Meet Our
Team!

Mustafa Tameez

CEO & Founder

Paul Rivera

SVP Research & Strategy

Paul Rivera is a research and policy strategist, with more 30 years of expertise in strategic communications, qualitative and quantitative research, and data analysis. His research work has been critical to strategic decisions made by public, nonprofit, and private entities across the United States.

Paul is frequently sought after for his strategic input and wealth of knowledge. He is a veteran of four presidential elections, worked for the Clinton White House, and served as Senior Advisor and Communications Director for the New York State Senate. Paul holds his Bachelor’s degree from Hunter College of the City University of New York and a J.D. from the Fordham University School of Law.

Rogene Calvert

Principal

Ms. Calvert has dedicated her professional life to helping others through nonprofit leadership for more than three decades. From the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast to the Child Abuse Prevention Network to St. Luke’s Episcopal Charities to the Asian Chamber of Commerce, she has helped shape the direction of countless institutions and nonprofit entities across Houston. Her service led her to work as chief of staff for Houston’s Mayor Pro Temp Gordon Quan and as director of personnel and volunteer initiatives for Mayor Bill White. Her focus is on healthcare, nonprofit management, and economic and business development. Currently on the boards of the Asian American Health Coalition/Hope Clinic, Care for Elders, American Leadership Forum, OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, and the University of Houston Hobby Center for Public Policy, she also provides leadership and guidance to Outreach Strategists’ clients. Her areas of expertise include nonprofit organizational management and startup; strategic planning and evaluation; program, community, and economic development; fundraising and grant writing; coalition building and coordination; and advocacy and public policy.

Linda Lorelle

Principal

A two-time Emmy Award-winning journalist and two-time winner of the American Women in Radio and Television’s prestigious Gracie Award, Linda Lorelle anchored the evening news at KPRC, Houston’s NBC affiliate, for nearly 17 years.  

Since opening Linda Lorelle Media in 2009, the Stanford graduate has garnered an extensive roster of Fortune 500 clients, NGOs and educational institutions.  She also serves as a Principal at Outreach Strategists where she and her partners service clients in all aspects of strategic communications and customized consulting, capitalizing on the company’s vast network of global contacts. 

In 2018, Linda launched and continues to host the award-winning podcast, Our Voices Matter, dedicated to reminding us of our common humanity. In February 2024, she co-founded Civil Dialogues in partnership with Jean Becker, former chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush. The democracy initiative partners with presidential library foundations and policy institutes to host town halls across the nation on challenging topics, creating a safe space for Americans to talk to and learn about each other, without feeling demonized. 

 As co-founders of the Linda Lorelle Scholarship Fund, Linda and her husband, Lou Gregory, have awarded more than $4.7 million in college scholarships and life skills training to nearly 400 Houston area students over the last 33 years. In September of 2023, former Lorelle Scholars, joined by Linda and Lou’s daughter, Lindsey, assumed leadership of the organization and are ushering in a new era. 

Rebecca Block

Chief Operating Officer

Rebecca Block brings more than 20 years of experience serving nonprofit organizations to her role as Chief Operating Officer of Outreach Strategists. She has supported organizations in a variety of capacities including strategic planning, communications, fundraising, program development, and engagement. Her industry experience includes service in health and human services, fine arts, education, criminal justice, mental health, and leadership development.

Before joining Outreach Strategists, Rebecca served as the Vice President of Communications and Engagement for the American Leadership Forum where she led the organization’s communications strategies and developed programming for more than 1,400 senior-level leaders. Prior to that, she served as a Staff Consultant with Sterling, where she provided a variety of consulting services to more than 35 Houston-area nonprofit organizations, including support for operating and capital campaigns.

Rebecca is a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum and a member of the American Marketing Association. In the community, she served on the Board of Trustees for the ERJCC for 10 years, and was a Founder of their award-winning outreach and pipeline development program as well as the Founding Annual Fund Chair for the Bertha Alyce Early Childhood School. Rebecca served as a parent leader for the Horn Helping Hands program and has volunteered for more than a decade with Interfaith Ministries Meals on Wheels Thanksgiving Meal Deliveries. She is also the Founder & Co-Chair of FlexWork Forum with the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce, elevating the voice of working parents and like-minded professionals across the community. Additionally, Rebecca served as a mentor for Houston Business Journal’s Mentoring Monday.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where she created an individualized major.

