Staff & Board

Our staff and board include leaders who are passionate about family well-being, parent education, and child development programs and services.

MEET OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM

Veronda Durden
President & Chief Executive Officer

In January 2018, Veronda Durden joined Any Baby Can in the capacity of President and Chief Executive Officer. She brings a wealth of experience from a career built upon improving the lives of Texans through work with governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations and the Texas Legislature.

Veronda is former Commissioner of the Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) where she provided leadership for a statewide staff responsible for ensuring Texans with disabilities and children with developmental delays pursue independent and productive lives. This mission is directly aligned with Any Baby Can’s, and speaks directly to Veronda’s heart.

Prior to DARS, Veronda served as the Assistant Commissioner for the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services. She holds a Bachelor’s in Education from Northwestern University, and a Master of Science in Health Administration from Texas State University. Active in her church and community she serves on the Board of Directors for United Ways of Texas, Children’s Optimal Health, Work Force Solutions Capital Area and the Greater Texas Federal Credit Union.

As Any Baby Can expands to meet the growing needs of Central Texans, Veronda will proactively lead the organization into the future, leaning on her years of health and human services experience and detail-oriented, compassionate, team building skills to establish Any Baby Can as a nonprofit industry leader in Austin.

Contact Veronda:
512-334-4415 | Veronda.Durden@anybabycan.org

Veronda Durden

Veronda Durden

President & Chief Executive Officer

Marisol Acosta
Director of Clinical Services

Marisol oversees Any Baby Can’s family health care programs including No Estás Solo Program, CARE, Candlelighters Programs, and Children’s Hearing Aid Texas.

She is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor in Texas and has worked in public health care systems, higher education institutions, nonprofit organizations. She is a member and trainer of National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

Marisol is a state and national speaker and trainer on matters of trauma, trauma informed care transformation, unaccompanied minors, and children's mental health. She holds a master’s degree in Counseling from the University of Houston; a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Puerto Rico, and a Graduate Certificate from Harvard University and the Italy Ministry of Health on Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery.

Contact Marisol
(512) 334-4450 | marisol.acosta@anybabycan.org

Marisol Acosta

Marisol Acosta

Director of Clinical Services

Alexandra Alfau
Chief Program Officer

Alexandra has worked at Any Baby Can since 1988. She is a physical therapy by trade and led the Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) program since 1994. Alexandra had had substantial influence on ECI during her tenure at the agency due to her experience in early childhood intervention, home visiting implementation of program activities, managing compliance standard, collaborating with community agencies, and program advocacy.

In 2014 Alexandra took the role of Chief Program Officer, where she oversees all nine programs at Any Baby Can and more than 100 employees.

Alexandra also serve as Senior Fellow of the RISE Institute in Washington DC, and has been and ECI consultant in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Georgia.

Contact Alexandra:
512-439-3259 | alexa@anybabycan.org

Alex Alfau

Alexandra Alfau

Chief Program Officer

Terry Arguello
Foundation Relations Director

Terry currently serves as the Foundation Relations Director. During her original 12-year tenure with CEDEN/Any Baby Can she held various positions including Program Director for prenatal, early childhood, and parenting home visiting programs. She edited and promoted CEDEN’s bilingual curriculums and served as the Associate Director and later Interim Executive Director of CEDEN during times of administrative transition. Her 25 years of grants experience includes developing and writing capital campaign proposals, stewarding foundation relationships, strategic program and sustainability planning, measurement and evaluation, and writing (local, state, national) government, corporate, and foundation grants.

Terry has a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Biology from Stanford University and a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Contact Terry
512-334-4432 | Terry.Arguello@anybabycan.org

Terry Arguello

Terry Arguello

Foundation Relations Director

Rebecca Elizondo
Senior Program Director

Rebecca has more than 15 years of nonprofit and education experience in the areas of parent education, workforce development, early childhood, and grant and program management. Rebecca oversees our parent education, family support, and family health programs. Prior to joining the Any Baby Can team in 2015, Rebecca worked at Goodwill Central Texas for 10 years and was instrumental in helping create a career and educational training system for youth and adults with barriers to employment.

Rebecca is a native Texan from the Rio Grande Valley who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from THE University of Texas at Austin and a Masters of Education from Texas State University. She began her career in non-profit as an English as a second Language teacher and case manager and quickly worked her way up to hold several leadership roles where ever she has gone. As a community and family advocate, Rebecca has served on various coalitions and non-profit boards that prioritize supporting some of the most vulnerable children and families in our community.

