MEET OUR TEAM
Dr. Mary Edna González, Executive Director
Dr. Mary Edna González has dedicated her life to promoting social change through her community engagement, professional experiences and academic background. Over the past decade, Mary has helped classrooms, organizations, and companies, embrace and understand how to strategically support transformative change.
Mary received her bachelor’s degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and her Master’s Degree from St. Edward’s University, and her Doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction- Cultural Studies in Education at UT-Austin.
Previously, she has worked at the National Hispanic Institute, the University of Texas at Austin, and as the Assistant Dean for Student Multicultural Affairs at Southwestern University. Most recently, Dr. González was the Assistant Director for the Partnership for the Future of Learning at the National Public Education Support Fund. Currently she is the Executive Director for the Mexican American School Board Association.
Most recently, Mary was awarded the “Champion for Children” title by the Equity Center, a Texas-based nonprofit organization that strives to create a more equitable public school finance system, as well as the “Leadership Award” by Equality Texas for her leadership advocating for LGBTQ equality. In 2015, she was the youngest inductee into the El Paso Women’s Hall of Fame
In her individual capacity as a Texas resident, she serves in the Texas House of Representatives as State Representative for House District 75 (El Paso County). Mary serves as the Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee, as well as on the Public Education Committee in the Texas House. She is currently serving her second term as Vice Chair for the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, and the Chair of the new Texas House LGBTQ Caucus. Nationally, she serves on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Latino Elected Officials, and as Co-Chair for the Board of Latino Legislative Leaders.
Mary lives in the community she grew up in on the Texas/Mexico border, surrounded by goats, horses, and dogs.
Lesley Rivas López, Operations Specialist
Lesley Rivas López (she/her/ella) is a graduate student in the Department of Education Leadership and Policy at The University of Texas at Austin. She currently serves as a Mentoring Coordinator and Research Assistant for Project MALES (Mentoring to Achieve Latino Academic Success), a research-based mentorship program for boys and young men of color in the Austin area. Her research interests include the educational access and attainment of Latinx students across the pipeline, ethnic studies, and educational equity for underserved students through policy reform and the building of culturally-responsive support models.
Lesley earned her M.Ed. in Education Policy from UT-Austin and a B.A. in Latinx Studies and Spanish from the University of Michigan. She is originally from Chicago, Illinois and is the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants. Being a first-generation Latina scholar, Lesley is deeply passionate about changing the educational opportunities for her community through her research and advocacy efforts.
As the operations specialist, Lesley manages membership and sponsorship processes.
Pedro Ortiz Menchaca, Communications Specialist
Yeraldin Yordi, Events Consultant
Yeraldin Yordi is a Venezuelan with Middle Eastern descent, who moved to the U.S in 2001. Yeraldin started working with nonprofits in 2008 at the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Austin. Her career in nonprofits quickly evolved serving in the capacity of Executive Assistant and Project Manager. In 2017, Yeraldin opened an event planning business. Yeraldin joined MASBA in 2018 as event planner. Her superb organizational and interpersonal skills are put into action not only for event planning, but also in an operational capacity as she supports our team to continue to achieve the Mission of MASBA.
