2013 Committee Chairs & Special Thanks

Andrew Guajardo
Interactive Exhibits Co-Chair

As Director of Development Services for architectural firm Guajardo & Associates, Andrew was a natural to take on the vision and layout of this year’s Interactive Exhibits area. A volunteer with TEDxSanAntonio since the group’s inception, Andrew stays on the cutting edge of trends and works tirelessly to connect and highlight the best of San Antonio. Andrew has two master’s degrees from Texas A&M — Architecture and Land Development. He got his undergraduate degree in computer graphic arts and 3D modeling from University of the Incarnate Word.

Rebecca Helterbrand
Speaker Selection & Curation Committee Chair

Rebecca was selected to participate in an executive development program several years ago when she was first exposed to TED talks. From that moment forward, she became fascinated with all things TED. This led her to volunteer two years ago for TEDxSanAntonio, first as a member of the speaker committee and most recently as its chair. She is Vice President of Marketing & Resource Development at Clarity Child Guidance Center.

Bob Hotard
Technology & Production Committee Chair

Innovator and idea-lover Bob Hotard was on stage crew in 2012 and promoted to chair for 2013, growing project management and A/V to a professional level, drawing on his early career as a multimedia producer. Bob is a Lead e-Commerce Web Design Architect at att.com, helping business, technical and creative teams use collaborative web design prototypes. One day, Bob hopes to give a TED talk on an education curriculum based on corporate web design applied to each school’s website.

Makenna Johnston
Interactive Exhibits Co-Chair

Makenna Johnston is a doula – traditionally, a women who helps women give birth, but Makenna extends that concept to helping people and organizations through transitions, whether in business culture and projects or personal growth. Makenna brought her “get stuff done” methodology to the Interactive Exhibits. While running her business career, she’s also pursuing a work in Cultural Anthropology at UTSA.

Chris McDermott
IT Tools & Processes Chair

A vital volunteer since the inception of TEDxSanAntonio, Chris is our institutional memory and keeper of our data and assets; he sent your invitations and set up ticketing, he keeps the website updated and working, and he’s the guy in the front row holding the timer. Chris earned a computer science degree from UTSA, working in multimedia. A pioneer of USAA’s first intranet, Chris spends his days developing websites and apps, and firmly believes in having fun.

Brandon Pinzon
Logistics & Volunteers Committee Chair

Brandon Pinzon is a networker who loves meeting and working with smart people. He taps the people in his large network to get involved with TEDxSanAntonio, and uses his background in project management and policy development to streamline and improve our processes. Brandon earned a degree in Computer Science from the University of Iowa. He’s Vice President of IT Policy and Compliance at Capital Farm Credit.

Vanessa & Kyle Rogers
Community Outreach Chairs

Vanessa and Kyle both graduated from UT Austin with B.S. degrees in Communication Studies. They spent several years abroad teaching English in Chile and in South Korea. They recently returned to San Antonio, their hometown. After earning her international MBA at UTSA, Vanessa is now the Member Services Director at the Free Trade Alliance. Kyle started a business, and is the VP of Warsim Airsoft. They both love everything TED and enjoy getting others involved in TEDxSanAntonio.

Cassandra Santori
Food Truck Lunch Chair

As a speaker at TEDxSanAntonio 2012 – Be Bold, Cassandra shared her experiences as a worm wrangler and the benefits of worm composting. This year, she joined our volunteer crew and took on the tough task of wrangling today’s Food Truck Lunch. Cassandra has worked as a native plant landscaper, wildlife biologist, GED instructor, truck driver and entrepreneur at Wormilicious. She authors 2 blogs, My 20 Minute Garden and Wormilicious, and has produced a podcast and a book on Amazon Kindle. She’s passionate about helping the earth share its abundance.

Rajeswari Sirijuddin
Popup Bookstore Chair

Raji was introduced to TED talks while in Washington DC, and attended TEDxMidAtlantic in 2011. She recognizes the incredible power of TEDx Talks — how they serve as a valuable tool in realizing social change, and give individuals a platform to enhance self-esteem and personal responsibility. As a personal transformation consultant, Raji is looking forward to making the world a better place to live by helping organizations and people realize that management, scientific and spiritual theories all speak the same language. She is a Reiki practitioner and is hoping to build a secondary career in prenatal care.

Lori White
Attendee Experience Committee Chair

Lori is new to TEDxSanAntonio this year, and has quickly become a huge fan of TEDx. She is the Managing Director for the Randstad Technologies office here in San Antonio, and has utilized past TED and TEDx Talks to help create a cohesive office culture. Lori attended Emporia State University and Kansas University. She has 13 years of IT staffing experience. Prior to that, she worked in a program in Kansas at Lutheran Social Services called Heart-to-Heart, which educated teen parents on how to stop the cycle of abuse. During college she also worked at Corner House – a drug and alcohol re-integration home for those in recovery.