Agustin Rios has a background in industrial engineering. His passion for renewable energy has brought him to his current profession as the Chief Operations Officer at Lignium Energy, a groundbreaking start-up that has found a method to transform cow manure into combustible pellets to reduce the use of fossil fuels and lower carbon emissions. Mr. Rios’s successful start with the company in Chile did not go unnoticed, and he was placed in charge of establishing its operations in the U.S.

Also keynote speaker.

Sophia Zimmerman is a Climate Fellow with Air Alliance Houston, a non-profit focused on air quality and public health, working to shut down the W.A. Parish coal plant. She is graduating from the University of Houston this May with a B.S. in Political Science and a minor in National Security studies. She has previously interned with the World Affair Council of Greater Houston and the Department of Commerce Commercial Service office in New Orleans. While studying abroad in Geneva, Switzerland, she researched the Arctic. She also had done research on the vulnerability of the US power grid. Sophia will be going to King's College London for graduate school this fall to study politics and climate change.

Luis Ortiz is a systems engineer (rocket scientist) who works for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA. In his free time, he speaks at various events and advocates for STEM along with personal and professional development. He aspires to be an astronaut in the future!

Jen Hadayia is the Executive Director of Air Alliance Houston. She has worked for almost 25 years in public health and health equity with state and county health departments and non-profit organizations in five states and the District of Columbia. Jen was born and raised in Houston and is a proud resident of Houston’s Near Northside, where she lives with her husband and a variety of rescue pets, including a 33-year-old box turtle. Jen holds an MPA from Columbia University and a BA from Yale University.

Dr. Jooyeon Hwang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health. She received her Ph.D. in Industrial Hygiene and M.S. in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Hwang was as a postdoctoral fellow at the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. Her research has focused on evaluation of the relationship between occupational exposure to specific contaminants and adverse health effects in several different industries including mining, agricultural, and public safety including firefighters. In particular, her research conducts the development of new exposure-associated microbiomes and multi-omics assessment methods to characterize occupational and environmental exposures for health studies.

Ms. Kristianna Bowles is originally from Rocky Mount, Virginia. She obtained her bachelor's degree in Biology with a concentration in Ecology & Environmental Biology from James Madison University in 2017. She received her master's degree in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences from Texas A&M University and is currently pursuing her doctorate in Higher Education Administration where her research focuses on environmental attitudes, engagement in pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs), and perceived barriers to adopting PEBs. Ms. Bowles serves as the Sustainability Program Coordinator for the Administrative Center for Sustainability & Energy Management (ACSEM) at Rice University where she works to educate and engage the campus community in various sustainability initiatives.

Rhonda Kuykendall serves Texas on the Human Trafficking Survivor Leader Council. She works as the Anti-Child Trafficking Consultant for Texas CASA. She also chairs the Fort Bend County DA's Human Trafficking Community Awareness Team and serves on the Board of Directors of Child Advocates of Fort Bend where she chairs their Legislative Advocacy Team. Rhonda is a member of the Survivor Leader Advisory Board of Street Grace. In 2015 Rhonda received the U.S. Congressional Medal for her work in Austin enacting legislation to protect children from sexual assault. In 2019 she received Child Advocates of Fort Bend’s Legislative Advocate of the Year and Child Advocate of the Year. In 2022 Rhonda received the UHD College of Public Service Social Justice and Change Agent award. Demand Disruption awarded Rhonda the Community Leader of the Year (2023). Rhonda is finishing her bachelor’s in social work at University of Houston – Downtown and will be attending UH Central in the fall to obtain a master’s in social work with emphasis in Political Social Work. Rhonda and her husband Tommy live in Fulshear, Texas. They both enjoy riding motorcycles, visiting their two grown kids and scuba diving when they can get away.

Dr. Kim Baker works full-time in public health as an Assistant Professor and the Assistant Dean of Practice at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health where she researches topics related to reproductive health & justice and public health practice. She manages We Can Do More/Own Every Piece, a multi-partner systems-level intervention to increase access to contraception for women in Harris County. Here she is conducting research on implicit associations among reproductive health providers, the impact of colorism on care delivery, and participant storytelling. Dr. Baker has also developed multiple health interventions using participatory methods involving African-American male teens, faith institutions, and health providers. Dr. Baker serves on the board of the Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation where she lends her expertise in reproductive health and equity-centered impact. She also is the co-owner of Full Circle Strategies, a consulting firm committed to organizational change for racial equity, and the ReCollective, a non-profit committed to training emerging leaders in equity and community change work. Dr. Baker received her BS in Biology from Hampton University in Hampton, VA in 2003, her MPH from the University of Nevada Las Vegas in 2006, and her Doctorate in Public Health from The University of Texas Health Science Center, School of Public Health in 2013.

