Education & Career

Education

Hanna High School                                                         HS Diploma, June 1989

Our Lady of the Lake University                                       BA Communications Arts, May 1994

St. Mary’s University                                                      MA Communications Arts, May 1996

My grandmother Angelita and me on my graduation day. I was the first in my family to graduate from college.

Career

U.S. Air Force – Kelly Air Force Base                              San Antonio, Texas                                                         May 1996 – December 1999

U.S. Army – Recruiting Battalion – Dallas Region               Irving, Texas                                                             December 1999 – July 2000

Peace Corps – Southwest Recruitment Office              Dallas, Texas                                                               July 2000 – May 2005

U.S. Department of Agriculture – Food and Nutrition Service Dallas, Texas                                                                May 2005 to Present

A visit to a school cafeteria. I currently work for the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, a federal agency that works with state agencies to feed 30 million school children each day.

Appointments & Positions 

LULAC 4871-The Dallas Rainbow Council participated in the Oak Cliff Mardi Gras Parade in February 2009. 

League of United Latin American Citizens          Council 4871 – The Dallas Rainbow Council               President                                                                             June 2006 to Present                                                  As a cofounder of the council, I have been there during its formation and eventual growth from 12 members in June 2006 to 38 members today. I have been officer of the organization since the beginning and I am currently serving my first term as president of the council. During my tenure, my council won the 2008 District III “Council of the Year” award, 2008 Texas LULAC “Council of the Year Award,” and passed a resolution at the National LULAC Convention calling for the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” and honoring every military soldier for his or her contribution to this nation.

National Stonewall Democrats                                Board Member                                                               May 2005 to April 2009

The National Stonewall Democrats is the National Voice for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Democrats. I currently represent the South Central Region of the United States. I have been elected twice by my peers from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri to serve in this position. 

Stonewall Democrats of Dallas                                     President Emeritus                                                       January 2000 to Present                                               I have served as a board member, secretary and president of this Democratic organization. During my tenure as President from 2007 to 2008, I grew the organization from 250 paid members to nearly 400. I have personally registered nearly 1,000 people in Dallas’ Oak Lawn area in my nine years with the organization - standing out the Crossroads (Cedar Springs and Throckmorton) every spring and summer before federal and municipal elections. I also volunteered on successful campaigns of Democratic officials who took office in 2004, 2006 and 2008.

My Democratic organization helped register nearly 1,000 people in Dallas during the 2008 election.

Barack Obama for President                                   Obama Pride National Co-Chair                               July 2008 – November 2008                                          The campaign of Barack Obama for President selected me as one of its five national co-chairs of Obama Pride, a national grassroots effort to bring out the LGBT vote during the 2008 presidential campaign.

I served on the campaign of Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton. She is one of my heroes.

Hillary Clinton for President                                          National LGBT Steering Committee                         August 2007-May 2008                                                 The campaign of Hillary Clinton for President included me on its National LGBT Steering Committee during the 2008 presidential primaries.

City of Dallas Permits License and Appeals Board Board Member                                                                              June 2006 – December 2008                                        Appointed by Hon. Pauline Medrano of City Council District 2, I sat on a board that heard appeals from the denial, suspension or revocation of a license or permit issued by a city department. Appeals may be heard in a number of areas, including licenses or permits for animal shelters, billiard halls, busses and shuttles, dance halls, late-hour permits, sexually oriented businesses, food establishments, massage establishments, locational restriction exemptions, parks and water reservoirs, special events, taxicabs, and motor vehicle escorts.

In 2004, I visited Paris, France, and spoke to government officials about immigration policy practices.

Marshall Memorial Fellowship - European Program Fellow                                                                        June 2006                                                                    The fellowship provides a unique opportunity for emerging leaders from the United States and Europe to explore societies, institutions, and people on the other side of the Atlantic.  I traveled to Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Netherlands and Spain and met with local community leaders to discuss immigration, HIV/AIDS treatment and funding and same-sex marriage rights.

Valiente- DFW LGBTQ Latino/a Organization                Board Member                                                        December 2004-December 2006                                For two years I helped promote Hispanic culture, art and heritage in Dallas’ LGBT Community through my board membership in Valiente.  During my tenure, I helped the organization kick off “Hispanic Heritage Month” events in Dallas’ Oak Lawn district that highlighted local Latino artists and a speakers series of Latino elected officials.

Activism

I testified in favor of the Hate Crimes Study Bill authored by State Representative Marc Veasey of Fort Worth.

In March 2009, I traveled to Austin to testify in favor of House Bill 616 before the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence. House Bill 616 would call for a study of the 2001 James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Act.  Since 2001, more than 1,800 crimes based on bias and prejudice have been reported to the Texas Department of Public Safety, but only nine cases have been prosecuted as a hate crime. This bill will require the Attorney General to look into what are the obstacles preventing hate crimes from being prosecuted in Texas.

I paid a visit to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison during our 2008 LULAC National Convention in Washington, D.C. She will support the Dream Act. 

In August 2008, I traveled to Washington, D.C., and met with my Texas senator to talk about civil rights legislation. I asked U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison to please continue her support of the pro-Hispanic Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (Dream Act). “The Dream Act” is federal legislation that would provide certain immigrant students who graduate from an American High School, are of good moral character, arrived in the U.S. as children, and have been in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment, the opportunity to earn conditional permanent residency.

Hundreds of Dallas residents marched against gun violence in South Dallas. 

In August 2007, I represented LULAC in a march against gun violence, partnering with Black Church leaders and the LGBT community to bring awareness to the high crime rate in South Dallas and demanding action from our elected leaders.