Every Texan Welcomes Six New Board Members

Every Texan is pleased to announce the appointment of six new members to its board of directors. Anderson Bynam, Molly Cox, Marvalette Hunter, Rick Levy, Laura V. Rodríguez, and Marcela Salazar will serve a two-year term effective January 1, 2022.

“The past year brought great growth to Every Texan as we expanded our team throughout Texas, and I am honored to welcome this group of accomplished leaders who share our mission and reflect the diversity of our state,” said Every Texan CEO Marisa Bono. “As a social justice organization committed to advocating for Texans of all backgrounds, we are excited to continue building out our statewide presence with this remarkable new class of board members.”

Anderson Bynam is a managing director in the Public Finance Group at Mesirow Financial. Andy heads Mesirow’s Houston office, and he focuses on servicing the firm’s clients in Texas and other states across the South and the Mid-Atlantic. With 32 years of municipal finance experience, Andy holds FINRA Series 52, 53, 63, and 79 licenses and is a member of the State Bar of Texas. During his career, he has served as lead banker on numerous senior-managed financings for Texas and national issuers. Andy began his public finance career in 1989 as a bond lawyer with the Public Law Section at Fulbright and Jaworski in Houston. He moved to the banking side of public finance in 1992 when he joined Grigsby Brandford & Co. Andy currently serves on the boards for the Greater Houston Area Red Cross, Texas Water Trade, and Jazz Houston, Inc. Andy earned a B.A. from Princeton University and a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.

Molly Cox returned to consulting in March of 2021 after a decade with SA2020, a nonprofit that drives progress toward a shared community vision in San Antonio, Texas. She led the organization in nationally- and internationally-recognized work coordinating the alignment of multi-sector organizations toward research-based shared goals prioritized by the community. As a consultant, Molly helps clients reimagine everything—strategies, programs, policies, resource allocations—to better serve people. She also serves as a Knowledge Curator for the Equitable Evaluation Initiative. Molly has a B.A. in theatre and a master’s in political science. She is a Certified Nonprofit Professional and a graduate of the UT Austin LBJ Women’s Campaign School.

Marvalette Hunter is chief of staff for the Honorable Sylvester Turner, Mayor of the City of Houston, Texas. As Turner’s chief administrator and policy advisor, Marvalette plans, manages, and directs the administrative, programmatic, and budgetary operations of the Mayor’s Office and ensures strategic alignment within each of the city’s 23 departments. Marvalette has more than 25 years’ experience in public policy, city and regional planning, real estate development, and finance. She has extensive knowledge of federal, state, and local programs to support housing, economic development, transportation, and public infrastructure. Her prior public sector experience includes positions as chief operating officer for the Harris County Housing Authority and project manager for the Houston Housing and Community Development Department and Houston Planning Department. Marvalette holds a Master of Regional Planning from Cornell University and a B.A. from Florida A&M University. Marvalette is the first Black woman to hold the position of Mayor’s Chief of Staff, and in 2018, she was named among the Top 30 Most Influential Women in Houston.

Rick Levy is the president of the Texas AFL-CIO, a position he was elected to in 2017. Previously, he held the position of secretary-treasurer from 2015-2017. Rick began working for the State Federation in 1990, first as legal director and subsequently as general counsel. In that capacity, Rick has represented the State Federation in a broad variety of matters, including numerous legislative and political campaigns to protect and advance the rights of workers in Texas. As Texas AFL-CIO’s president, Rick is focused on helping to build a broader, bolder, and more inclusive labor movement, emphasizing and elevating the principle of solidarity to be at the core of the effort. Rick has been a member of TSEU/CWA 6186 since 1986 and is also a member of Ironworkers Local 482.

Laura V. Rodríguez is a principal and founder at The Raben Group. Specializing in communications, message development, and political strategy, Laura leads the firm’s Texas office, which she established in 2015. She began her career on Capitol Hill, where she held leadership positions in the offices of Representatives Hilda L. Solis (CA), Loretta Sanchez (CA), and Ronald D. Coleman (TX). Prior to opening its Texas office, Laura launched Raben’s California office in 2005. While there, she helped leading civil rights and research organizations — including MALDEF, The Williams Institute, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice — build their communications infrastructure, increase their media exposure, and establish themselves as national thought leaders. Laura is an El Paso native and a graduate of The George Washington University in Washington, DC. She is a co-founder of the Hispanic Lobbyists Association and sits on the boards of the ACLU of Texas and the YWCA El Paso Del Norte Region.

Marcela Salazar is an international executive with a unique breadth of experience aligning public relations strategies with business objectives. With twenty years of experience working for corporations and progressive nonprofits, and as a journalist, she is a thought-leader who excels at successfully creating strategic relationships and brand narratives for executives, leaders, and organizations. Her expertise comes from a decade in broadcast journalism at CNN, CNN en Español, and Univision, where she earned an Emmy nomination and two Peabody Awards. Marcela is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and holds a Master of Journalism from the Universitat de Barcelona, and a Certificate of Journalism from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Originally from Chicago, Marcela resides in Dallas with her family after two decades in Washington, D.C.

With a track record of advancing social justice through people-centered policy solutions for over 36 years, Every Texan continues to lead on the front lines to rewrite the rules to build a more just and equitable Texas.

Ken Janda has been elevated to board chair, succeeding James Aldrete. “As our state continues to face tremendous challenges, Every Texan is the right organization to lead Texas in a new direction together with our partners,” said Janda. “I am proud to serve at an organization deeply committed to advocating for people-centered policy that will enable Texans of all backgrounds to thrive.”

Continuing their service on the board are James Aldrete, Anette Carlisle, John-Michael Cortez, Karen Farabee, Tobi Jackson, Jim Keffer, Sima Ladjevardian, Veletta Forsythe Lill, Regina Montoya, C. LeRoy Cavazos-Reyna, Sarah Saldaña, and Atul Varadhachary, M.D., Ph.D.

Learn more about our full board of directors here.

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