2024 New Board of Directors
We are proud to announce the six newest members to join our board in 2024! Check back throughout January to learn more about their background.
Desiree Alonzo-Curtis
Desiree Alonzo-Curtis, a San Antonio native, is the Assistant Airport Director of the Airport Operations for Port San Antonio and supports the oversight of Kelly Field’s civil operations and airport development, specifically the integration of applied technologies that emerge from the Tech Port strategy. She is an accomplished Aviation leader with over 14 years of experience in the areas of General Aviation, Airport Operations, Airport Security, and Facility Maintenance. She is also a speaker at industry-leading events both in the U.S. and Internationally.
She earned her Bachelor’s in Professional Aeronautics with minors in Aviation Safety and Management in 2006 and her Master’s in Aeronautical Science with specializations in Aeronautics and Space Studies in 2010 from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. Her goals in education continue and she is currently working towards earning a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Leadership Studies.
Along with her professional and educational background, her passion for community service includes volunteering with the Archdiocese of San Antonio Catholic Youth Organization as a coach and was a past Parish board member, South Central Chapter of AAAE At-Large Board Member, and the FBI San Antonio Citizens Academy Alumni Association Vice Presiden.
Joyce Townsend
With a strong background in senior management for international corporations, Ms. Townsend brought a wide level of expertise to the companies she has worked for in her career. She has specialized in team development and sustainable revenue growth. Although she has lived all over the United States, she chose to retire in San Antonio. Her husband also retired this year and, as an avid golfer is pleased to reside in San Antonio, too. Their four children live in NYC, Denver, Dallas, and Austin thereby guaranteeing several visits from her throughout the year. She has expressly requested they remain in beautiful cities.
The University of Texas and London School of Economics are where Ms. Townsend studied economics and political science. She has applied those studies to her passion, the San Antonio Feminist Film Festival. 2024 is the fourth year for the festival and it has grown 226% in that time. A change in format will see the film festival have a screening in each quarter of the year.
During a prior residency in San Antonio, two of her children attended SAISD schools resulting in Ms. Townsend wanting to give back to the community through supporting the mission of the SAISD Foundation and the district’s staff and students.
Kedrick Wright
Kedrick Wright is a Program Manager with planning, engineering and program management firm Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam, Inc. (LAN). Wright supports LAN’s program management business.
Wright is responsible for managing a range of project types including new construction and renovations to improve the learning environments for LAN’s educational clients. His work includes program development, project planning, procurement, construction administration, closeout, and operational handover.
Wright has nearly 20 years of architectural, construction and program management experience. Prior to joining LAN, he was most recently the San Antonio Independent School District Deputy Chief Operations Officer where he led bond planning and construction, capital improvements, and facilities development. During his time with San Antonio ISD, Wright provided leadership for a $1.3 billion bond program and a $450 million bond program that worked to replace and modernize schools within the district.
Prior to joining San Antonio ISD, Wright worked on capital programs for Sheldon ISD, New Caney ISD and Arlington (VA) Public Schools. Previously, he served in Houston ISD as the Senior Manager of Facilities Planning and Design. In this role, he oversaw a team of facilities planners, program and project managers and architects who helped replace or build over 40 schools across the city as part of the district’s $2 billion capital improvement program.
Wright holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental design (architecture) from Texas A&M University and a master’s in architecture from the University of Southern California.
Letty Gonzales
Letty is the Vice President of Member Engagement at Generations Federal Credit Union. Letty is responsible for building and sustaining relationships with the credit union’s core founding membership groups of City, Fire and Police Department employees. Letty also successfully developed and implemented the organization’s community sponsorship and employee volunteer programs. She has also built a culture of community service and enhanced interdepartmental collaboration within the organization. Letty leads the credit union’s Marketing team, integrating brand awareness, advertising, and public relations messaging with internal and external stakeholders.
While serving as a senior leader at GFCU, this lifelong San Antonio native continues to be a leader with multiple community organizations. She is always willing to connect people with support and resources and to mentor others in the community by investing her network and stellar reputation with business leaders and nonprofits alike. Letty does all of this in a cheerful, positive way as she advocates for positive change to improve outcomes for the next generations of San Antonio families. Letty is the first to shine a light on the success of others, and the first to give credit to those who step up and show up for our community.
Letty and husband Sam are proud parents of a house divided. Longhorn son Sammy is a Google product manager in San Francisco. Aggie daughter Jasmine is a Registered Nurse at St. David’s Hospital in Austin, and she holds a Master’s Degree from George Washington University. Letty’s granddaughter Penny is a King Charles Spaniel.
Emmanuel Casasola
Emmanuel currently serves as the Executive Director, Global Quality for BioBridge Global. BioBridge Global is a non-profit organization with three distinct operating subsidiaries that focus on donor-to-patient solutions with its foundation centered around South Texas Blood and Tissue. Emmanuel has been with the organization since 2017 and leads a team of ~60 quality professionals who support BioBridge Global and help ensure that the culture of quality is maintained. Emmanuel was born in Mexico City but grew up in San Antonio, TX where he received a BS from the University of the Incarnate Word. Emmanuel has been a quality leader for 20 years in food safety, environmental sciences, and recently in the health and biotech industry leading carious organizations through ISO, FDA, USDA, CLIA, EU, and TGA assessments and compliance inspections. Emmanuel is passionate about community involvement and civic engagement which led to his selection to LeadershipSA in 2022 for the 47th class. LeadershipSA is a leadership program that is co-sponsored by the Greater Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in San Antonio.
Laura Saldivar Luna (she/her/ella)
Laura Saldivar Luna (she/her/ella) is a believer in the limitless potential of humanity and the power of living life fully expressed. She and her husband David are the proud parents of two hilarious kids, Paloma and Lucas, and three rambunctious corgi pups, Benny, Clyde, and Dale.
Laura founded and leads a transformational coaching practice, lovingly named Piñata Possible, which is dedicated to helping humans access powerful breakthroughs in their lives and leadership.
Sparked by the dream, and sustained by the encouragement of her parents, Laura was the first member of her family to graduate from college. She attended Georgetown University in Washington, DC and the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, graduating with dual degrees in English and Spanish.
Laura spent 17 years as an educator and executive with Teach For America, a career which included exciting experiences like teaching high school in a rural town on the Texas-Mexico border; becoming the founding executive director of Teach For America in her hometown of San Antonio, Texas; and leading human capital strategy as Teach For America’s national chief people officer.
As a speaker, writer, and coach, Laura loves using transformational tools to create new possibilities. Her unique approach to coaching embraces the bliss within tension and finds power in paradox. She is passionate about the magical intersections between achievement and allowing, planning and emergence, input and intuition, and the known and unknown.
Community care of the collective and honoring the wisdom within nature are both very important to Laura. She sits on the board of directors for the San Antonio Report, a nonprofit digital news organization dedicated to creating a more informed community, and she is the newest member of the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Commission.
Laura restores her alignment and finds joy in practicing laughter, yoga, dancing, journaling, traveling, and sharing gratitude with others. If you afford her the opportunity, she will talk your ear off about her obsession with colorful pens, Disneyland, and why a cup of hot tea is one of her most important daily rituals.