Board of Directors
Everyone at the San Antonio Report shares this commitment
We want to be the leading media platform that informs, connects and engages the people of San Antonio with important and interesting trusted news and commentary. We want to help build a better informed, better educated and more prosperous community, a San Antonio that our children and talented people from elsewhere see as a great place to live, work and play.
We can’t do it alone. Meet our strong, tested, committed board of directors.
A.J. Rodriguez
CHAIRMAN
A.J. Rodriguez joined Texas 2036 in September 2020 as Executive Vice President. Texas 2036, a nonprofit, apolitical organization endeavors to make Texas a better place to live and work by the state’s bicentennial.
Most recently, A.J. was Vice President of External Affairs and served on the Executive Leadership Team of Zachry Group, a privately held business engaged primarily in the engineering, construction, and maintenance of large industrial facilities. He began at Zachry in 2011 and oversaw the organization’s community investment and philanthropic efforts, media relations, and government affairs.
A.J. served as Deputy City Manager for the City of San Antonio from 2008-2011. He had direct supervision over the areas of International Relations, Economic Development, Intergovernmental Relations, Convention and Visitors Bureau, Human Resources, Downtown Operations, the Public Library, the Office of Cultural Affairs and the Parks and Recreation Department.
Before joining the City, A.J. served as President & CEO of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. During his four-year tenure, the Hispanic Chamber doubled its membership base and grew its total revenue by 60+ percent. He also served as Vice President at the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.
In 2015, A.J. began a five-year term as an officer of the Board of Directors of the Texas Association of Business and was unanimously endorsed to serve as Chairman of the Board in 2018. He is proud to have served as the organization’s first Latino chairman.
A.J. earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree specializing in International Business, and a Master of Business Administration degree from UTSA. A.J. and his wife Estelle have three children, Alexandra, Arthur John, and Isabella.
Cara Nichols
VICE CHAIR
Cara Nichols served as Director of Community Affairs at Rackspace from 2010-2019. In this role, she had the unique opportunity to give back to the communities where the company operates and manage the company’s involvement in civic, nonprofit and community initiatives. Cara currently serves on the board of the Rackspace Foundation, a 100% employee-funded nonprofit that supports out-of-school programs in the adopted schools around Rackspace’s corporate headquarters in San Antonio, TX. Before her time at Rackspace, Nichols was the editor of a high-end lifestyle magazine, and prior to that she was an elementary teacher. She is currently working on her first book.
Laura Saldivar Luna
DIRECTOR
Laura Saldivar Luna is the Chief People Officer of Teach For America. Prior to her role as CPO, Laura was the founding as executive director of Teach For America in her hometown of San Antonio, Texas.
Laura earned her bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University where she graduated magna cum laude with dual degrees in English and Spanish.
She is a 2018 Pahara Fellow and a member of the Apsen Global Leadership Network. She and her husband, David, are proud alumni of public schools in San Antonio’s urban core, and they live in the same neighborhood where they were raised. They have two young children, Paloma and Lucas, and a Welsh corgi named Charlie.
Wayne Alexander
DIRECTOR
Wayne Alexander is the retired president of SBC Southwestern Bell. He held previous senior leadership positions in marketing, sales, network operations, international, government relations and regulatory with various entities that later became AT&T in Washington D.C., San Francisco, Santiago, and Houston before settling in San Antonio. Among his current responsibilities, he is the chairman of the Southwest Research Institute, serves at a trustee of Missouri University of Science and Technology, and is Vice Chairman of Liftfund.
Dr. Erika Gonzalez
DIRECTOR
CEO, President, & Co-Founder of South Texas Allergy and Asthma Medical Professionals (STAAMP) and STAAMP Clinical Research and Chair, San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Before opening her own business, Dr. Gonzalez served 10 years in the United States Air Force. After being honorably discharged at the rank of Major with the Meritorious Service Medal and the Air Force Commendation medal, she returned to her hometown of San Antonio and has been actively involved as a business owner and community leader. Among many boards and advisory posts, Dr. Gonzalez chairs the Mayor’s Commission on Status of Women, is Chairwoman for the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, is on the Board of Directors for Latino Victory Project, and was selected as a 2019 Presidential Leadership Scholar. Through her volunteer efforts, she works to decrease healthcare disparities and increase access to quality medical care.
Dr. Gonzalez is the mother of two young boys and considers this her most important role. She is committed to teaching her boys the value of service to the community and integrity in all they do.
Leo Gomez
DIRECTOR
Janie Barrera
DIRECTOR
Janie Barrera is founding president and CEO of LiftFund.The organization provides loans and management training to enterprises, from startups to long established businesses and operates in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Since its inception in 1994, LiftFund has disbursed more than 21,000 loans totaling more than $300 million – with an impressive 96 percent repayment rate.
Barrera has received nationwide recognition for her accomplishments, including the Small Business Administration Financial Services Advocate of the Year, the Minority Enterprise Development Consortium’s Corporate Advocate of the Year and the San Antonio Business Hall of Fame. President Barack Obama appointed Ms. Barrera to the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability and has served on the board of directors for the Federal Reserve Bank Of Dallas, San Antonio Branch. She is presently on the Boards of Our Lady of the Lake University, the San Antonio Area Foundation, and the Board of Managers of the University Health System and Foundation
She received a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University—Corpus Christi and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of the Incarnate Word.
Michelle Lugalia-Hollon
DIRECTOR
Former Board Members
Richard T. Schlosberg III, Founding Chairman
John “Chico” Newman, Jr., Former Chairman, Founding Vice Chairman
Lew Moorman, Founding Treasurer
Robert Rivard, Co-Founder & Founding Secretary
Katy Flato, Founding Director
Dan Goodgame, Former Director
Brian Steward, Former Director
To get in contact with a San Antonio Report Board Member please email directors@sareport.org.
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