
TAPCHW LEADERSHIP
Although a work in progress for years prior, the Texas Association of Promotores and Community Health Workers (TAPCHW) was officially established in 2019. We were established to address the need for a statewide association, based on a statewide CHW survey conducted in cooperation with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) in 2015.
TAPCHW leadership is comprised of experienced, passionate, and motivated certified CHWs and CHW Instructors from CHW training centers and local/regional coalitions & associations across the great State of Texas that have included: the Northeast Texas Community Health Worker Coalition, West Texas Community Health Worker/ Promotores Association, West Texas AHEC, National Community Health Worker Training Center - Texas A&M, DFW-CHW Association, Texas Gulf Coast CHW/Promotores (TGCCPA), & Tyler Junior College.
President of the Board
Roxana Lopez
President of the Board
Roxana is a certified CHWI, CHW for the Texas Tech University Health Science Center, School of Nursing at the Larry Combest Community Health and Wellness Center. She is the Co-Instructor for the TTUHSC SON CHW Certification Program. She has more 15 years of experience as a boots on the ground CHW. She leads the West Texas Community Health Worker/Promotores Association in Lubbock
Zenaida Martinez
Secretary
Zenaida is a Community Outreach Ambassador who is dedicated to serving at-risk and in-need populations and demonstrated working history in the health care industry. Zenaida excels at engaging with community members, networking and collaborating with community based organizations, implementing outreach plans, delivering compelling presentations to community member groups and professionals, and developing a network of partnerships and collaborations. Zenaida is experienced in Medicaid and Medicare programs, social determinants of health (SDoH), community needs, resources and education techniques.
Eliana Socola Collins
Membership Co-Chair
Eliana is a certified Community Health Worker with over seven years of experience coordinating outreach and eligibility projects. She is passionate about health equity, mental health and serving vulnerable families in her community. Eliana has a MS degree in Health Care Administration and currently works as a Project Coordinator for the National Communications and Marketing Department at the American Heart Association.
Bianca Gaytan
Membership Co-Chair
Bianca Gaytan-Dyer is a Certified Community Health worker and Manager of Community Health at El Centro de Corazón, an FQHC in Houston, Texas. She is currently spearheading a new team of Community Health Workers to build a Community Health Worker Program in Houston’s East End. She is currently working on her Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and is dedicated to the mental and social health needs of the community she serves.”
Karla Alvarado
Board Member at Large
My calling has always been to serve the community. I was the “to go to” person in my community to
help translate, make calls, fill out forms and/or find resources. In 2011, I moved to the DFW Area and
stumble into the title Community Health Worker (CHW). It made me realized I had been a CHW all my
life. I started with Baylor Scott & White (BSWH) as the Community Care Navigator. Now over 10 years
later I manage the Community Care Navigation Program at BSWH. This has given me the opportunity to
help grow the CHW discipline and help develop a career ladder for others. With my current role I get to
have my hands in different projects to address Social Determinants of Health for patients within my
organization and within my own community as well. It has been my passion to help others. I truly can
say “I get paid for doing what I love”.
H. Morgan Montalvo
Board Member at Large
H. Morgan Montalvo is a longtime news anchor, investigative reporter, foreign correspondent and military medical services officer. After more than three decades in large-market news he entered the public health field, trained as a Community Health Worker and CHW Instructor and currently works as a Senior Management Analyst for San Antonio Metropolitan Health District
Ricardo Garay
Board Member at Large
Ricardo A. Garay serves as a program manager for the community engagement and health equity team under the Department of Population Health. He also serves as a facilitator for Dell Medical School’s Community Strategy Team and serves as an advocate for community health workers in Central Texas.
Garay was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and became interested in health disparities and community organizing at a young age. His lived-in experience as an immigrant has informed his approach toward health equity and project design. He also continues to participate in community events and social justice initiatives to enhance his perspective on social determinants of health.
Prior to joining Dell Med, he led an international patient navigation program called Health Network at the Migrant Clinicians Network. His team worked to establish continuity of care for patients in more than 110 countries around the world for both acute and chronic health conditions. The program was awarded the Monroe E. Trout prize and the United States-Mexico Border Commission’s Border Models of Excellence award for patient-centered care in mobile populations. Locally, he participated in Community Advancement Network’s Community Council, Central Health’s Community Health Champions, Austin Independent School District’s UpClose Academy and Ending Community Homelessness Coalition’s Point In Time Count planning workgroup.
Garay is certified by the Texas Department of State Health Services as a community health worker instructor. He serves as a board member at the National Association of Community Health Workers and the Texas Association of Promotores and Community Health Workers. He also serves on the Hispanic/Latino Quality of Life Resource Advisory Commission for the City of Austin.
Dr. Teresa Wagner
Board Member at Large
Dr. Wagner is a registered and licensed dietitian with a doctorate in public health. An Assistant Professor at UNT Health Science Center and Clinical Executive for Health Literacy at SaferCare Texas, she’s certified in Patient Safety, Lifestyle Medicine, Health Coaching, a Certified Community Health Worker Instructor and Founder of Health Literacy Texas. She has worked with CHWs for over 6 years employing or training CHWs in health literate concepts to help alleviate health disparities in underserved communities
WHAT WE DO
Our Mission is to support and expand opportunities for the CHW profession at the state and local level through advocacy, education, empowerment, and policy. Learn more here
FOUNDING BOARD

TAPCHW Interim Board of Directors (from left to right, top row): Kim Bush, Christie Cofer,Ashley Rodriguez, Denise Martinez, Julie St.John, Denise Hernandez. (from left to right, bottom row): Katy Nimmons, Debra Flores, Roxana Lopez, and intern Callie King. Not pictured: Dolontria Williams.
Photo taken November 2019