Hope Andrade is a successful entrepreneur and respected business leader who has made a lasting
impact on the San Antonio community for more than three decades. She has successfully launched and
led three highly regarded and profitable companies that provided both medical and non-medical home
care, capitalizing on the growth of the home care industry.
Hope dedicated 12 years to public service for the great state of Texas. She made history as the first
Latina and one of the longest-serving Secretaries of State in Texas history. Her other statewide
appointments include serving as Commissioner for both the Texas Department of Transportation and
Texas Workforce Commission.
Throughout her career, Hope has held numerous leadership roles in civic and community organizations
and has been the recipient of many personal, business, international, and community awards and
honors.
She has also played an integral role in the founding and operational success of Go Rio San Antonio River
Cruises, which operates river barges and concessions along the historic San Antonio River Walk.
Additionally, she is co-founder of AVDP, LLC., a bipartisan consulting firm focused on bridging the gap
between government entities and the business community.
Most recently, Hope joined the investor group that purchased the local San Antonio Missions Baseball
Club and currently serves on the board of Designated Bidders, LLC.

Medical expert, researcher, health equity advocate, and military veteran (achieving rank of
Major, recipient of Meritorious Service Medal). Invited to provide policy guidance to elected officials and community leaders to improve access to improve health care equality, especially for marginalized communities of color. Founder of unique and successful clinics providing access to cutting edge care for 20,000 patients; knowledge of FDA/GCP, CMS, IRB, and other complex regulations. Principal investigator on 120 clinical trials including 1,500 patients, author of numerous journal publications; expertise in Phase2-4 clinical trials. Elected leader of multiple civic organizations; faculty member of several leading university medical centers; recipient of numerous awards and recognitions. Bilingual Spanish with proven ability to establish trusting relationships with people of diverse backgrounds.

Chasing Camilla is a Zarape inspired, mommy and me brand. Founder, Melissa Rojas started her company
in late 2017. After a failed marriage and being left with nothing to her name. She relocated back to Texas
with her daughter, Camilla. It was a now or never moment. She started with one item, the Zarape Santa
hat, with the help of her Madrina and Mother. Now her shop carries hundreds of handmade cositas. All
her items are handmade in house by women or imported from Mexico. Melissa now travels the world
sourcing and curating the most unique products and working directly with Artisans. Her handmade items
have been carried in over 30 boutiques and museums. Her brand has also been featured in SA Local
Living News TV, Parent Latina Magazine, Fierce by Mitu, Pero Like, Voyage Houston and Voyage Austin and
more. Melissa also travels all over the US for pop up events, she has vended in some of the biggest
markets . Such as Fiesta SA, @salocalmarkets, Muertos Fest SA, Loca for Local Corpus by @sewbonita,
Michigan State DDLM Conference, Spoiled Latina Summit, Pecan Festival Austin, @shopminimarkets in
Austin and more. Melissa and Camilla now also work with other brands as content creators. Melissa
hopes that by sharing her story, she can inspire others that have gone through a similar situation. “Eres
Más Fuerte de lo que te imaginas”