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.

As Senior Vice President of Cities and Community Engagement for the Children & Nature Network, Monica Lopez Magee helps city and community leaders develop programs, policies, and partnerships to provide children and families access to nature and its many health and academic benefits. She draws upon her master’s degree in Public Leadership from the LBJ School of Public Affairs, undergraduate studies in environmental science, a decade leading and facilitating youth and family programs in urban settings, and her cultural heritage to create nature-based solutions that prioritize communities of color, transform public spaces, and foster love and stewardship of the natural world. Her dedication to the outdoors carries into her personal life where she serves on the Austin ISD Community Bond Oversight Committee and enjoys paddling and volunteering with her family.

Barry Rivera is the Senior Programs Manager at Austin Parks Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to enhancing people’s lives by making our public parks, trails and green spaces better by partnering with the community through volunteerism, innovative programming, advocacy and financial support. As Senior Programs Manager, Barry partners with the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department team in comanaging the Adopt-A-Park program, the goal of which is to build community pride and ownership around parks in Austin through community collaboration. Before serving in his current role Barry oversaw Austin Parks Foundation's Volunteer Program. Originally from Iowa, Barry has lived in Austin since 2014.

Christine joined the Austin Parks and Recreation Department in 2018 as the Department’s Partnership Manager. As Partnership Manager she oversees the PARD Community PARKnerships program, the umbrella program for the various ways in which community groups can choose to partner with the City of Austin. The Community PARKnership program encompasses the following initiatives: PARD PARKnerships (and Agreements), Adopt A Park, Parkland Stewardship, the Community Activated Park Project program, and the Cities Connecting Children to Nature Initiative. Christine serves as the primary liaison to all partners seeking to propose, plan, design and/or develop projects on parkland. Prior to joining the PARD Planning Division, Christine worked for 10 years as Senior Program Manager at Keep Texas Beautiful, a statewide community development nonprofit. Christine was born and raised in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas and received her bachelor’s degree from UT Austin in Government and master’s degree in Urban Affairs and Planning at City University of New York- Hunter College. NYC was amazing, but Christine missed the natural open spaces and parks of Austin and moved back in 2008. She lives in north Austin with her husband and three kids and enjoys dragging her kids to every park within a 60-mile radius of her home.

Dr. Laura J. Cortez is the CEO and Founder of Cortez Consulting, a public engagement firm in Austin, Texas. Laura is from the Rio Grande Valley and came to Austin in 1999 as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer. She earned her B.S. in Environmental Science from Drake University, and later went on to earn her MBA from St. Edward’s University and a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. Laura spent fourteen years in higher education serving as a scholar-practitioner. In 2012, Laura served as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin where she served as the Director of Public Engagement. In this role, Dr. Cortez led one of the City’s most comprehensive public engagement projects known as the Colony Park Sustainable Community Initiative. Laura credits this experience with changing her professional trajectory and after completing the project she launched her own firm, Cortez Consulting. Today, Laura is designing new ways to effectively engage the community, particularly those individuals who are traditionally left out of the public planning process. Cortez Consulting is involved with an array of projects across the City of Austin working to build positive relationships within the community. During her free time, Dr. Cortez is active in the local community. She is a graduate of Leadership Austin Essential Program and serves on the board of The New Philanthropists and Leadership Austin.