Keri Myrick

Dr. Keri Myrick is a distinguished public health leader with over a decade of experience focused on advancing population health and health equity. Dr. Myrick serves as the Vice President of Healthcare at Outreach Strategists.  She plays a pivotal role in guiding health initiatives across a range of settings, emphasizing the importance of addressing social determinants of health. Her work involves developing and implementing innovative social and behavioral health programs that aim to reduce disparities and improve health outcomes for diverse communities.

Dr. Myrick’s expertise extends to designing strategic public health campaigns and fostering collaborations that enhance community engagement. Her work with the Texas Department of State Health Services includes leading efforts to promote public awareness of critical health issues such as maternal and infant health and safe infant sleep practices. Her ability to translate complex health information into accessible public messaging has been key to these initiatives’ success.  In addition, Dr. Myrick oversees a healthcare-access expansion campaign with the University Medical Center of El Paso, focusing on enhancing public education and engagement to ensure more comprehensive access to essential health services.

In her previous role as the Director of Global Population Health Practice at the University of Houston, Dr. Myrick led significant projects aimed at improving population health through research and education. She spearheaded initiatives that addressed water equity and quality and the health impacts of climate change, ensuring that these efforts were grounded in community needs and informed by interdisciplinary research.

Dr. Myrick’s career is defined by her unwavering commitment to improving health outcomes at both the community and broader population levels. Her work is characterized by a strong dedication to reducing health disparities and promoting health equity. She empowers communities through education and strategic public health interventions. Dr. Myrick’s contributions to population health continue to make a lasting impact on the communities she serves.

Michelle Cantú-Wilson

Vice-President of Education and Workforce

Dr. Cantú-Wilson is a lifelong educator, having served as an administrator and teacher in both higher education and public education.  Michelle brings nearly 30 years of experience in education to Outreach Strategists, where she leads the Education and Workforce portfolio. She is passionate about developing the workforce pipeline and believes that quality education is the critical factor in preparing the future workforce.

In the community, Michelle is a member of the Board of Trustees at San Jacinto College and serves on the board of Pasadena Health Center. She was recently appointed by U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to the National Assessment Governing Board which sets policy for National Assessment of Educational Progress known as “The Nation’s Report Card.”

Dr. Cantú-Wilson is the host of EdUp Emergence, a podcast that illuminates the voices of emergent higher education leaders and discusses succession planning efforts at colleges and universities. She is also a regular host of the EdUpExperience podcast, a global higher education podcast created by Dr. Joe Sallustio.

Michelle holds a Doctorate of Higher Education Leadership from the University of Houston-Clear Lake, a Masters of Education in Administration and Supervision, a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Houston, and an Associate of Arts from Ranger College.

Michelle was born and raised in Brownsville, Texas, and was the first in her family to attend college. She is married and has three amazing children. She loves to spend time outdoors, especially at the beach. She’s an avid reader and writer and is working on a leadership book for women and a creative nonfiction series for developing adult readers.

Janaeya Carmouche

Public Affairs Manager

Janaeya Carmouche brings nearly 20 years of expertise spanning private, public, and nonprofit sectors to Outreach Strategists. Her work includes guiding public and private sector stakeholder engagement/activation, developing issue advocacy strategies, navigating crises, executing large-scale operations, and designing risk mitigation plans to better position the individual/entity client.

Janaeya will leverage her abilities to solve problems, make meaningful connections, and develop comprehensive strategies to produce quality client outcomes.

Janaeya earned a Master’s in Legal Studies from the Washington College of Law at American University, offering greater knowledge at the intersection of law, business, and policy. She also serves on the civic engagement committee of her local Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated chapter. 

Ana Ulloa

Manager- Accounting & Outreach

Ana is an experienced field organizer and political outreach coordinator focusing on nonprofit initiatives and communicating with diverse populations. She manages the field team at Outreach Strategist and synthesizes and analyzes data. Ana is a skilled tax preparer, she is also a trained CPA from Mexico, and a Texas certified paralegal.

