María C. González is Associate Professor of English at the University of Houston and a leading authority on Mexican-American literature, Chicana writers, feminist and queer theory, sexuality, and pedagogy. The author of Contemporary Mexican American Women Novelists: Toward a Feminist Identity (which went into three printings), she is currently completing a book-length manuscript on the influence of Chicana lesbian writers and queer theory in Chicana literary studies. A past president of the National Women's Studies Association and past officer of the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies, she has served on the editorial boards of the NWSA Journal, The Journal of Lesbian Studies, and currently serves on the board of Chicana/Latina Studies Journal.

Contact info:

https://www.uh.edu/class/english/people/faculty/maria/index.php

Birth Place: Houston, TX

Profession: Martial artist

What classes do you teach: Jiu Jitsu, MMA, and Kickboxing

What martial art(s) have trained in:
Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing and MMA

What classes do you teach: BJJ Adults: men’s and women’s, Kids BJJ, No-Gi BJJ , Thai Boxing for MMA, Adult MMA, Teen MMA, Personal Fitness, Conditioning, and Personal Self-Defense

Number of years of training martial arts: I started training in the summer of 1998

For more information check out: Elite MMA

Jacob Newsome, B.S., Founder, Power of the Narrative, LLC & Sinclair Scholars

I founded Power of the Narrative because I know what it means to be shaped by systems that were never built for you—and what it takes to break free from them.

As a Black, queer visionary who’s walked through trauma, silence, and survival, I was taught to shrink, to mask, and to overperform. What saved me wasn’t just resilience, it was narrative. Reclaiming my story before someone else wrote my ending gave me my life back.

We create spaces where people can rewrite the story they were given, from students to leaders, from survivors to visionaries. 

Site: http://powerofthenarrative.com/

 Podcast:https://open.spotify.com/show/1AhVcR2NBwstdm4C4qPrUQ

Biography

Representative Jon Rosenthal has been in Texas since 1979 after being born in the prestigious Stanford University Hospital in 1963. His father Haskell was the John T. Stuart III Centennial Professor of Mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin for over 25 years and his mother Maryon is a retired Cosmetics Sales Director.  

A graduate of The University of Texas at Austin in 1991, Jon earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He has since worked for over 25 years as a Project Manager, Engineering Manager, and Subsea Systems Engineer in and around the oil & gas industry. In 2016, Jon earned a Graduate Certificate in Subsea Engineering from the University of Houston.  

For more information:

https://jonrosenthaltx.com/

Meet Jovon

Jovon Tyler is a dedicated community leader, advocate, and entrepreneur – and a candidate for an at-large position on Houston City Council in the November 2027 election.

Born and raised in Houston’s Fifth Ward, his story nearly ended too soon. As a teenager, Jovon was homeless. As a young adult, he struggled with addiction…until a stranger welcomed him into a loving family. Jovon is the adopted son of former Mayor Annise Parker and Kathy Hubbard. Their compassion was the breakthrough that unlocked his future.

 Jovon is the former president of the Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus and continues to advocate for homeless youth.

For more information check here:

https://www.jovontyler.com/

An MFA graduate of
The California Institute of the Arts, Sharon’s first film, A Thousand Miles, was seen in over 80 film festivals world wide, and received the award for Ten Best Shorts of 2000 from American Cinemateque. Her first feature film, Make A Wish, won Best in Fest at The Paris Women’s Film
Festival in 2002. Make A Wish is distributed by Wolfe Video
domestically and internationally.

As an editor, she won the Platinum AVA award for editing on Living Proof, in the category of religion and spirituality. Recent commissions include Telling The Truth in an
Imaginary Place, and We Are In The Business of Changing the World: documentaries about the sculpture and public art installations of Houston artist, Tara Conley. She is comfortable in both narrative and documentary genres and has created hundreds of projects for corporations and non-profit organizations in the South Texas region.