Trustees appointed members to its Executive Committee, which will be sworn in during the January board meeting
VIA Metropolitan Transit trustees have elected from within their ranks the board’s Executive Committee, including appointing Vice Chair Laura Cabanilla to serve as their next chair.
Chair Fernando Reyes, who has led the board for the past four years, is retiring from the position in January.
The board elected new Trustee Leo Gomez, the Brooks president and CEO who joined the board earlier in December, to serve as Vice Chair. They also re-elected trustees Athalie Malone and Louis Cooper to serve as board secretary and vice secretary, respectively.
“Laura Cabanilla has an impressive track record as a community relations professional and has demonstrated her commitment to public service,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. “Laura’s experience as a VIA board trustee and vice chair have prepared her to assume the transit board’s top leadership role. I deeply appreciate her willingness to take on this responsibility.”
Cabanilla joined VIA’s Board of Trustees in 2021 and was first elected vice chair in December 2022 for the 2023 term. She is a director of Corporate Responsibility at USAA and a strategy lead for Face the Fight, a public awareness and health campaign founded by USAA that brings together businesses and organizations in the fight against veteran suicide.
She is a Texas Lyceum director and has been active in Leadership San Antonio, including serving on its steering committee and subsequently as a co-chair.
“It’s an honor to be chosen to lead this dynamic board during a transformative time for VIA and the community we serve,” Chair-elect Cabanilla said. “Years of strategic and diligent efforts by VIA, its staff and partners have created this moment of critical mass and helped pave the way for us to deliver modern mobility solutions for our fast-growing region.”
Read more here: VIA Board of Trustees Elects New Board Chair, Vice Chair