Carmen D. Llanes
Executive Director
Carmen is a native of Austin, TX and second-generation community organizer working with neighborhoods and organizations in Austin’s Eastern Crescent for the last 15 years. After receiving an interdisciplinary B.A. at the University of Chicago in Environmental Studies with a focus on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its impact on Mexican communities and international food systems, she returned to Austin to work at home as an environmental justice researcher and organizer for People Organized in Defense of Earth and her Resources (PODER) in East Austin. She later ran a program at the nonprofit, Marathon Kids called the “Wellness Team Initiative,” which engaged parents and teachers at 18 elementary schools in Austin’s Eastern Crescent to increase fitness and nutrition opportunities in their communities; this program was the reason Carmen got involved in Dove Springs and eventually, GAVA's early start in these schools. Carmen cares deeply about community relationships and intergenerational organizing, and participates in public health, anti-racist and anti-displacement networks in Central Texas and across the country. She chaired the City of Austin’s Hispanic/Latino Quality of Life Commission until July 2019 when she joined the City’s Planning Commission during a once-in-a-generation Land Development Code rewrite, and is an inaugural member of Austin’s first Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission which created single-member city council districts in 2014. She was also part of the inaugural Community Strategy Team at the Department of Population Health at the University of Texas - Dell Medical School, and is a 2019-20 Fulcrum Fellow with the Center for Community Investment at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Laura Olson
Organizing Director
Laura brings over 15 years as a bilingual organizer, educator, trainer, and parent, to GAVA’s efforts to build community power and resident leadership. The child of a public school teacher and civil rights attorney, she learned early of her white privilege and her responsibility in playing an active role to undo racism. While studying for her Liberal Arts degree in Spanish from Earlham College, she traveled to Nicaragua where she worked alongside regular folks fighting oppression and poverty who also taught her about human resilience. Following her early career as a grade school teacher, she moved to the nonprofit sector, first directing the Early Development Center at El Buen Samaritano before taking a role with Success By 6 at United Way for Greater Austin. While there she helped build out GAVA’s early childhood sector by building key relationships with parents and providers of early childhood care in preschools, child care centers and home-based care environments. She was also one of two Spanish-speaking Coordinated Approach To Child Health - Early Childhood (C.A.T.C.H.-E.C.) trainers in the country. She joined GAVA full-time in 2019 to support our EC and School sector organizing to expand access to health education, outdoor learning, healthy food and physical activity access for children, families, and educators in both child care and school settings. She now manages and facilitates the success of our frontlines team of community organizers in the areas of Food Justice, Climate Resilience, Early Childhood & Family Health, and Neighborhood Stability. Laura maintains a balcony-level view of our anti-racist organizing strategies and streamlines efforts with inputs from the leadership and internal team. She guides organizers to sharpen their strategies for leadership development and goal-setting with residents to improve the short-term and long-term health of Austin’s communities most highly impacted by historical inequities.
Nika A. Mendoza
Deputy Director
Nika is a 1st generation Persian-American born and raised in Texas. She earned her Bachelors in Public Health here at UT Austin concentrating in social and behavioral sciences followed by a Master's in Epidemiology at UTHealth. Nika has 9 years of research experience with a keen interest in the topic areas of health equity, food insecurity, and understanding the role our built-in environment has on our health. She was also involved with the early evaluation of GAVA prior to becoming an independent 501-3C organization. Her primary duties at GAVA are: supporting organizational design, human resources, development, and evaluation efforts.
Frances Acuña
Climate Resilience Lead Organizer
Frances has lived in Southeast Austin for 23 years and has been an active community advocate since 2010, first advocating for her son. In 2012, Frances got involved with GAVA as a community leader and is a Texas State Certified Community Health Worker. She worked with fellow community members serving as first responders during the October 2013 and 2015 floods in Dove Springs. Frances joined GAVA as a Community Organizer in 2017, where she has worked to increase access to healthy food and physical activity. Since then, her work has been focused on health and permanency, building community power for flood mitigation and the right to stay in neighborhoods where residents are most impacted by natural disasters and social disparities.
erica reyes
Food Justice, Lead Organizer
Erica Reyes is a proud Mexican American; born and raised in Austin, born to parents who had immigrated to the United States in the early 1980s. She and her husband are raising 3 sons and a daughter to value their Mexican roots and to have compassion and understanding for the hardships of the immigrant experience as her husband most recently became a resident after 23 years living and working in the United States. Throughout her childhood and adolescence, Erica faced the barriers and challenges with her parents in their attempt to acclimate and create the best life in the United States. Language barriers, housing and employment issues empowered her to learn and help other members in her family and community with some of those same barriers she faced growing up. Her passion to help community members advocate for equitable access and rights is derived from countless obstacles she overcame as a young adult. Erica and her family were displaced from the neighborhood where she grew up and once dreamed that she would be able to raise her family. As they adapted to their new community and made friends with neighbors, Erica and her family take pride as park adopters in keeping their neighborhood park safe and accessible to the community.
Michelle Mejia
Early Childhood Health Equity Organizer
Michelle was born in Brownsville, TX where she learned of her love of culture & storytelling at a young age. She moved to Austin in 2007 to attend the University of Texas where she graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Radio-TV-Film. Michelle has extensive experience in working in the non-profit sector with a concentration in cultural arts & health/wellness. Michelle has taught after school youth programs in Austin’s Eastern Crescent with Creative Action, and served the Spanish speaking immigrant population in different roles within the Mexican Consulate, Latino Healthcare Forum & San Juan Diego Catholic High School. In 2016, with a group of black & brown mothers & community members, she participated & advocated for the City of Austin to fund community groups. In response, the Austin City Council budgeted funds for community-based, culturally specific, non-conventional health equity projects that address the systemic racial health inequities. As a result, Michelle became the Communications Director of Mama Sana Vibrant Woman, an organization that addresses maternal and infant health disparities in Travis County. She joined GAVA in 2019 as an Early Childhood Health Equity Organizer.