Lorenza Carrillo Villaseñor

AVP Creative Services

Having accumulated five years of expertise at OS, Lorenza has successfully formed and currently leads a highly efficient multidisciplinary team comprising graphic designers, video editors, and content creators. 

From annual reports to multi-language video series, Lorenza delivers meaningful high-impact solutions to corporations, governmental entities, and nonprofit organizations. 

Lorenza is passionate about words and images and how they interact together; she’s a jack-of-all creative trades that is convinced that good design is invisible. 

Lorenza has a B.A. in Accounting and Finance and an A.A.S in Graphic Design.

Tim Lankford

Manager 

Tim Lankford works closely with our clients to place their stories before local, statewide, and national media outlets. With more than 10 years of experience in communications (including stints as reporter and producer at major broadcast outlets), Tim understands what makes a good story and what it takes to get prime pick-up. 

Under his leadership in 2023, Tim led the production of a 13-episode TV series for a client. By leveraging strong media relationships and creatively re-purposing the show, he was able to help this client air these shows at no cost to them, while staying within the federal regulations they must abide by. Notably, this work was also recognized with a Gold Viddy Award and a Bronze Telly Award.

Daniel Meza

Manager- Graphic Desig

Daniel brings nearly a decade of design experience and a B.A. in Design for Graphic Communication to Outreach Strategists’ clients. In his work, he creates visual concepts to captivate audiences.

He has brought his graphic design expertise to many projects including the design and refresh of a variety of communication materials. He is accomplished in designing branding, creative collateral for social media as well as editorial design. His expertise in advertising, editorial design and illustration enables him to develop versatile solutions to overcome any client challenge. Additionally, Daniel is fluent in both English and Spanish, enabling him to create materials in both languages.

Janet Torres

Project Manager- Web

Janet Torres is an integrated designer, responsible for providing practical solutions for a wide range of projects, transforming client’s businesses into solid brands. From concept to execution and implementation, Janet is committed to helping brands communicate effectively, creating an emotional connection that translates the brand value.

Additionally, Ms. Torres is a skilled web designer who creates and enhances website functionality.  She designs strategic wireframes to develop the blueprint for each site, creates plans to deliver intended functionality and features, and structures content to drive increased engagement on each website.  Prior to working with Outreach Strategists, Janet worked for an agency that specialized in web content and development, building robust skills on web design and implementation.

Jorge Medina

Art director

Jorge Medina is a talented graphic designer who has worked with clients across many industries and sectors. As Art Director, Jorge ensures that each communication strategy provides solutions and addresses the unique needs of each client, defining and developing the overall visual identity for each project.  He has worked on significant rebranding campaigns for clients, conceptualizing creative materials, developing new logos and brand manuals, and creating compelling collateral. 

In his role at Outreach Strategists, Mr. Medina manages the graphic team and directs the creative process for clients.

Omar Khurshid

Manager

Responsible for providing Outreach Strategists clients with competitive political research and policy analysis. Omar helps clients achieve their goals through original content creation and project management.

Melissa Platt

Director- Marketing

Sunny Ali

Manager

As a Senior Manager at Outreach Strategists, Sunny Ali stands out for her exceptional stakeholder engagement, strategic communication, and project management skills. Guided by her principle of “helping good people do good things,” her work bridges the gap between international and domestic sectors, adeptly balancing public and private interests.

Sunny’s career trajectory, especially her impactful tenure at BerlinRosen, highlights her ability to navigate complex societal issues and foster meaningful partnerships. Her strategic communication efforts and collaborative approach have been instrumental in addressing challenges and driving success in various issue areas including education, healthcare and women’s rights.

Sunny holds a Master’s in International Relations and International Economics from Johns Hopkins and a Bachelor’s from The City University of New York in English, Political Science, and Music.

Beyond her professional life, she is passionate about community service, the arts,and animal welfare, and you can find her immersed in a book or a creative project.

Mariana O’Farril

Mariana is a graphic designer, specializing in social media, animation and branding. She has worked in many different industries, providing practical and creative solutions for solving complex problems.

