City of McAllen to Celebrate International Women’s Day, March 3rd

Texas Border Business

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The City of McAllen is proud to celebrate Women’s History Month by hosting an empowering International Women’s Day Breakfast Symposium for its female employees.

City Manager Isaac J. Tawil emphasizes that this event serves a dual purpose:

Recognizing McAllen as a leader among Rio Grande Valley and border municipalities, thanks to the incredible contributions of the city’s women.

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Encouraging and inspiring female employees to think beyond their current roles, persist, and seek greater opportunities within the organization.

“This is a great opportunity to reflect on the many factors that make McAllen an exceptional city,” said Mayor Villalobos. “The contributions of women in driving our city forward cannot be overstated.”

Since 2017, McAllen has proudly honored 20+ trailblazing women who have broken barriers and serve as role models in their industries and communities.

McAllen is proud to celebrate the fierce minds and brave spirits shaping McAllen’s future!

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Erika Prosper Nirenberg Background:

First Lady of San Antonio, H-E-B Senior Director of Customer Insights

Erika joined H-E-B in 2008, and in her role, leads a team charged with helping guide the development of H-E-B’s strategic vision and operational efforts by providing customer insights to change the business, gain share growth and establish a definitive preference for the company. 

Much of Erika’s passion revolves around efforts to help improve quality of life among underserved populations. Outside of work, she co-founded and was the 2016 Chair of the Latina Leadership Institute and has led the creation of multiple education, youth entrepreneurship programming, and women’s economic development white papers with Rai$ing Texas, the SABER Institute and VentureLab. 

In 2019, Erika was named the San Antonio Business Journal’s Woman of the Year and a Governor’s Yellow Rose of Texas honoree. Since 2022, she has been a yearly regional Panelist for the prestigious White House Fellows Program and participated in the Department of Defense’s JCOC Class 93. Erika became a Dame De Escoffier in 2023, the same year she received the Ohtli Award from the Mexican government, the highest honor given to a non-citizen for impact in promoting Mexican culture. Within H-E-B, she has also received Executive Corporate Leadership awards in Community Service and Diversity & Inclusion in 2015, 2016, and 2019. 

Erika grew up as a migrant farmworker in the Rio Grande Valley, earned a master’s in communication from the University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School of Communications, and two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. In 2020, she earned an executive degree in Behavioral Economics from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. 

Having been the 2018 Chairwoman of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Erika has served on several community boards and is currently active on the boards of the Girls Scouts of Southwest Texas and Methodist Healthcare Ministries. Additionally, she volunteers on several advisory boards aimed at empowering Hispanic women, nonprofits, and voting.

Previous Years Honorees:

2017                                                                                                    

Elvira Alonzo, McAllen Public Works Director                    

Yvette Barrera, McAllen City Engineer                                   

Susan Lozano, McAllen Finance Director                                              

Capt. Irene Luna, McAllen Police                                                              

Piedad Martinez, McAllen CDBG Director                                             

Juli Rankin, McAllen Planning Director                                 

Liz Suarez, McAllen Aviation Director                                    

2018

Paula Gonzalez, Athletic Director, MISD

Alma Johnson, Region Bank President, S. TX & El Paso, Wells Fargo

Angela Navarrete, General Manager, Univision Valle del Rio Grande

Dr. Shirley Reed, President, South Texas College

Laura Warren, AIA, Pres./Principal The Warren Group Architects Inc.

2019                                                                                                    

Natasha Del Barrio, Bert Ogden Dealer Group, CEO                         

Cris Rivera, Rio Grande Regional Hospital, CEO                 

Karen Valdez, Lone Star Bank, Dir., HR/Training, Vice-Pres.                                                                                        

2020

Veronica Gonzales, Vice Pres., Government/Community Affairs, UTRGV

Nancy Trevino, Hidalgo County Public Health Exec. 

2021    

No event due to COVID-19 pandemic

2022

Jessica Delgado, Chief Operating Officer, Delgado Collective Restaurant Group

Martha Garza, Owner, Breadsmith

2023

Sally Frausto Guerra, Realtor, business owner and community organization activist 

Carmen Pagan, Bilingual speech-language pathologist  and business owner

2024

Rose Benavides, President/Trustee, South Texas College

Val La Mantia, Owner/Managing Partner, L&F Distributors

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