Vice-President: Javier Valdez is originally from El Paso, TX. He has been living in Austin since 2000. He studied Computer Engineering at the University of Notre Dame and currently works as Lead DBA at Cisco Systems, Inc. Javier is a Past-President for the Austin Chapter of Mexican-American Engineers and Scientists (MAES) and has served on the National Board of Directors of MAES. He is currently a mentor with the Austin Partners in Education as a 2nd grade Spanish literacy tutor. Other interests include: sports - GO IRISH!, GO COWBOYS!, GO SPURS!, wine, photography, performing arts, and traveling.
E-mail: vp@yhpaa.org
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Secretary:
Araceli Brown is originally from Brownsville, TX and graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Biomedical Science. She currently works for PPD, Inc., which is a contract research organization, as a Manager in their Clinical Data Management department. She has been at PPD for almost 10 years. Araceli is also a 2007 Leadership Austin Emerge Program. Araceli proudly volunteers for the Austin Baptist Chapel Soup Kitchen, the Volunteer Healthcare Clinic Lab, and Casa Marianella-a non-profit organization offers shelter for recently-arrived Latin American immigrants as well as housing, food, clothing, and English classes.
E-mail: secretary@yhpaa.org
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Treasurer:
Ben Ramirez III was born in Detroit, Michigan. His grandmother is a native Texan so it was only a matter of time before he would return to his roots. Ben obtained his BA in Philosophy and Political Science from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and his JD from the University of Toledo, Ohio. He is the City of Austin’s International Program Manager. His position is assigned to the Cultural Arts/International Affairs Division of the Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office. In college, he was elected by his peers as Treasurer of the Hispanic Law Students’ Association, The Federalist Society and the Student Bar Association. Ben served as chief of staff in the Michigan Senate for five years. He managed a $300,000 state office budget and each year returned at least $10,000 to the Michigan Treasury. Some of his honors include the Who’s Who of American Law Students, an appointment to the Morrison R. Waite Chapter of the American Inns of Court and 1998 Outstanding Young Men of America Award. Some of Ben’s community focused activities include Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, the Zilker Park Kite Festival and the Keep Austin Weird 5k. In his down time, Ben runs the Hike and Bike Trail and never turns down the opportunity to participate in a hockey game!
E-mail: treasurer@yhpaa.org
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Director of Public Relations:
Cammy López was born and raised in Houston and has lived in Austin since 2000. She obtained her degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Cammy has been planning successful corporate meetings and events for the past 6 years. During this time she has planned hundreds of special events, conferences, sales meetings, non-profit galas and tradeshows in several states throughout the country. Her meeting planning experience led her to a Director position at a local Destination Management Company (DMC) where she honed her skills on the supplier slide of meeting and conference planning. She knew her experience as a planner and a supplier provided a unique perspective to clients. This motivated her to start CL Consulting which provides clients unmatched service and detail driven results. Her desire to make a difference in her community can be seen in the volunteer work that she has done in Austin. Her talents have helped to raise thousands of dollars for several non-profit organizations including the American Red Cross, American Lung Association, Mexic-Arte Museum and the Make-A-Wish Foundation®. Cammy is an avid reader, enjoys traveling and has recently finished the 2008 AT&T Marathon, yes that 26.2 miles!
E-mail: pr@yhpaa.org
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Community Director:
Veronica Chapa-Jones is a native of McAllen, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. She moved to Austin in 2001 to work on a MA in Latin American Studies and MS in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Austin. While at UT, Veronica was one of the first Lozano-Long Fellows and a National Science Foundation GK-12 Fellow. Her research interests included border development with an emphasis on housing and Mexican public policy. After internships in DC and in McAllen, Veronica began her work with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and is currently a planner responsible for assisting in the administration of approximately $46 million in housing assistance throughout rural Texas. Veronica is married to Robert E. Jones from Portland, TX and they share their home with a lovable lab named Murphy.
E-mail: community@yhpaa.org
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Membership Director:
Becky Treviño was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She graduated from The University of Michigan in 2004 with a Master's Degree in Industrial & Operations Engineering and currently works as a Product Engineering Manager at Dell Inc. In 2007, Becky was named Promising Engineer of the Year by The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) National Office and was Past Chair of the Austin SHPE Chapter. In 2007 she also received The Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Community Award for her role leading Dell TechKnow, and was listed as a top volunteer by Austin Woman magazine in its Viva Volunteers! issue. One of Becky's life goals is to help cure cancer within her lifetime. She ran the Austin Marathon as part of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training and is a core member of Team Dell, a group of 200 athletes that raised $59K for The 2007 Lance Armstrong LIVESTRONG Challenge. She is a sister of Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority and 2007 graduate of Leadership Austin's Emerge Program and Tauber Institute for Global Operations. Becky loves salsa dancing, shopping at Zara, watching way too many chick flicks, and plays indoor soccer for Internazionale FC. E-mail: membership@yhpaa.org
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