About Iván
Communicator. Community Builder. Executive. Coach.
Two decades inside organizations taught me how people lead, change, struggle, and grow — experience that now shapes the way I coach.
20+ Years
Organizational Experience
14+ Years
Leading Teams
145 Hours
ICF-Accredited Coach Training
10+ Years
Mindfulness Practice
"Everything begins with self."
Over more than two decades of working inside organizations, I've learned that leadership is rarely as polished as it looks from the outside. Leaders are human. We carry uncertainty, habits, fears, assumptions, and contradictions into the rooms we lead. And when we perform rather than inhabit confidence and leadership, people feel the difference.
For me, authentic leadership begins within.
I currently serve as Vice President of Marketing & Communications at Central Health, Travis County's public healthcare system, where I lead a multidisciplinary department spanning marketing, communications, creative services, internal communications, community engagement, outreach, events, and operations.
My work has taken me well beyond communications. I've built and restructured teams, developed operating systems, managed significant budgets and contracts, led community engagement initiatives, and worked across organizational boundaries with executives, public boards, elected officials, advocates, and community members.
Career Timeline
2005
Career Begins
Nonprofit leadership, fundraising, communications, and consulting across education, health, and mission-driven organizations.
2017
Central Health
Joined Central Health while continuing community leadership through board service with organizations including Out Youth.
2024
Vice President
Became VP of Marketing & Communications, leading a multidisciplinary team across communications, marketing, and community engagement.
2025
Presence-Based Coaching
Began Presence-Based Coaching training and professional coach development toward ICF certification.
Background Highlights
Education
Executive MBA, Baylor University
B.A. Communications, University of Houston
Coaching Credentials
Completed ICF-accredited professional coach training
Advanced Presence-Based coach certification, in progress
ICF ACC credential, in progress
10+ years of mindfulness practice & MBSR training
Identity & Belonging
I was born in Monterrey, Mexico, and immigrated to the United States with my family when I was fifteen.
Being bicultural, bilingual, Mexican American, and gay has shaped how I understand leadership and belonging. That experience informs my interest in working with leaders of color, bicultural and bilingual professionals, queer leaders, and others whose full identities may not always be seen or understood within the organizations they lead.
The Arts
I began performing as a child in Monterrey and returned to acting in Austin in 2021 after roughly twenty years away from theatre. Theatre is one of the places where I experience presence most directly.
My experience as a Mexican immigrant artist also led me to found the Coalition for Austin's Arts & Spanish-language Theatre (CAAST), where I serve as Board Chair.
Coaching Philosophy
My coaching practice is grounded in Presence-Based Coaching®, a developmental and somatic approach created by Doug Silsbee that integrates mindfulness, embodiment, adult development, and neuroscience.
My relationship with mindfulness began well before I became a coach. I have completed four Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction courses, participated in several seven-day silent meditation retreats, and maintain a daily mindfulness practice.
Increasingly, I see all of these parts of my life (leadership, mindfulness, coaching, identity, community, and theatre) as connected. They keep bringing me back to the same place: everything begins with self.
The work begins with a conversation.
No pressure. No obligation to continue.
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