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Trailblazers 2016

Pictured left to right: Leslie Wingo, Antonio Gamboa, M.D., Veronica (Ronnye) Vargas Stidvent, Rene Lara, and Caroline Enriquez at the 2016Trailblazers Reception

Leslie Wingo, President & CEO of Sanders \ Wingo, is 20-year advertising veteran leading an agency of 90 people across offices in Austin, El Paso, and New York. She stewarded campaigns for State Farm, United States Postal Service, and Burger King, among others. In 2012 and 2016, Black Enterprise Magazine named her one of the nation’s Top Women in Advertising and Marketing. In 2011, she was awarded the Silver Medal by the Austin Advertising Federation and has been recognized as a finalist for the Austin Business Journal’s 2014 Profiles in Power. She also serves as the board chair for AIDS Services of Austin.

Dr. Antonio Gamboa, a graduate of El Paso High, UTEP, the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, and the McComb’s School of Business, is board certified in Internal Medicine, Hospice, and Palliative Care.  Dr. Gamboa is CEO of Elite Patient Care, a company he co-founded that specializes in the care of elderly patients.  Dr. Gamboa is also a board member for Afoundria, a local technology company where he serves as a physician advisor. He sits on the physician advisory board for Senior Care Centers, the largest regional provider of nursing home care in Texas. He is also proudly engaged as a board member for the non-profit organization called Soccer Assist.

Veronica “Ronnye” Vargas Stidvent is the Chancellor of WGU Texas.  She was President of CEA Consulting, LLC and a lecturer at The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business, and also served as Program Director for UT's Hispanic Leadership Initiative, and was the inaugural Director of the Center for Politics and Governance at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. She was Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor, and previously served as White House Special Assistant to the President for Policy.  She received her B.A. from UT and a J.D. from Yale.

Trailblazers with the El Paso in Austin planning committee at the Trailblazer Reception 2016

René Lara, Legislative & Political Director at the Texas AFL-CIO, grew up in a colonia in El Paso County. After attending public schools, he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and the University of Texas School of Law.  He worked as a legislative aide for Texas State Senator Gonzalo Barrientos, and represented the Texas Federation of Teachers (now Texas AFT) before joining Texas AFL-CIO, serving on its Board of Texans for a Secure Retirement (TSR) and Board of the Workers Assistance Program.  Rene Lara is the author of the book 140 Capitol Tips.

Caroline Enriquez, Associate Director of Admissions for The University of Texas Austin, oversees undergraduate recruitment and daily operations of the Undergraduate Admissions Center. Caroline has been at the Office of Admissions for the past 18 years, beginning her career as an admissions counselor assigned to the San Antonio, RGV, and El Paso areas. In 2003 she became the director for UT's Houston admissions center, but returned to Austin in 2005, taking over undergraduate recruitment in 2012.  She was recently appointed Associate Director for Special Programs, and was recently elected to serve on the executive board of the Hispanic Faculty Staff Association.  Caroline graduated from Coronado High School in 1994 and received her bachelor's from UT.

Past recipients

Trailblazers 2020

Trailblazers 2019

Trailblazers 2018

Trailblazers 2017

Trailblazers 2015

Trailblazers 2014

Trailblazers 2013

Trailblazers 2012

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