Contact Rebecca
512-610-7982 | RebeccaE@anybabycan.org

Rebecca Elizondo

Rebecca Elizondo

Senior Program Director

Marie Gonzales
Director of Programs

Marie oversees four Any Baby Can programs, which include the Parents as Teachers program, Family Education Program and Family Support Services. Marie started at Any Baby Can in 2007 as a Parent Educator in the Healthy and Fair Start Program, where she provided home visiting services to clients in the program for seven (7) years. She then served as the Parents as Teachers Supervisor for 6 years before being promoted to Director of Programs.

Marie has her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Howard Payne University and is a Licensed Social Worker in the state of Texas and has 24 years’ experience in the field working with teens and families.

Contact Marie
512-439-3261 | MarieG@anybabycan.org

Marie Gonzales

Marie Gonzales

Director of Programs

Guillermo Lopez
Early Childhood Intervention Senior Director

Guillermo is a Licensed Occupational Therapist practicing pediatric occupational therapy for more than 30 years. He has been part of Any Baby Can's Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) program since 2001, holding leadership positions as a supervisor, then as a Director of ECI Services, and finally as the Senior Director of the ECI program.

He has presented on behalf of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC, Dept. of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services – DARS) child outreach to the local pediatric community and as a guest lecturer at The University of Texas at Austin.

Guillermo has a B.S. degree in Occupational Therapy from University Texas Medical Branch Galveston.

Contact Guillermo
512-334-4439 | GuillermoL@anybabycan.org

Guillermo Lopez

Guillermo Lopez

ECI Senior Director

Eric Maxson
Chief Development Officer

Eric joined the Any Baby Can team in 2015, initially overseeing the agency’s grants and foundation efforts. As Chief Development Officer, he leads a team of talented fundraising professionals and volunteers to secure philanthropic partnerships to support Any Baby Can’s transformative programs. Since joining the agency, annual revenue growth has doubled as Any Baby Can strives to meet the needs of children and families in the five-county area.

Over the course of his fundraising career, Eric has led efforts to secure millions of dollars in giving to support early childhood development, mental health, workforce training, student supports, and the arts. Prior to coming to Any Baby Can, he was part of the grants team for the six-campus Tarrant County College system in Fort Worth. He began his career in higher education, spending six years at Boston University as a Senior Lecturer. While in Boston, Eric served as a mentor for the nonprofit Year Up and worked with incarcerated adults as part of PEN America’s Prison Writing Program.

Eric has a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Florida. He is proud to be a member of such a dynamic and caring team. He especially enjoys connecting people to our mission and helping them partner with Any Baby Can in creating brighter futures for Central Texas families.

Contact Eric:
512-610-3599 | ericm@anybabycan.org

Eric Maxson

Eric Maxson

Chief Development Officer

Violeta Mendoza
Director of Revenue Cycle

Violeta joined Any Baby Can as part of the ECI program in 2008, and in 2011 she transferred to the finance department where she found her niche in Medical Billing. She has over 9 years of Revenue Cycle experience in billing, collections and accounts receivables. During her tenure, she has led her team through an ECI expansion which added several counties and has double the billing revenue goal. Her focus is to maintain compliance to optimize the revenue cycle for the agency.

Violeta holds a Bachelors’ Degree in Business Administration with a minor in Human Resource Management.

Contact Violeta
512-334-4462 | VioletaM@anybabycan.org

Violeta Mendoza

Violeta Mendoza

Revenue Cycle Director

Yvonne Montejano
Director of Data, Reporting, and Evaluation

C. Yvonne Montejano is from El Paso, Texas. She has lived all over Texas before settling in Austin 20 years ago. She worked in state government and the private sector before finding her passion for health care issues through her work with community health centers, including El Buen Samaritano and People’s Community Clinic. Prior to that, she engaged in community organizing and policy education with the American Friends Service Committee and the Center for Public Policy Priorities. She has a BA from the University of Texas at El Paso and a Masters from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

Yvonne is active in the community and currently volunteers with Jolt Tx, a LatinX civic engagement organization and is a part of Central Health’s Community Health Champions program. She has served on the board of the Workers Defense Project and Inmigrantes Latinos en Accion, nonprofits that advocate for low-income workers.

Contact Yvonne
(512) 334-4458 | yvonne.montejano@anybabycan.org

Claudia Yvonne Montejano

C. Yvonne Montejano

Director of Data, Reporting, and Evaluation

Jennifer Peterson
Director of Public Relations & Strategic Partnerships

A member of the Any Baby Can team since 2018, Jennifer serves as the Director of Public Relations & Strategic Partnerships. With over 20 years of experience in nonprofits and strategic communications, Jennifer focuses on building relationships with, visibility in, and responsiveness to initiatives in the community that advance Any Baby Can’s vision.

As a public facing spokesperson for the agency, she cultivates strong community partnerships and relationships with media and influencers, trains agency ambassadors and manages thought leadership initiatives. In addition, she oversees and defines the strategy for the volunteer and outreach efforts for Any Baby Can.

