Fellows – San Antonio
About San Antonio Fellows
As you might have heard, we have recently expanded to San Antonio! We are excited and looking forward to working with our first cohort of amazing San Antonio rising leaders.
As a San Antonio Fellow, you’ll have access to the Notley ecosystem, exclusive programming, professional development and immersive projects. Throughout the Fellowship, you’ll build a strong network of social impact leaders, through relationships you create with your Fellows cohort and through the Notley ecosystem.
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Owner of San Antonio in a Box we are enthusiastic about our San Antonio small business community; we blend together our culture, history and small businesses to find the perfect gift to give. Passionate about giving back to our nonprofit community and foster youth through being an active board member of THRU Project and Alamo Heights Presbyterian Church Day School. We are blessed with 3 beautiful energetic children who inspire us everyday!
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Project Manager
San Antonio, Texas
Food security & sustainability
racial equality & justice
health & wellness
I am currently the Project Manager at Momofuku CPG located in the heart of the San Antonio Downtown Tech District. I was born & raised in Laredo, Texas, then made my way to Cornell University where I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in International Agriculture. I’m dedicated and passionate about the growth happening for young professionals in San Antonio, and I enjoy encouraging those around me to explore all that San Antonio has to offer. In my free time, I can be found coffee shop hopping, attending food pop-up events, and staying active.
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Founder + CEO
San Antonio, Texas
The digital divide
Climate change
Impact of screen time
Ashley Bird is the founder and CEO of Blooming with Birdie, a children’s edutainment company inspired by Dr. Montessori and Mister Rogers. She is also the manager of the Monarch Butterfly and Pollinator Festival, serves on the San Antonio Climate Ready Technical Committee, and is an active member at Geekdom. In her free time, she enjoys time with friends + family, live music + comedy, and hiking + exploring. And, a good sci-fi.
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Creative Director
San Antonio, Texas
Bridging the opportunity gap
transportation
cyber hygiene
international relations
Made in Russia, born in Switzerland, raised in France, and altered in Texas. As Creative Director, Audrey Brunner brings an international perspective to SATX Consultants.
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EdTech Solutions Specialist
San Antonio, Texas
Opportunities for minority women
Transgender and gender non-conforming awareness
Student and teacher growth opportunities
After receiving the 2020 Texas Region 20 Secondary Teacher of the Year, San Antonio Independent School District 2019 Secondary Teacher of the Year, and 2019-20 Trinity University Distinguished Educator awards, I left the classroom to make a larger impact in education. While in my new roles in Educational Technology and K-12 User Experience Design consulting, the need to support teachers became apparent. I launched my startup in January of 2021 to give teachers that exact support. With a B.G.S in Music/Theatre, M.A in Educational Technology, military and corporate experience along with being a mother, I feel well-equipped for my new entrepreneurial journey to help teachers globally.
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Officer, Senior Marketing Specialist
San Antonio, Texas
Renewable energy
economic development
sustainable city infrastructure
Skilled digital marketing specialist with over 11 years of experience in marketing, data-driven content generation, brand digital development, editorial, and creative content writing. Driven to build partnerships in the San Antonio community through creative solutions and strategy. Striving to facilitate the development of renewable energy resources for all citizens to combat climate change.
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Litigation Counsel
San Antonio, Texas
Climate
Public Health
Education
Economic Development
Diversity & Inclusion
I am a first-generation Mexican-American and was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. In my professional career, I am a commercial litigator focused on high-stakes business and energy disputes throughout Texas. I am a husband, father of two, sports fanatic, outdoors enthusiast, and economic development follower.
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Producer
San Antonio, Texas
Sustainable urban development
Mobility
Education
Mental Health
I’m a Creative Producer with 10 years experience developing & delivering impactful digital content for mission-driven brands. Equal parts orchestrator and creative, I love to lead teams to tell good stories with the right media. My work as a storyteller has taken me around the world, running productions in ten states & half a dozen countries to cover subjects at the highest levels of entertainment, business, and art. After earning my undergrad degree at UT, I founded Compost Pedallers, a zero-emissions startup that helped usher in Austin’s city-wide organics program.
