board chair of American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). Dr. Teniente-Matson has been recognized for her leadership and service in the field of education, including receiving the NACUBO Professional Development Award; Making a Mark on the World Innovation Award from the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber; the Women’s Leadership Award from the SA Business Journal; named as Network for Change and Continuous Innovation’s 2019 top 20 Thought Leaders in Change and Innovation; and is Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership’s 2020 US-Japan Public Intellectual.

Dr. Teniente-Matson served as President of the San Antonio 2018 Tricentennial Commission as a mayoral appointee. She is currently serving as Treasurer on the board of directors for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and board for Higher Education Resource Services (HERS). She is a sought-after author, speaker, and mentor on contemporary issues in higher education leadership. Dr. Teniente-Matson and her husband make are parents to two sons, Phillip and Wyatt.

Dr. Erika Gonzalez is the CEO & President of both South Texas Allergy & Asthma Medical Professionals (STAAMP) and STAAMP Clinical Research. She previously served as the Chief of the Allergy, Immunology & Rheumatology division at the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio and was an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. She is actively involved as a community leader including serving on the Board of Directors for Central Catholic High School, Girls Inc. San Antonio, and the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation. She is an Advisor to the Dean of Science Engineering & Technology at St. Mary’s University and at the state and national level, she is on the Stock Epinephrine Committee with the Texas Department of State Health Services, and is Co-Chair for the Small Business for

America’s Future. Recently, Dr. Gonzalez founded the nonprofit, Con Corazon SA, addressing health inequities and emergency preparedness in San Antonio and the surrounding area. Dr. Gonzalez is a native of San Antonio, graduated Magna Cum Laude from St. Mary’s University, obtained her medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and returned home after completing 10 years of Active Duty Service as a Medical Officer in the U. S. Air Force. She was selected as a 2019 Presidential Leadership Scholar and is currently the immediate past Chairwoman for the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

ordana Barton is principal of the social enterprise, Barton-Garcia Advisors. She serves healthcare organizations, local governments, non-profits, schools/universities, philanthropy, financial institutions, and internet service providers to strategically expand broadband infra- structure and digital inclusion in underserved areas. Her work helps organizations and communities achieve full participation in the digital economy and promotes economic development, healthy communities, telehealth, workforce development, educational equity, access to   financial services, and entrepreneurship.

She most recently served as Vice President of Community Investments at Methodist   Healthcare Ministries, where she oversaw the organization’s strategic grant-making and grant-seeking processes. Herleadership was critical in ensuring Methodist Healthcare Ministries’ philanthropic and community development practices supported its commitment to health equity—reducing the inequities inherent  across South Texas so the least served have greater opportunities to reach their full potential. She brought extensive knowledge of digital inclusion and community development to help address the needs ofunderserved communities, which can enable them to achieve positive health outcomes and break the cycle of inter-generational poverty.

Jordana previously served as Senior Advisor for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, where she supported the Federal Reserve System’s economic growth objectives and the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). As a community development officer, her work included economic research, community development finance, and philanthropy, as well as training financial institutions and federal banking regulators. Her focus areas included digital inclusion, telehealth, workforce development, financial education, affordable housing, and microenterprise and small business development. Her work at the Federal Reserve was preceded by a distinguished career in community development banking and finance at Capital One Bank, and as a nonprofit leader in the expansion of microfinance in the U.S. with Accion Texas, now LIFT Fund. 

Jordana serves on the Steering Committees for Digital Texas, the Digital Inclusion Alliance San Antonio, and on the Advisory Board of the Texas Health Improvement Network of the University of Texas System. In 2018, she received the “Federal Policy Champion Award” from the Coalition for Local Internet Choice and the “Community Broadband Hero Award” from the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors. In 2020, she was named, “Salud Hero” (health hero) by Salud America, a program of UT Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and was inducted into the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame. Jordana grew up in the rural South Texas border community of Benavides. She holds an MPA from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Links to Jordana’s Publications on Digital Equity and Community Development: 

