Women's Leadership Awards Luncheon

Since taking on the role as Board Chair in 2019, the Port has added 5,000 new jobs bringing the total to 16,000 people employed. 

Chris began advocacy work while working at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital in the heart of San Antonio. In the 1990s, she was part of the pivotal Committee for All Children, where healthcare workers fought the proposed moving of the children’s hospital to the medical center on the north side. The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio remains centrally located downtown and accessible to families in the historically underserved areas of the city. Chris was also the on the founding committee of the San Fernando Health and Safety Fair—now in its 29th year—to provide free health screenings, from diabetes to cancer, and life-saving resources. 

Chris’s career in health took her to home care work and in 1991 she helped create San Antonio Oasis, an educational program promoting lifelong learning for seniors. She also advocated with the Texas Association for Home Care & Hospice for higher reimbursement of in-home health providers at the state and federal level, resulting in higher pay for workers, which are positions traditionally held by women. 

Chris’s advocacy work for women continued in her service as Chairwoman for the San Antonio Metropolitan Ministries where she tackled a controversial citywide zoning case and successfully established the SAMMinistries Transitional Living and Learning Facility, a transitional shelter for families on the north side, which opened in 1997. 

A strong supporter of equitable access to education, Chris led the partnership of the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame during her tenure as President with the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) in 2014 to improve college graduation rates by providing scholarships serving as gap funding to “fill the gap” after tuition funding, covering costs like travel, books and living costs. Chris was also appointed to represent District 7 in the Blue Ribbon 2017 bond committee for SAISD to assess and help prioritize the needs for the $450 million bond.

Chris is married to Joe Alderete, Jr. and is proud mom to Claudette Alderete Guerrero, Joe Alderete III, Carina Alderete and Marina Alderete Gavito. She is a loving grandmother to seven grandchildren. 

Giselle Calvillo is the Owner & CEO of MixFitSA, and has spent the last 15 years in leadership roles, owning/operating a small personal training business, and in the last 6 years Founded what is now known as Live Brooks, Local Premier Fitness Company, MIX FIT SA.

As a business owner and entrepreneur, Giselle has been recognized as an effective and motivational team leader with a consistent track record for delivering bottom-line results, customer satisfaction and developing strong relationships with clients. Since graduating with her Bachelor of Science Degree in Exercise Science and minor in Psychology from TAMUSA in 2012, Giselle continues to remain active through her Alumni, volunteering her time at numerous university events, providing movement opportunities for facility and staff, facilitating the School of Business with end of semester projects, as well as activating the local south side community and surroundings areas. Most recently and for the 2021-22 semesters, Giselle and her team at MixFitSA have been providing both paid and non-paid Undergrad Internship opportunities for the Kinesiology Department at Texas A&M University San Antonio.

Through her small business, Giselle prides Mix Fit on being more than a gym, but an exercise experience as she and her team set the standard for Functional Training, Local Corporate Wellness Programs, and Community Activation opportunities for all fitness levels.

Aside from her business and community involvement, Giselle is a busy wife and mother of a 8 year old son Avin, and 2 year old daughter Aris. Giselle's mission in life is to set an example for her children, but to also make a difference in her community by impacting as many lives as possible through a healthy lifestyle and mixture of fun & unique fitness experiences. She and her team at MIX FIT thrive on motivating a movement on the South Side that is truly passionate, and dedicated to educating and instructing proper fitness and wellness, thus creating a healthier more active community and better quality of life for our City.

In addition to her duties in San Antonio and South Texas Marianna’s leadership with Davila Construction has included outreach and managing business relationships with multi-national contractors and developers in Panama City, Panama.  In the process she has participated in several international business conferences and developed and maintained business contacts with various government officials at the local and national level. Her recent efforts resulted in opening the door to fostering informal international relations between government officials from the Panama City, Panama and San Antonio. While still in the early stages these initial steps have begun to position San Antonio in a positive light with these potential Latin American trading partners and to potential future investors leading to the formation of an official City Council working group, the Latin American Task Force pursuing these efforts.

Prior to joining Davila Construction Marianna worked for over twenty years in the Real Estate Industry. Upon securing her Broker License Marianna founded ML Real Estate Marketing a Woman Owned Minority Business.  ML Real Estate and Marketing continues to help first-time homebuyers and has participated as Broker on several successful affordable housing developments in the inner city with Prospera Housing, a non-profit multifamily developer.  

Early in her career upon securing her license a Spanish language news station, Radio Unica impressed with Marianna’s passion and ability to communicate asked her to host a weekly radio program aimed at helping Spanish-speaking immigrants understand the home buying process. As that station changed ownership and format Marianna continued to reach the community on other radio and television platforms. In 2005 realizing that her true skill was communicating in person she and partners launched “Become a Dueña before you become a Doña” homeownership fairs designed to reach low and middle income Latinas and their families. City officials and key members of City Council who understood the importance of home ownership and building strong neighborhoods embraced these successful events. 

Marianna has been active in her community serving on numerous organization boards and committees including the San Antonio Hispanic Contractors Association, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Hot Wells Conservancy, the Rey Feo Scholarship Foundation fundraising committees and the City of San Antonio Mentor Protégé Program.  In 2022 she was selected to serve on the Leadership San Antonio Class 46 and currently serves on the Sheriff Salazar Oversight Committee. In her spare time Marianna is an avid urban gardener and enjoys leisure travel. Through all the success Marianna’s spirit for personal growth and desire to contribute to the community has not ebbed. She intends to continue to play a key role in community leadership going forward while encouraging others in community engagement and success. 

Dr. Ochoa was born and raised along the Texas-Mexico border and attended medical school, general surgery residency, and vascular surgery residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. She has been practicing vascular surgery in San Antonio since 2011.

Since Dr Ochoa’s founding of The SAVE Clinic in 2018, she has amplified her focus on addressing the Social Determinants of Health barriers faced by her patients by engaging extensively in community activities, including collaboration in a wide array of grants, consulting with elected leaders, serving in non-profit organizations, and developing value-based vascular care models. With the addition of like-minded vascular surgeons and a growing staff exceeding 35 employees, The SAVE Clinic continues to deepen its roots in the community.

Dr. Ochoa is working to create a sustainable model of vascular care emphasizing social determinants of health for underserved communities in Bexar County as a template for national adoption.

Since its inception, LiftFund has disbursed more than 24,000 loans totaling more than $425 million – with an impressive 96% repayment rate. Ms. Barrera has worked hard to level the financial playing field for entrepreneurs, who historically have faced considerable obstacles when seeking the financing they need to start and grow their businesses.

Ms. Barrera has received nationwide recognition for her accomplishments, including the Small Business Administration Financial Services Advocate of the Year and the Minority Enterprise Development Consortium's Corporate Advocate of the Year. The San Antonio Business Journal listed Ms. Barrera as one of “Twenty Defining Players: People Who Have Helped Shape the City”, and also named her as one of 2013’s “Legacy Leaders.”

Ms. Barrera has served on many national, state, and local boards, including the Federal Reserve Board’s National Consumer Advisory Council. President Barack Obama appointed Ms. Barrera to the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability and was named to the board of directors for the Federal Reserve of Dallas’ San Antonio Branch. In 2015, Ms. Barrera was named to the San Antonio Business Hall of Fame. This year, Ms. Barrera was awarded the Association for Enterprise Opportunity Impact Award, for being a trailblazer for implementing technological infrastructure in micro-finance work.