Tessa joined the team in 2020. Through her role, she will support media relations across the state of Texas. Prior to joining the Charles Butt Foundation, Tessa worked as part of the Diversity & Inclusion team at H-E-B. She has also worked in the non-profit sector both in San Antonio and nationally at organizations focused on education, and creating equity within our education systems.
As a proud native San Antonian and product of its public education system, Tessa is passionate about the future of public education and the more than 5 million students who, like her, rely on the foundation of their futures to begin inside of public schools. Tessa is a proud graduate of Southwest High School in San Antonio. She earned undergraduate degrees at Our Lady of the Lake University and obtained a Master’s of Public Administration at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
An avid reader, Tessa believes that as Neil Gaiman once said, “a book is a dream that you hold in your hand.” In her spare time, you will catch her typically with a book in hand, unless she is out for a run or in the middle of flamenco and folkorico classes at the Guadalupe Dance Academy (part of San Antonio’s Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center). She also devotes her time as a board member for Fiesta Wishes, the Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas – San Antonio, and the San Antonio Women and Girls Development Fund. Tessa and her husband, Gary, call San Antonio home where they live with their two rescue dogs, Chulo, the American Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and Harley Jo, the Boxer.