Tú-Uyên Nguyễn, MA
Climate Resilience Organizer
Born and raised in Florida, Tú-Uyên moved to southeast Texas for high school and Austin for college. She has lived in Austin for 13 years after earning a Bachelor's in Classics, Latin, and Asian American Studies, followed by a Master's in Asian Studies with a concentration in South Asia. For her Master’s, Tú-Uyên studied Hindi as a Foreign Language Area Studies Fellow to support her research in Buddhist Sanskrit. As a student, she was involved with University Leadership Initiative, United Students Against Sweatshops, United With the Center for Asian American Studies, Multicultural Refugee Coalition, Austin Tan Cerca de la Frontera, and the Refugee Student Mentorship Program. Before joining GAVA, Tú-Uyên served as an AmeriCorps Member at the Literacy Coalition of Central Texas, working as an English as a Second Language Instructor and facilitated El Buen Samaritano’s pilot ESL conversation summer course weekday mornings online, supporting peer to peer teaching and individual speaking confidence. She is passionate about language learning, access, and multilingual expression for community connection, cooperation, and healing.
Kalu James
Community Organizer & Logistics + Tech Aide
Born in Nigeria & raised in Republic Du Benin (West Africa), Kalu, at age, 18 moved to New York in the United States for college in 2001. He graduated from Monroe Community College in Rochester with an Associate’s Degree in Liberal Arts before relocating to Austin, Texas, in 2007 to pursue a music career. In 2013, he joined Texas Campaign for the Environment (TCE) as a Community Outreach Advocate, base building by canvassing & supporting initiatives that highlight environmental issues directly impacting Texans. He is the current North Austin Community Organizer in 78752, 78753 and 78758 zip codes, including the St. Johns neighborhood) focusing on identifying issues that impact the health of community members and championing efforts to organize, mobilize & prepare residents in creating opportunities that address root causes of high rates of chronic disease & health disparities in their neighborhoods. Though a touring musician and having played Festivals like Bonnaroo, Panic En La Playa, as the frontman & co-songwriter in Kalu & The Electric Joint, he sees the stage as an extension of community work by creating safe spaces to learn, connect, breed tolerance, and fight oppression through stories of the human condition and experience delivered as songs.
Monica GuzmáN, MA
Policy Director
Monica, a native Austinite and community leader who graduated from Lanier H.S. in North Austin, dedicates her time with GAVA to community organizing, research and evaluation on public policy issues, and consults with project managers and organizers to connect key community members to information and resources that move their project goals. She focuses on outreach to people at all levels of digital access, and organizes meetings to pull community members together to realize policy goals and implementation. Her passions include public education, housing affordability, Latino community health, social service systems, and domestic violence, and serves on the Caritas of Austin Board of Directors. She earned an M.A. in Human Sciences (Sociology & Education) from Our Lady of the Lake University, and a B.A. from St Edward’s University in Political Science. Monica supports the work to build GAVA’s coalition, and leads and coordinates the work of the GAVA Policy Team, and keeps tabs on transportation & mobility issues as well as police-community interactions.
Will Bayley
Finance Director
Passionate about strategic finance and accounting for non-profits, Will joined the GAVA team as the Finance and Operations Manager in 2019. He brings over 15 years of financial analysis and accounting experience to the organization, having worked in both non-profits and industry, previously at The Arc of the Capital Area and Advanced Placement Strategies. In his current role, he develops and manages annual organizational and program budgets for GAVA as well as generates financial reports and oversees payroll.
Ucha Abbah
Senior Project Manager
Ucha is passionate about how marginalized communities build social and economic power to access healthy environments, access healthy food, and prepare for the impacts of climate change. She was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, and earned her Bachelor's in Human Rights and Environmental Studies at Southern Methodist University. During this time, she conducted a systems assessment of deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest, was involved in local community gardens, and collaborated with students and staff on increasing residential sustainability. After graduation, she earned her Master's degree in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia and focused her research on how colonization impacts disaster response and public health. During this time, she worked with university students, faculty, and staff to develop an inclusion and equity plan for the school of architecture; supported a symposium on food justice; and researched how universities across the US leverage their institutional power to support local needs. Recent projects she has worked on include developing equity frameworks, climate equity planning, and building health equity toolkits. She is excited to join the GAVA team and provide support on climate justice and health equity efforts.
Cassie Sodergren
Partnerships & Development Manager
Cassie is passionate about understanding systems that create disparities in health outcomes and is dedicated to working in community to build equitable and sustainable solutions. Her past experiences include working with individuals to find housing, with elders seeking in-home care services, and on an organic farm. More recently, Cassie has worked as a Project Manager on a research evaluation regarding access to contraceptives, with a small nonprofit working to build a healthier and more inclusive food system, and with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History on a project seeking to understand pollinator diversity as an indirect measure of environmental health. Cassie is also passionate about movement and has experience teaching dance to kids. She holds a Bachelor’s in Human Services and Rehabilitation Studies and a Master’s in Public Health with a concentration in Health Equity. Her master’s thesis explored the intersection of food insecurity and community gardens in Washington, D.C. Cassie's role at GAVA involves grant writing/management and project management for our Early Childhood Health and Food Justice portfolios.