“Brownsville: Planning the Infrastructure of the Digital Economy,” https://archleague.org/project/brownsvilletexas/

“Telehealth Along the Texas-Mexico Border,” http://ruralhealthquarterly.com/home/2018/06/23/telehealth-along-the-texas-mexico-border/

Closing the Digital Divide: A Framework for Meeting CRA Obligations, https://www.dallasfed.org/-/media/Documents/cd/pubs/digitaldivide.pdf

Rosie Gonzalez was born in Brownsville, Texas, and lives in San Antonio, Texas. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and government from St. Mary’s University in 1987 and a J.D. degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law in 2001. She graduated from the Women’s Campaign School at Yale University. Gonzalez’s career experience includes working as a child abuse investigator, gang counselor, juvenile probation officer, and as an attorney at her private practice, the Law Office of Rosa Maria Gonzalez.

Rosie graduated from St. Mary’s University with her law degree in 2001. She practiced law for 16 years, becoming the only lawyer in South Texas to be certified as a Child Welfare Specialist by the National Association of Counsel for Children in her law career, she represented hundreds of children who reside in foster care or the CPS system. She mentored several new attorneys, who went on to develop successful law careers.
Rosie had a solo practice, where she committed to hard work and service to her clients. Rosie loves the law. During this time, she also serves as one of Commissioner Kevin Wolff’s appointees to the Bexar County Small, Minority, and Women Business Enterprise (SMWBE) Advisory Committee where she made significant contributions to ensuring that LGBT firms are now included in the county’s contracting policies and procedures.

Rosie took the bench this year as the presiding judge of Bexar County Court at Law No. 13. Her top three initiatives are as follows: 1) to create a drug court/ domestic violence specialty program that addresses the core issues that bring offenders into the courtroom; 2) to create a live feed into the courtroom which would allow victims to view the hearing without having to be physically present, and 3) to collaborate with UTSA’s Counseling Department to set up therapeutic support for the victims of domestic violence. Rosie recognizes the lack of resources in the community of San Antonio for our most vulnerable citizens.

Further, she is aware that the most dangerous places in our city can exist in the home. She has dedicated her time on the bench to address the needs for an ever-increasing problem in our city.

Malinda Gaul is the senior partner at Gaul and Dumont, an employment law firm primarily representing employees. Malinda is a Fellow with the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.  

She has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America and Texas Super Lawyers.  She is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and Sustaining Life Fellow of the San Antonio Bar Foundation. 

During her career, Malinda has served as President of the Texas Employment Lawyers Association and Chair of the Labor and Employment Law and Women and the Law Sections of the State Bar of Texas.  She is currently National Vice Chair of the American Association of University Women, Past Chair of San Antonio Youth Literacy, and a Board Member of the Equal Justice

Andrea (Andi) Rodriguez serves as Vice President of Cultural Placemaking at Centro San Antonio, leading the Art Everywhere project, partnering with business to make art happen in the urban core.

Andi has a BS in communication, a Masters of Science in Architecture, and for 17 years, served as a columnist for the San Antonio Business Journal sharing stories about those who do good in San Antonio. Appointed by two mayors as the chair of the Mayor’s Commission Status of Women, she was also appointed as a Bexar County Historical Commissioner,  as a member of the City of San Antonio Bond 2017 committee and as a City Planning Commissioner. 

Andi is also proud to be the founding chair of the Hemisfair Conservancy and currently serves on the management board of Urban Land Institute and on the Board of Directors for American Institute of Architects SA. 

She’s served in various trustee positions for various nonprofit boards, including: the UT Health Science Center/MD Anderson Board of Governors; Southwest School of Art; Blue Star Contemporary; San Antonio Library Foundation and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She is also a co-founder of the 501©3 Power of Preservation Foundation, a former Vice President of Luminaria Arts Festival, Past President of the UT Health Science Cancer Center Council and the 2019 Co-Chair of Leadership San Antonio XLIII. 