Adriana Gonzalez is the current President / CEO of Hispanic Entrepreneurs of Houston, a non-profit organization focused on education and growth of Hispanic businesses. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, moved to the United States in May 1980, married 33 years with Mario Gonzalez and has a son, Martin Gonzalez. She and her husband have been the founders of One-way Striping and Signs, LLC for the past 21 years. The company gets contracts from General Contractors, Asphalt companies, and landscaping engineers to beautify and improve existing and new neighborhoods with new traffic signaling at different colonies. When the company started 21 years ago, they made the installation of products in a small automobile with one employee. Currently, the company not only installs the product, but also manufactures the product, has 16 employees, machinery and offers other traffic control services, which allowed them to grow their list of customers at a rapid course. Thirteen (13) Years ago she made her mission at the Chamber to promote and support the development of companies, affiliates, as well as educate, represent, and defend the rights of members through the organization. She bases her mission on 4 pillars: Education, support, information, and connections. She has traveled to North, Central and South America where she presented conferences for small, medium, and corporate business as well as startups. She presented conferences about strategics plans on marketing, sales, finances, investments, USA business culture and the importance of education on how to take a business to the next successful level- Taking advantage of her fluently in Spanish and English, she has the opportunity to get key partnerships with different national and international organizations; like Truexk, AMEXME and Centro Fox in Mexico, Chamber of Commerce in Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Spain, Colombia – These connections are the key to success to our local businesses through trade mission trips and business opportunities. School of Arts Certified Seminarian in Writing workshop, The language of gesture, Psychological aspects of the Creative Phenomenon. Certified by Dun & Bradstreet Business Education services in Keep your Customer Satisfied, How supervisors build powerful teams, How to handle difficult people. Her business experience as a Certified Purchasing Agent is in the hospitality and restaurant industry, but her passion is to help others to become independent entrepreneurs and be successful. Create a legacy to future entrepreneurs by opening doors to a new world of Business independence through others experiences, testimonies, and financial education. Adriana has also collaborated and actively participated in several non-profit organizations. She is one of the founders of "Nick's Team," organization that raised funds for the Cancer Research Center at Texas Children's Hospital – Also helps other local organizations with Finance, Health, Personal and Business Development presentations, Communication, Education, support, and information to the Hispanic Community. Collaborates with Mayor’s Office for Adult Literacy, Mujeres Migrantes Consulado General de Mexico, as well with associations from other countries like Uruguay, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia; Seats in the Port of Houston, SBDC and Office of Business Opportunities Advisory Board. One of her favorite phrases is one by the 6th President of United States, John Quincy Adams: “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

Travis Hallyu, often referred to as the Korean Wave club, is a 22 membered dance group formed in October of 2022. They currently practice more than 5 songs every other week and plan to perform 2 of them (Attention and Hype Boy by New Jeans) at GIS. Their goal is to show the spirit of K-Pop through fun dances and memorable melodies. If you’d like to see more, please come watch them perform their full setlist at Travis’s International Festival on May 6th!

The tinikling dance is a traditional Filipino dance that involves tapping and clapping bamboo sticks together while dancers dance in between them. The Dulles Tinikling team has been around for many years and has performed at a variety of events from their school’s Multicultural Show to restaurants to Gala Nights. Their performance will consist of both traditional aspects, as well as some modern twists.

Travis Japanese Student Association (JSA) is a cultural club at Travis High School in which students can learn and participate in Japanese cultural dances, games, and events. It’s a great place for all lovers of Japanese media and culture!

Karim is in 6th grade and attends Sartarsia middle school. He likes to cook and play soccer, and is a first generation Syrian-American. He can read AND write in Arabic! Karim wants to be a soccer player when he grows up. Even though initially his mom pushed him to start playing piano, Karim now thinks it could be a side hustle for him one day!

"The Wallflowers" is a collaboration between fellow Clements Benefit Concert multi-instrumentalist performers Jordyn Hoang, Jason Lee, Joshua Peter, and David Terrones. Projecting our vision onto classic pop songs and imaginative indie ballads alike, we hope to craft an acoustic experience that unites our audience through the power of music. The name "wallflowers" suggests observation, and such is a fitting description for our ensemble: oftentimes there's more to our life experiences than what meets the eye...sometimes, it takes sitting in the backseat and looking at things with a new perspective to better appreciate ourselves and those we love. All of the songs selected hint at aspirations unfulfilled and/or love unrequited, messages which are enhanced by vocal harmonies and sparse piano/guitar instrumentation. We sincerely hope you take something meaningful from our performance!