At Outreach Strategists, Mariana brings her graphic design skills to help clients convey their brands and critical messages. Her keen eye on selecting colors, images and typefaces helps to catch attention clients want to bring to their campaigns.

Mariana is fluent in both English and Spanish.

Luis Daniel Iniguez

Luis Daniel Iniguez brings his proficiency with data analysis and research to Outreach Strategists.  Mr. Iniguez provides insights and synthesizes quantitative and qualitative outcomes for clients, providing them with results to improve the development and impact of their projects.

Luis Daniel has a background in urban studies with a perspective on sustainability. He has nearly a decade of experience as a strategic advisor, territorial intelligence planner, data analyst, and coordinator of various volunteer groups. In the community, he has served as a member of different academic, political, and nonprofit councils.

Adriana Antillón

Adriana is a multidisciplinary designer with a strong passion for photography, graphic design, illustration, and aesthetics in general. She has worked in multiple disciplines including photography, branding, editorial design and social media, among others.

In her work at Outreach Strategists, she brings fresh insights and ideas to each project, crafting unique designs for each project.

Leigh Ann Arnold

Leigh Ann brings more than three decades of experience in the nonprofit sector to her work at Outreach Strategists. She will bring her project management and communications expertise to provide strategic insight, execute multifaceted outreach initiatives, and manage client relationships.

Previously, she provided leadership and strategic direction to ECMC Education, Genesys Works National and the Center for Houston’s Future, where she oversaw a broad public initiative and received two national leadership awards for her efforts.  Additionally, Leigh Ann also led advocacy and fundraising efforts for more than 25 years for several Texas-based organizations, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Flower Foundation, which she founded.

Outside of her professional responsibilities, Leigh Ann enjoys sports, the outdoors, playing the piano and cooking.  She has served on the Board of Trustees for the Houston Ballet Foundation, the Texas Fine Arts Association, and Chinquapin Prep, where she remains an Advisory Trustee. Leigh Ann studied Government and Economics at the University of Texas, Austin.

David Crowl

David serves as the Managing Director of Community Development and Infrastructure.  In this capacity, David leads the public relations team, facilitates community engagement initiatives, provides strategic planning guidance, and spearheads the development of cutting-edge marketing strategies for clients.

Mr. Crowl came to Outreach Strategists from the City of Houston’s Housing and Community Development Department where he worked to end homelessness and provide services to the most vulnerable populations. Previously, he served as Vice President of Public Policy at the Greater Houston Partnership and Vice President at the Fort Bend Chamber.

David earned a Bachelor of Science from UT Austin in Urban Studies.  In the community, Mr. Crowl serves on the board of the Houston Heights Association.

Rasheed Ahmed

Rasheed Ahmed is an innovative producer with  years  of  experience  in  all  aspects  of  video  production. He is a visionary creator editor, storyteller and  operations  manager with demonstrated ability to  take  an  idea from  concept  to delivery, to produce entertaining and inspiring pieces and newsworthy packages. Mr. Ahmed has expertise in pre production logistics, planning,  production, custom graphics composition,  special effects and asset management.

Rasheed shares this expertise with clients, creating engaging videos and telling critical stories.

Abraham Ayala

Abraham Ayala is a talented video creator for social media, news reels and short documentaries. Skilled in editing and cinematography, he reports on current events and is adept with all the latest video technology. He is also skilled in several other areas of production, including directing, writing, and editing for several productions and web-series. With thoughtful creativity, he aims to expand our clients’ brand awareness while providing compelling, insightful video content. He is proficient in several editing software programs and a skilled storyteller.

Abraham is also Bi-lingual in English and Spanish, with video experience in both languages.

Amanda Gleason

Amanda comes to Outreach Strategists with 12+ years of experience in the advertising industry. Over the years, Amanda evolved her account management skills to focus solely on project, finance and resource management and has become a well-rounded contributor on various size projects. Her work spans from McDonald’s local store advertising and production, to Shell oil & gas initiatives, to government led programs like the Census 2020. As a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), she thrives on helping teams improve efficiency and save money to improve the organizations overall performance. 