Representative Ina Minjarez was elected to serve the constituents of Texas House District 124 after a quick special election in April 2015. During her 30 days at the Capitol, Ina accomplished a great deal for hardworking Texas families. Though she was elected after the deadline to file any of her own legislation, she served as an important swing vote in the House Committees on Transportation and State Affairs.

By the end of the 84th Legislative Session, Ina had joint-authored 17 bills, co-authored 45 bills, sponsored or joint-sponsored 8 bills, and the Governor signed 6 of these bills into law. During the interim session, the speaker of the house, Joe Straus, appointed her to serve on the Federal Environmental House Committee.

For the 85th Legislative session, Representative Minjarez was appointed to the House Committee on Transportation, the House Committee on Human Services and the Local and Consent Calendars Committee. She was able to successfully pass important legislation that will help our military families, protect our military bases, combat cyberbullying in schools, provide meaningful resources for children in foster care as well as foster care redesign. Furthermore, she was successful by amending several bills, from the budget and CPS legislation to the Texas Department of Transportation sunset bill. Representative Minjarez was also elected Vice-Chair of the Women’s Health Caucus during the 85th legislative session. She also is a member of the bipartisan House Research Organization Steering Committee. By the end of the 85th session, she was named “Rookie of the Year” by Texas Monthly and received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Department of Defense for her leadership in policy changes that benefit Military Service members. In addition, she was recently awarded The Advocacy Women’s Award by the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

During the 86th Legislative Session, Representative Minjarez served on the House Committee on Appropriations, including the Subcommittee on Articles VI, VII, VIII, which oversees natural resources, business and economic development, and regulatory agencies. She was also a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on State Infrastructure, Resiliency, and Investment, which was responsible for overseeing priority state budget items ranging from state cybersecurity to Hurricane Harvey relief and recovery. She also served on the House Committees on Land and Resource Management and Redistricting. The 86th Legislative Session focused heavily on school finance reform, teacher retirement, and Hurricane Harvey relief, and Representative Minjarez advocated heavily for these issues and others that Bexar County faced. Rep. Minjarez’s HB 37, which successfully passed and was signed into law, addressed the issues of mail theft in HD 124 and across Texas by creating a statute on mail theft. Of the ten bills authored by Rep. Minjarez during the 86th, they addressed the needs of foster children, rental tenants, and roadway safety.

During the 87th Legislative Session, Representative Minjarez was appointed to the House Committee on Appropriations, where she serves as Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Strategic Fiscal Review and Federal Relief Funds, which is responsible for appropriating billions of federal COVID-19 relief dollars and overseeing comprehensive budget analysis of state agencies undergoing the strategic fiscal review process.  She also sits on Article III Subcommittee, which crafts the public and higher education portion of the state’s two-year budget. Additionally, she is member of the House Committee on Urban Affairs and the House Committee on Redistricting, which is responsible for drawing the state’s legislative, congressional, and state board of education maps based updated data from the once-in-a-decade U.S. Census. 

As the only member of the Bexar County Delegation to serve on both the Appropriations and Redistricting committees, Representative Minjarez played a pivotal role in ensuring San Antonio and Bexar County secured federal COVID-19 relief funds and equitable political maps. Representative Minjarez championed several local initiatives, including a budget rider allocating $7.5 million to the Morgan’s Wonderland MAC Project, which will provide wrap-around services to children and adults with disabilities in a facility next door to San Antonio’s Morgan’s Wonderland. She was also able to secure $3.5 million to University of Texas at San Antonio’s Foster Care Pilot Program, which will assist children aging out of the foster care system attend and succeed in college.

In San Antonio, Representative Minjarez is active on several local boards and commissions. These include an appointment as a board member for ChildSafe and the San Antonio Young Women’s Leadership Academy. She also serves on the executive committee of the San Antonio Mobility Coalition. She is also a member of the Women’s Wellness Campus Visioning Committee, National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators Executive Committee, a HOPE Binational Public Service Fellow, and the TX State Director of National Foundation for Women Legislators.

