Advisory Board Members

Ed Rivera

Chairman of the Board

Ed Rivera

Ed Rivera is a product of Brownsville; born here and educated in the local public-school system. His career spans forty years in the petrochemical and consumer product sectors and he has global working experience in 29 countries including Russia, China, South Korea, most of Western Europe, South and Central America in addition to the US. As such, he has over 5,000,000 air travel miles. Ed is the former President of the Economic Development Corporation of Laguna Vista, TX. and a former board member of Texas Southmost College and the Brownsville Museum of Fine Arts . At present, he is a board member of the University of Texas RGV Foundation and Hooked for Life Kids gone Fishing non-profit organization. Ed has Chemical Engineering bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston and Master of Business Administration from Harvard.

Bio

Javier Villarreal

AAB Vice Chair

Javier Villarreal

Javier Villarreal (“JV”) was  born and raised in Brownsville, TX.  He graduated from St. Joseph’s Academy in 1991, received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Tulane University in 1995. He then continued his education at Tulane School of Law where he obtained his Juris Doctors in 1998. Upon graduation, he went on to serve as a Briefing Attorney for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, clerking for the Honorable Reynado G. Garza (one step down from the United States Supreme Court). JV is a self-made businessman.  In 2001, JV borrowed $20,000 from Chase Bank to start his law firm and today he owns and operates two separate multi-million-dollar law firms in Texas:  Law Offices of Javier Villarrel (principle office in Brownsville) and Villarreal and Begum, PLLC (principle office in San Antonio).  In addition to running the day-to-day operations of these law firms, JV develops and implements all the marketing associated with JV Law Firm and collaborates with the marketing for Villarreal and Begum. 

JV’s love for aviation started at age 2 (in 1974).  His father and mother are both private pilots.  JV earned his private pilot’s license in Brownsville, TX at age 17 in the year 1989 (that’s the minimum age requirement to obtain a pilot’s license).  JV has been a pilot for 35+ years and the vast majority of his time as pilot in command is operating turbine powered aircraft.  He currently owns and operates a TBM-940 and is instrument rated.  He flies a minimum of 200 hours per year, visiting weekly clients across the State of Texas.  His goal at the Brownsville Airport is to impart his love for aviation and share his knowledge of marketing, business, and finance, thereby contributing towards the betterment of the City of Brownsville and the Browsville/South Padre Island Airport.

JV is married to Cynthia Cantu and has three sons.

Bio

Patricia Guillermo

SECRETARY

Patricia Guillermo

Patricia is a seasoned communications professional with a broad background in government, media, marketing and public relations.  Most recently, Patricia was the Director of Outbound Communications for the Brownsville Economic Development Council in Brownsville, Texas. Prior to this Patricia was the media strategist and spokesperson for a successful U.S. Congressional campaign. She was also the media strategist and a senior advisor for a member of Congress in Washington, D.C. In that role, she advanced the Congressman's policy agenda by forging relationships with important media outlets and became a reliable source of information and background on political events of national and local importance. Patricia also served as a media and political advisor in the Office of the Texas Attorney General, providing expertise on border and international legal issues.
 
Prior to her work in government, Patricia was an award-winning broadcast journalist reporting on events locally, nationally and internationally, including reports from Mexico and the former Yugoslavia. She was a freelance network correspondent for CNN Headline News, the Fox News Channel and SKY-TV in the United Kingdom and has been widely lauded for her work. Her awards include recognition by the Mayor and City Council of Dallas for negotiating the peaceful surrender of a violent bank robber to the Dallas SWAT team while on assignment for her news organization. She was honored by the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Association for investigative reporting and continuing coverage on a news series that led to the imprisonment of corrupt law enforcement officers in South Texas and was recognized with the Special Achievement Award from KGBT-TV for her community service.
 
Patricia is the proud mother of two active duty U.S. Army Majors. She is a graduate of Southwest Texas State University – now Texas State University – in San Marcos, Texas. After living and working in New York City and Washington, D.C. for over a decade, she has returned to her home town of Brownsville, Texas to once again give back to her community.

Bio

Gayle C. King

David L. Tumlinson, IV

Raul F. Villanueva

James N. Tipton

CIty Ex Oficio

John Cowen

Mayor

Linda Macias

City Commissioner District 2

Helen Ramirez

City Manager, AICP

Airport Administrative Staff

Angel Ramos

PE, AAE, IAP,
Airport Director

Lorena Cardona

Marketing and Business Development Manager
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