Welcome to my website! However our paths crossed, I hope you find my content useful and inspiring. Here’s a little bit about me.
With over 25 years of experience supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), I am foremost an advocate for human rights. I discovered a passion for advocacy as a direct care worker supporting men and women who lived in group homes. While earning a Bachelor of Social Work degree from (Southwest) Texas State University School of Social Work, I worked full-time supporting individuals pursue a meaningful life. I refer to SOWK as my first love and will forever call myself a social worker. In my professional experience, I served the San Antonio community as a Child Protective Services investigator, Local IDD Authority service coordinator and manager, and Rights Protection Officer at the San Antonio state supported living center. I earned a Master of Public Administration degree from University of Texas at San Antonio while working full-time.
I moved to Austin in 2010 to build a new ombudsman office established by the state legislature. After 12 years of serving as Deputy Independent Ombudsman, I was appointed by the Texas governor to lead the office in June 2021. Serving as the Independent Ombudsman in this capacity is an honor.
This May, I successfully defended my dissertation to complete a PhD in Applied Demography at UTSA. I conducted a mixed methods study called The Enduring Legacy of Texas Freedom Colonies on Black Homeownership: A Mixed-Methods Approach. You can read more about it on the Demography page!