Ina was born and raised in El Paso, Texas by two hardworking parents with deep roots in social justice. From an early age, Ina and her sister were taught that hard work and education would kick open the doors of opportunity. She was awarded several academic scholarships to attend the University of Notre Dame, where Ina wrote about social justice issues and traveled to serve the underprivileged and the oppressed. She picked crops with migrant workers and interned in the office of an El Paso attorney who helped migrants and refugees file for legal residency.

After graduation, Ina attended St. Mary’s Law School in San Antonio. During her studies, Ina interned with the Bexar County Criminal District Court Administration. Ina has had a successful career prosecuting defendants charged with crimes against children. Later, Ina opened her private practice and represented children who were victims of abuse and neglect in Child Protective Service cases. Ina has also represented workers in employment law disputes and on-the-job injuries.

She and her husband, Leo Gomez, recently celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary. She has two wonderful stepchildren, Manuel and April Gomez. In her free time, Ina enjoys running marathons and spending time with their three dogs, Pepe, Lillie, and Luna.

Phyllis Viagran was elected to the position of District 3 Councilwoman on June 15, 2021. She serves as a member of the Economic and Workforce Development Committee, the Public Safety Committee, the Planning and Community Development Committee, the Community, Environment and Culture Committee, and the San Antonio Housing Trust Public Facility Corporation. She is also on the board of directors for Visit San Antonio and the Municipal Court.

Phyllis Viagran is a proud native of District 3 in San Antonio, Texas. She attended Providence High School and earned her B.A. majoring in Political Science and History from Texas Tech University. Later she earned her master’s degree in Bicultural Studies from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Phyllis Viagran worked for years in Education as a teacher. Additionally, she worked with the San Antonio Police Department as a Community Service Specialist, held two roles with Visit San Antonio as the Destination Services Coordinator and Membership Sales Coordinator. In June 2020, she began working for Older Adults Technology Services (OATS) as a Community Outreach Coordinator and Trainer where she was a champion for seniors and technology.

Before serving on City Council, Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran served on the Brooks Gives Back Board and The Rape Crisis Center Board.

Gonzalo is a bilingual HR Professional currently serving as the San Antonio Human Resource Management Association (SAHRMA) President for 2022. He joined SAHRMA in 2017 and quickly became fully immersed in various SAHRMA initiatives and leadership positions, including assisting the HR Symposium Committee in 2018, and serving as the Professional Development Director in 2019-2020. He retired from the U.S. Army in 2017 where he served 27 years as a Senior Religious Affairs Supervisor. 

Throughout his military career he served in various HR-related capacities including U.S. Army Recruiting in San Francisco California, U.S. Army Trainer in Hohenfels, Germany, and U.S. Army Equal Opportunity Advisor in Killen Texas. He served 15 years overseas working with business partners in Germany, Belgium, Italy, The Netherlands, South Korea, Iraq, Egypt, Norway, Bosnia Herzegovina, and Israel where he was responsible for Employee Engagement initiatives, Talent Acquisition Strategy, Succession Planning, Merger & Acquisition Operations, and Training & Development. This exposure to global markets gave him a unique perspective for diversity and inclusion programs, staffing, and organizational effectiveness and design. 

Gonzalo holds the SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP certifications. He is an OSHA Authorized General Industry Instructor, and his formal education includes a Master of Science in HR Management, a Graduate Certificate in HR Management, and a Bachelor of Science in HR Management. 

Vasu Reddy is the senior policy counsel for economic justice at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she serves as a legal and policy expert on policies that improve the lives of workers and their families.

Vasu helps policymakers and advocates across the country craft strong, inclusive policies on paid sick days and paid family and medical leave, and has appeared in outlets like Bloomberg News and NPR’s Marketplace to discuss worker power and the importance of care.

Prior to her time at the National Partnership, Vasu worked with a team of law students to design and conduct a study of barriers to education for Los Angeles public school students with disciplinary or juvenile justice issues and formulate policy recommendations based on their findings. She received her B.A. from Harvard College and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, where she was a Public Interest Law Scholar.