Amanda received her M.B.A. from Sam Houston State University in 2014 and believes education is an essential part of life and makes a point to learn something new every day. Amanda will always strive to know more and understand the “why” to improve and provide solutions. 

In her downtime, Amanda is entertaining a Sheepadoodle puppy named Olivia, visiting family, attending local festivals and learning to bake.

Yaan Ahmed

Yaan Ahmed brings years of experience in graphic design, social media management as well as video production, audio engineering and editing to the team at Outreach Strategists.  He is experienced in the most current video and audio equipment, including drone piloting, as well as editing software including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign as well as Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Logic Pro X.  He is a gifted producer and skilled cinematographer, telling stories for clients to raise awareness and inform brand identity.

Tiffany Dávila

Alejandro Esparza

Alejandro Esparza, a web developer, comes to Outreach Strategists from IBM where he served as a front-end developer and provided technical support. He is a true technology and coding enthusiast and is always looking to learn new skills. For Outreach Strategists, Alejandro helps to create client websites that address business challenges and meet their needs, from website navigation and layout to web hosting. His technology philosophy, “if you can imagine it, you can program it”, drives his daily work.

Natalia Luján

Natalia Lujan is an experienced professional with a background in journalism. Her expertise encompasses digital media, audiovisual production, audience engagement, and marketing. Her specialization lies in the art of identifying, connecting, and nurturing digital audiences. Natalia is bilingual, fluent in both English and Spanish.
She excels in collaborative team environments and has a rich history of working with diverse international teams. At Outreach Strategists, she brings her creative and innovative approach to the table when seeking solutions and crafting compelling digital presence strategies for our clients.

Daniela Gontes

Daniela Gontes is a creative professional with a strong foundation in design and a passion for marketing. She honed her skills through academic pursuits in design and has a specialized focus on social media management and marketing strategies. Daniela supports with which she assists Outreach Strategists clients by enhancing their online presence and effectively engaging their target audiences.

Alejandro Chavez

Alejandro, a marketing professional, brings expertise in writing and communications and extensive experience serving clients to his work at Outreach Strategists.

Previously, Alejandro worked as an e-commerce manager with Allan Company where he managed website and social media marketing campaigns.

Mr. Chavez graduated from Spring Hill College with a Bachelor of Science in Social Science and an emphasis on history and politics. In his free time, Alejandro enjoys reading nonfiction and nature walks.

Serena Castillo

Serena Castillo serves clients with a passion for public relations and advertising, and an enthusiasm for customer service.  While Serena is a master communicator across multimedia platforms, she especially enjoys the design and implementation of social media campaigns.  Ms. Castillo earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications with a concentration in Public Relations and Advertising from Sam Houston State University.

Serena is a proud Houstonian, having spent her entire life in the Houston-area.  In her spare time, Ms. Castillo enjoys volunteering and supporting her sorority, Alpha Omicron Pi as an Alumnus.

Gilbert Saldivar

Gilbert Saldivar brings more than 15 years of success managing proposal teams to his work at Outreach Strategists. Gilbert has successfully managed the delivery of bids worth as much as $4.5 billion with organizations such as Fluor, KBR, and Siemens. A dynamic, trusted leader fluent in English, Mandarin, and Spanish, Gilbert has built proposal operations, developed and managed transnational proposal teams, and redefined operations to adapt to new business needs.

In the community, Gilbert mentors undergraduates as a Sid Richardson College Community Associate at Rice University, where he double-majored in English and Electrical Engineering for more than three years before earning a Bachelor’s degree in English.

Chad Kaiser

Chad Kaiser has an extensive background leading advertising and public education campaigns for state and local government agencies. He finds professional fulfillment in working to understand the communication levers that can motivate positive behavior change, planning strategically to convey the right message to the right audience, and ensuring those plans are executed and lead to effective outcomes. His background includes running an award-winning multi-million-dollar digital media campaign, growing a public health program’s participation, piloting a local outreach program to healthcare practitioners and growing support for the passage of a multi-billion-dollar public transportation proposition, among other accomplishments.

Chad earned a BS in Advertising from The University of Texas at Austin. In his free time, he enjoys basketball, the outdoors, reading and quality time with family and friends.

Sumer Zakaria