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Co-Founder + CFO
San Antonio, Texas
Physical Health
Entrepreneurship
Digital Divide
Community Engagement
Eduardo was born and raised in Mexico City. He holds a BBA in International Business from UIW in San Antonio TX and serves as co-founder and CFO of Irys, a venture-backed software company that enables Architecture, Engineering, and Construction companies to efficiently gather data from the community to gain actionable insights. Prior to Irys, Eduardo worked as a Management Consultant for EY and a Financial Analyst for IPI. If not in his office, you can typically find Eduardo running or cycling through San Antonio parks and trails with his dog.
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Sr. Research & Content Analyst
San Antonio, Texas
Smart cities
sustainability
civic innovation
entrepreneurship
As an emerging technologies analyst, I help translate the future for businesses, people, and communities. I am passionate about smart cities and sustainability and do all that I can to leverage my experience to further those efforts in San Antonio and abroad. Additionally, I am a mentor, public speaker, business owner, and unapologetic bookworm.
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Sr. Housing Policy Coordinator
San Antonio, Texas
Housing affordability
local government accessibility
health
equitable policy
job access
Kristin is a native Texan with more than a decade in public service who is passionate about creating more equitable cities through public policy rooted in authentic community collaboration and expansive data. She is committed to building cities where zip codes have less power in predicting educational, economic, health, and social outcomes. Outside of work, Kristin loves to spend time outdoors, always has a book in hand, and enjoys spending time giving back to her community.
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Programs Manager
San Antonio, Texas
Access to the arts
wellness
21st century education
opportunities for underserved entrepreneurs
Leslie grew up in San Antonio, holds a BFA in Communication Design from Texas State University, is a Codeup alumni, a Winter 2015 Techstars Cloud alumni, and spent several years working at local arts organizations such as the San Antonio Museum of Art, Artist Foundation, and the City of San Antonio Arts & Culture department. She’s been managing entrepreneurial programs at Geekdom since May 2020, and spends her spare time practicing yoga and pilates, exploring nature, dabbling in arts, and hanging out with her stepsons, husband, dogs, and cat.
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Founder + CEO & Director for Mexican Operations
San Antonio, Texas
Sustainability
farm-to-cup
women empowerment
entrepreneurship in CPG
Maria Mejia is an accidental entrepreneur who founded Colibri Mountain Coffee to connect her origins in Colombia with her life in North America by producing naturally sweet roasted coffee and ready-to-drink cold brew that tastes good, does good and makes you feel good without cream, sugar, or artificial sweeteners. Maria moved to the United States more than 10 years ago with a scholarship to study business and, after holding a number of jobs in the energy industry, she is able to highlight beauty and make a positive economic and social impact in Colombia and in the United States through coffee.
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Law Student
San Antonio, Texas
gentrification
criminal justice reform
higher education
mentorship
accessibility
judiciary reform
Natalie DeCesare is an aspiring public policy lawyer in her last year of law school at St. Mary’s University School of Law. Prior to law school, she actively participated in political campaign management, grassroots activism, and campus civic engagement. Natalie is a former Newman Fellow, Sumners Fellow, Charles Koch Institute Fellow, an intern for Pacific Legal Foundation, and conference attendee for the Institute for Justice. Natalie is passionate about mentorship, and started the first peer mentorship program among Texas law schools; mentors foster girls through the court system and her alma mater; and is currently creating prelaw pipeline programs for underprivileged populations. Natalie looks forward to taking the Bar in July 2022 and finding a career that combines her love of law and policy.
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In addition to my expertise in the hiring and recruiting field, I am passionate about collaboration across areas of expertise. I bring process and structure to the often chaotic and creative work of building new software solutions from scratch. I am happiest when I am helping people, through 1:1 career coaching or mentoring startup founders through Geekdom.