Previously, Jennifer served as the Statewide Outreach Coordinator for Texas Hands & Voices, a nonprofit supporting families with children who are deaf/hard of hearing. She co-led grass-roots efforts resulting in the passing of an insurance mandate for coverage of children’s assistive listening devices in 2017, was the Keynote Speaker for the Texas Academy of Audiology and a presenter at statewide and national conferences.

Throughout her career, Jennifer has worked for mission-driven organizations focused on children and families, showing a passion for communicating the great work they were doing for the community. A native Austinite and graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, she thrives on serving her community while raising her two sons.

Contact Jennifer
512-610-7996 | jennifer.peterson@anybabycan.org

Jennifer Peterson

Jennifer Peterson

Director of Public Relations & Strategic Partnerships

Cynthia Quinones
ECI Deputy Director

Cynthia has been working with Any Baby Can’s Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) program since 2001, first as an Early Intervention Specialist then as a Quality Assurance Coordinator. She now serves as a ECI Deputy Director and has been instrumental in the implementation of the Designated Service Coordination Model that helps the program meet and exceed state indicators.

Cynthia moved to Austin from Puerto Rico where she graduated with honors from Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico. She also holds a Master's Degree in Science from the Caribbean Center for Advanced Studies.

In Puerto Rico, Cynthia holds a lifetime license in social work and was president of the Social Workers Association. She held various social sector roles before moving to Austin, including as Transition Coordinator with the Department of Education, where Cynthia helped kids who were permanently removed from their homes transition to foster homes and schools. At Mother Teresa AIDS Hospice, she offered palliative care to terminal ill patients. In addition, Cynthia worked to improve the education system by aiding private schools in getting accredited by the Department of Education.

Cynthia is going back to school to gain a law degree to be better able to help low income families. She also serves on various advisory community boards and she volunteers with nonprofit organizations throughout Travis and Williamson counties.

Contact Cynthia
512-563-7288 | CynthiaQ@anybabycan.org

Cynthia Quinones

Cynthia Quinones

ECI Deputy Director

Albert Ruiz
Director of Operations

Albert has a wealth of experience and knowledge from working in state governments, such as Texas Workforce Commission, and Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services. In addition, he has worked with various nonprofit organizations with missions of improving lives of people in Texas communities by increasing access to services and empowering individuals and families.

Albert holds a Bachelor of Arts from Angelo State University and a Masters of Public Administration from Texas State University.

Contact Albert
512-454-3743 | Albert.Ruiz@anybabycan.org

Albert Ruiz

Albert Ruiz

Director of Operations

Natalie has been a passionate and dedicated team member of Any Baby Can since 2015, serving in various financial roles before her current position as CFO.

Natalie graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BBA in Accounting and a Master of Accountancy, and she is a Certified Public Accountant. After graduating, Natalie moved to New York City where she worked for PwC as an auditor in Private Company Services. After 2.5 years of living the fast-paced Manhattan life, Natalie left New York, and the United States, to serve a fellowship with Kiva.org in Tanzania. After six months of working in the field, seeing first-hand the impact the nonprofit’s mission was making, Natalie knew her career path needed to take a turn. With her new vision and a vow to never experience a Wisconsin winter again, Natalie moved to Austin, and soon after found her place at Any Baby Can.

While she’ll always be a cheesehead at heart, Natalie loves the Austin heat, breakfast tacos, and music scene. She has an endless passion for traveling, enjoys staying active, and loves to be outdoors. She loves her Any Baby Can family and is honored to be a part of such a passionate, hardworking group of people making their mark on Central Texas.

Contact Natalie:
512-334-4472 | Natalie.Russell@anybabycan.org

Natalie Russell

Natalie Russell

Chief Financial Officer

Cheryl Williams
Director of Nurse-Family Partnership

Cheryl Williams, MSN, RN comes to Any Baby Can with more than 28 years of experience, including a clinical background as a labor and delivery nurse, scrub nurse, public health nurse, and 18 years' experience with Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP). She was the first State Nurse Consultant for NFP in Louisiana before serving various roles at NFP National Service Office, including Nurse Consultant, Western Region NC Manager, Nurse Educator, and Nurse Implementation Specialist, and part of the Nursing Senior Leadership Team. Cheryl's goal has long been to improve access to high-quality healthcare within rural and urban communities by providing nurses and organizations with the tools they need to support healthcare programs fully.

Cheryl is also an adjunct professor at Concordia University Texas School of Nursing, teaching clinical, skills, and theory courses. In addition to her service within the healthcare field, she volunteers her time to support community causes, such as the Austin Disaster Relief Network, and serves as a sign language interpreter.

