FRANCISCO SAMUEL MARTÍNEZ

was born in McAllen (Texas) on August 25th, 1978. He graduated as a Mechanical Engineer from the University of Texas – Pan American. For the past 19 years, he has served the U S Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) He is the current Assistant Manager of Operations. The U.S. Section oversees the maintenance and operations of two international storage dams and diversion systems of the Rio Grande; additionally, he works with the three levels of government in coordinating water use efficiency and reticulation

Jacob Stevens

Jake Stevens is the Political and Economic Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Matamoros Prior to arriving in Matamoros, Jake served in Nicaragua, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ecuador He has also served three tours in Washington, focusing mainly on economics. He is a lawyer and is originally from Portland, Oregon.

as the U.S. Professor of the Year, the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education with the Outstanding Latino/a Faculty in Higher Ed award, and the University of Texas System Board of Regents with the Outstanding Teaching Award. She is the founding Director of the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas Pan-American and has assisted over a dozen Latinx students in reaching their goal of gaining entrance to a PhD program She is the author of multiple essays on the intersections of education, race, gender, language, identity, and culture. You can find her most recently co-authored essay in the Harvard Educational Review. Alvarez is also the recipient of a 2023 National Endowment for the Humanities Faculty Awards Fellowship for her research on contemporary Chicana feminists in the Río Grande Valley Her work is motivated by her students and her lived experiences as a Latina student, educator, and mother of three.

CÉSAR L. DE LEÓN

is the author of speaking with grackles by soapberry trees (FlowerSong 2021) He is winner of the Texas Institute of letters John A Robertson award for the best first book of poetry (2021) and the Philosophical Society of Texas Best Book of Poetry award (2022). He is an educator and one of four poet-organizers for Poets Against Walls, a grass-roots collective of poets and educators dedicated to centering and elevating Borderland narratives and work by writers, artists, and activists affected by borders and divisions of all kinds His work has appeared in Queen Mob’s Tea House, Pilgrimage, The Acentos Review, La Bloga, Zocalo Public Square, and anthologies like Asina is How We Talk, Pulse/Pulso: In Remembrance of Orlando, Imaniman: Poets Writing in the Anzaldúan Borderlands, and Dreaming: A Tribute to Selena Quintanilla-Perez, among others.

Froyl N Yescas

Is Attorney at Law from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), has a Diploma in North American Law from the University of Georgetown. Within his professional experience, he emphasizes his work with civil society organizations. He was deputy director of Citizen Participation in the Benito Juarez Delegation Since November 14th, is Consul in this Consulate of Mexico in McAllen, Texas