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Operations Officer
San Antonio, Texas
Increasing access to public resources
public-private partnerships
civic engagement and access to the political process
addressing civic challenges using technology
urban development impact
Taylor Watson is the Operations Officer for the Order of Daedalians, the premier fraternal organization for military aviators where in her #2 role she supports infrastructure and capacity building and ensures strategic projects make it across the finish line. Taylor attended the University of Rochester where, she developed an interdisciplinary course of study in U.S. Military Policy and Culture drawing from anthropology, political science, and military science departments and developed a passion for bringing together qualitative and quantitative analytic approaches and developing cross-disciplinary solutions. Building on her extensive work as a neighborhood activist serving on boards of a neighborhood association, neighborhood activist network, and non-profit news site that focus on the impacts of urban development, she also does consulting work for civic and non-profit projects and organizations through her company the Alcachofa Agency. An advocate of robust civic engagement, Taylor is currently serving as the San Antonio District 2 Zoning Commissioner and is contributing to several projects focused on enhancing entry points for public participation and data collection strategies to improve neighborhood engagement efforts and citizen activism. She was an NLC Fellow in 2021, teaches Sunday school at her local church, and is also an active member of Urban Land Institute and the League of Women Voters.
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Research Scientist + Program Manager
San Antonio, Texas
Women leadership in the science
young women with cancer
I am Kurd immigrant who moved to states when I was 9. I have amazing husband and three kids under age 6 and they are my world. I am breast cancer survivor and my third kid being a chemo baby. I have masters in organic chemistry and the last decade I have dedicated my career in drug development from leading cross functional CMC project teams with proven adaptability transferring PM expertise across many other aspects of product development, such as pre-Clinical operations and Regulatory Affairs.Three words that sum up who I am are resilient, empathetic and ambitious.
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Yousef Kassim is CEO of legal tech company, Easy Expunctions. Kassim is passionate about leveraging technology to provide access to justice. Kassim also serves on the board of directors for Workforce Solutions Alamo and Crosspoint, Inc., and as a mentor for the MIT Solve: Unbundling Policing Challenge. Kassim is a graduate of Trinity University and St. Mary’s University School of Law, and member of the State Bar of Texas.
Event Spotlight
Fellows Impact in
San Antonio
Shaping the Future of Digital Learning
(Austin Fellow) Growing generational Black wealth through an end-to-end wealth building platform
(Austin Fellow) Secured $20k Wells Fargo Affordable Housing Grant
BLOOMING WITH BIRDIE
“We are so grateful to the Geekdom Community Fund for the opportunity to scale our business by producing our next Montessori- inspired children’s edutainment series about… BEES! We can’t beeelieve it! For this hands-on video series, we will be collaborating with master beekeeper Cecile Parrish of Garcia Street Farm / Eco-Centro and are currently exploring the additions of an animated character and AR extensions. Join us on our journey by following us @bloomingwithbirdie.”
Ashley Bird,
2022 Class
AMASS
“As we began to ideate on the launch plan, I helped curate the list of luminaries that would be highlighted in our content. By focusing on the stories of people who represent our community, it made the tactics and strategies more realistic. Now, we have done our first deal and are exploring new investment opportunities including private companies and crypto. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to make alternative investments and I have already seen how those choices have had a material impact on my family. My hope is to use my access and privilege to help Amass become the onramp to wealth creation and community building for millions of people that look like me.”
Harold Hughes,
2020 Class
Chestnut Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation
“What I have loved so much about the Notley Project is how it focused my work on the board at Chestnut Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation (CNRC). Working with the Notley team, I set three clear accountable goals to target throughout 2021: Re-brand CNRC website, Re-launch social media handles, and Apply for and win grants to support our continued affordable housing efforts.”
John William Meyer,
2020 Class
Fellows In The News