Contact Cheryl:
737-207-0979 | cheryl.williams@anybabycan.org

Cheryl Williams

Cheryl Williams

Director of Nurse-Family Partnership

Haila Yates
Chief Communications Officer

Haila has more than 15 years of nonprofit marketing and communications experience, specializing in integrated strategy, branding, project management, digital marketing, messaging and graphic design. She brings a proactive, collaborative approach to her work, ensuring key stakeholders are involved, project goals and tactics are clear, and resources are identified and implemented appropriately.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication–Advertising from Texas State University, Haila began her career at HAND (Helping the Aging, Needy and Disabled, Inc.). She went on to lead the communications team at Girl Scouts of Central Texas, where she also participated as a member of the executive team. Haila then served as the Communications Director for Mission Capital (formerly Greenlights for Nonprofit Success), where she guided the organization through a complete rebrand while contributing to revenue growth of more than 250%.

Prior to joining Any Baby Can, Haila also led the communications team at the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health. While at the foundation, she served on the leadership team and built on her experience in strategic planning by serving on the planning committee and guiding the implementation of the final plan. She also strengthened her project management experience and led the foundation through the adoption and implementation of project management software.

In addition, Haila is a former board member of TreeFolks, where she served as board secretary and led them through an executive transition.

In 2018, Haila joined the team at Any Baby Can, where she now serves as the Chief Communications Officer and oversees branding and communications, as well as volunteerism and community outreach.

A native Austinite, Haila loves breakfast tacos, backyard barbecues, gardening, and family movie night with her husband and two daughters.

Contact Haila:
512-334-4426 | haila.yates@anybabycan.org

Haila Yates

Haila Yates

Chief Communications Officer

MEET OUR BOARD

Kevin-Wood headshot

Kevin M. Wood

Chair
Shareholder, Healthcare Industry Group
Winstead PC
Madi-Rawlins

Marisol (Madi) Rawlins

Vice Chair
Security Project Executive
IBM

Tracy Letzerich

Secretary
Founder
LoneStar Leadership Group
Jesse Holguin

Jesse M. Holguin

Treasurer
Vice President
Greater Texas Credit Union
David-Bader

John (David) Bader

Managing Director
Bank of America

Kirby Baird

President
SpawGlass-Austin

Dave Bank MD MBA

Medical Director, Victoria Emergency Physicians
Children's Hospital of San Antonio Emergency Services
Sarah-Churchill-Llamas

Sarah Churchill Llamas

Healthcare & IT Attorney
Winstead PC

David DeStefano

Past Chair
Portfolio Manager
Teacher Retirement System of Texas
Jacquelyn-McDonald

Jacquelyn McDonald, PhD

Clinical Associate Professor
Texas State University

Shafeeqa Giarratani

Partner
Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.

Kelley Hawkins

Licensed Professional Counselor

TiWanna Kenney

Owner, Fundraising Strategist & Auctioneer
Astounding Auctions

Casey Knust

Executive Vice President
CBRE

Kimberly Levinson

Political Consultant
Community Volunteer

Leo Ortega

District Manager
Paylocity
Brett Rodgers

Brett Rodgers

Vice President
Sachem, Inc.
Michele Scott

Michele Scott

Broker/Owner
Square Move Realty, LLC

Sonya Thorn

Executive Director
Family Nurturing Center of Texas
Greg Van Wyk

Greg Van Wyk

Executive Vice President/Principal
Austin Asset

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Join us to help build a community that’s full of possibility for all parents and children.

Any Baby Can recognizes that each employee makes a significant contribution to our success. We offer competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits in order to recruit the right people.

OPEN JOB POSITIONS

Any Baby Can recognizes that each employee makes a significant contribution to our success. We offer competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits in order to recruit the right people.

OPEN JOB POSITIONS

CORE VALUES

Any Baby Can educates, motivates and empowers parents so that families can overcome challenges and children can reach their full potential.

Collaboration

We leverage combined skills and expertise to provide the best service possible. We partner with our families to maximize their potential for success. We share knowledge and resources with the community to promote positive social change.

Compassion

We develop human connections and affirm the value of all people. We recognize the need and importance for others to be self-sufficient. We appreciate self-worth and self-determination. We believe in the strength of the human spirit.

Empowerment

We will foster and promote independence to persevere. We model self-reliance. We nourish families to promote positive outcomes and a healthy community. We encourage individuals, families, employees, and our community to reach their full potential.

Family

We support the family bonds based on trust, respect, and loyalty. We honor the uniqueness of each family. We recognize and support the value of family. We recognize that social change begins at home.

Education

We aspire to be the leading family resource center by implementing proven best practices. We serve as a catalyst for positive change by increasing the knowledge and skills of our clients. We teach families to navigate systems and resources.

Integrity

We adhere to the highest ethical standards. We will provide services with respect and dignity. We value and show appreciation for other’s roles and contributions. We remain culturally competent and honor individuality.