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Erin Defosse - Founder & President
Mr. Defosse is a local high tech industry entrepreneur and business consultant that has been involved as a founder, member of the executive management team, and strategic consultant with high-tech business startups that have raised millions in investor capital and created hundreds of jobs. Erin was raised in Mexico City and attended the American School Foundation of Mexico City, an international, dual-language immersion school, from kindergarten through 12th grade. Erin is the father of two young children ages 6 and 4 and is deeply interested in having his own children benefit from the same international and bilingual education that he had growing up and which made him fully fluent in both languages, a key skill that Erin uses frequently in his business and personal dealings with Spanish speaking business people, family, and friends. Erin also believes that international, multilingual schooling is now a strategic imperative in the US given the demographic changes impacting the nation as well as the challenges and opportunities arising in this age of globalization.
Erin holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin as well as a Master of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University.
Jose Luqué – Treasurer
Mr. Luqué is currently the President and CEO of Merkatum, a biometric security identification company. José is a seasoned executive with business experience in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. José Luqué has extensive entrepreneurial experience, having successfully launched initiatives in the biomedical, software, and interactive media industries. Having been raised in Monterrey, Mexico while attending the American School Foundation of Monterrey, an international, English-Spanish dual language school, José is a champion of this type of education and wants to see it thrive in the United States.
Mr. Luqué holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering and a minor in Industrial Engineering from the Institute of Technology and Superior Studies in Monterrey, Mexico (ITESM). He also earned a Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Florida, and has two postgraduate certifications (Finance and Business Management) from the University of California, San Diego.
Dr. Alejandra Mielke – Secretary
Dr. Alejandra R. Mielke (formerly Rodríguez-Galindo) is an educational researcher coordinating several research projects in the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin. Her main research focus is the reading and academic achievement of culturally and linguistically diverse students in public schools. Before focusing solely on research, Dr. Mielke worked as a statewide coordinator for the Texas Reading First Initiative providing technical assistance and professional development to numerous districts across the state.
Dr. Mielke earned her Ph.D. in language and literacy studies from The University of Texas at Austin in 2005. Dr. Mielke is originally from Monterrey, Mexico where she was a lower elementary teacher working with bilingual students and an elementary Spanish curriculum coordinator from 1991 – 2000 at the American School Foundation of Monterrey, a leading international, English-Spanish dual language school. She has published in the Bilingual Research Journal and Urban Review and presented at numerous national academic research conferences such as AERA and NRC.
Carol Thomas - Director
Carol Thomas is the Director of Development and Community Relations for Caritas of Austin, where she is responsible for planning and executing a comprehensive $2 million + annual fundraising program and related community relations activities. A social entrepreneur with over 20 years of development experience in the non-profit arena, her fundraising expertise covers a wide range of social service organizations — from early childhood and higher education, to the cultural arts, to emergency food and shelter, refugee relocation, and transitional housing.
The Shaker Heights, Ohio native has worked with diverse groups of clients and beneficiaries — as well as the citizens from those communities that support them — from Cleveland to Washington, D.C., from Atlanta, Georgia, to San Diego, California, and now in Austin, Texas. She joined the Caritas team in 2006, where she uses entrepreneurial and management principles gained from her education (a B.A. in Business Administration, Antioch College and a Masters in Not-for-Profit Management, Case Western Reserve University) to organize, create, and manage initiatives that provide financial resources that support positive social change.
As a fundraiser, Carol believes that the main goal of a socially oriented organization is to further public service goals, which in many ways makes it comparable to private enterprise and its revenue generating efforts. Whereas a business entrepreneur measures success in profit and return on investment, social entrepreneurs gauge success in terms of the positive influences they have on their communities and society.
Carol serves on the board of the Magellan International School in Austin. She resides in Northwest Austin with Jim and an extended pet family that includes Champ, a six year-old Black Labrador; Silver and Stone, Oriental shorthair cats; and Mick, an adopted outdoor kitty. A music and sports enthusiast, she also enjoys gardening, exercising and is a converted Texas Longhorns and San Diego Chargers football fan.
