Community Leadership Mentors

MANUEL DEL VALLE

Judge Manuel Del Valle graduated from Yale Law School and the London School of Economics. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Princeton.

Quincy Daniels is now campus operations manager for the Iron Yard in Austin, Texas. In this position, he aids in creating an exceptional student experience by providing operational excellence to create a consistent and welcoming student and staff experience.

KELLY FAYARD

Kelly Fayard Kelly Fayard (Poarch Band of Creek Indians) earned her BA in cultural anthropology and religion from Duke University, and a certificate in museum studies as well as her M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Michigan.

VITO DE LA CRUZ

Vito De la Cruz grew up in South Texas in a migrant farm worker family. He graduated from high school and was fortunate to attend Yale and later the University of California Boalt Hall School of Law.

FELICIA ESCOBAR

Felicia Escobar is a native of San Antonio, Texas. She received an undergraduate degree from Yale University, a Masters in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and her J.D. from UCLA School of Law.

MONETTE MCIVER

McIver serves as the manager of higher education services, providing leadership, guidance, and continuity across higher education resources offered by the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

GRACIELA SANCHEZ

Graciela Sanchez is Director and Founder of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center in Austin, Texas. Graciela follows in the footsteps of her mother and abuelitas, strong neighborhood women of color cultural workers and activists of San Antonio.

MARTHA ROMERO

Romero was the Founding Director of the Community College Leadership Development Initiatives (CCLDI) at Claremont Graduate University. As a faculty member, Dr. Romero taught graduate seminars in organizational development at the University of Colorado

JUAN C. GONZALEZ

Dr. Juan C. González received his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, his master’s degree in Bilingual-Bicultural Education from the University of Texas at San Antonio

EDWARD LEACH

Edward Leach earned a PhD in educational administration with a concentration in community college leadership from The University of Texas in Austin.

SHANNON SALINAS

Shannon Salinas is Associate Dean for Student Affairs at Hunter College. Dean Salinas works with students in various ways to support their transition to college life and to maximize their academic success.

RACHEL HILDEBRANDT

Hildebrandt worked for years as a historical consultant and academic editor before transitioning to literary translation (German). Rachel is also the founder of Weyward Sisters Publishing, which focuses on bringing contemporary works of crime and noir fiction