Natalie Reyes Sworn-in as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Croatia
Nathalie Rayes was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Croatia on January 10, 2024 by Vice President Kamala Harris.
Ambassador Rayes has led a distinguished career in public service and served previously as the president and CEO of Latino Victory. Prior to joining Latino Victory, Rayes was vice president of public affairs for Grupo Salinas in the United States and executive director of Fundación Azteca America. Earlier in her career, she managed the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Relations, International Trade, and Protocol, and established the city’s first Office of Immigrant Affairs.
Ambassador Rayes has served as a prominent member of multiple boards, to include as President Biden’s appointee to the United States Institute of Peace, President Obama’s appointee to the board of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and chair of the board of directors of the Hispanic Federation and the advisory group for Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) Binational Fellowship.
Ambassador Rayes has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a Master’s in Public Policy from UCLA. She is fluent in Spanish and conversational in Arabic. Ambassador Rayes is married to Dr. Tarek Samad, an accomplished neuroscientist, and they have two sons, Julian and Alexander.
Viviana Hernandez Named President of ALPFA Houston
Viviana Hernandez has been named President of ALPFA Houston. Her involvement with ALPFA commenced at Texas A&M University as a student and has since evolved into a remarkable leadership trajectory. From committee member to executive board member, and now as president, Hernandez continues to make an indelible impact.
Hernandez has developed a diverse background in Planning and Supply Chain at SLB, currently serving as Resources Manager for New Energy.
A trailblazer, Hernandez, a first-generation college graduate, acknowledges Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP) for shaping her journey with invaluable mentorship. Throughout her university years, she extended support as a mentor in GEAR UP at Ruder High School and Foundations of Continued Undergraduate Success (FOCUS) program at Texas A&M University. Her commitment to empowering peers led to her co-founding @aggieawib - one of Mays Business School’s largest student-run organizations today.
Karla Saez - EV Advance Capacity Manager – Stellantis
Professional experienced and highly motivated performer that has lead positions as a manufacturing engineer and Human Resources manager with extensive experience across multiple manufacturing and automotive operations, Karla Saez was named EV Advance Capacity Manager at Stellantis in December 2023.
Prior to this, she led the NAFTA KPI reporting process and collaborating with each of the Global IRF regions as well as Program Management to establish the annual metrics and reporting process. Management and coordination of pre-production and pilot part requests, ensuring part availability, process consistency and delivery as well as providing direction to parts follow-upteam. Create and monitor KPIs with stratification detail and root cause analysis, present monthly scorecards to top management and customers. Analyze the current business environment and provide process improvement recommendations. Collaborate with the IRF operations team to ensure new process developments are implemented and sustained.