The Top 50 San Antonio Women Leaders of 2026
San Antonio’s economy has always been a little bit “all of the above”: global manufacturing, cybersecurity and defense, energy, hospitality and tourism, healthcare, and a fast-growing startup scene-powered by people who know how to collaborate across sectors. In that kind of market, influence isn’t just about title; it’s about who can move capital, shape workforce pipelines, unlock partnerships, and turn big civic ideas into measurable outcomes.
Below is a ranked, editorial list of 50 of the most influential women leaders across the Greater San Antonio metro-a mix of senior executives, founders, and industry-shaping leaders in government, utilities/energy, manufacturing, retail, tech, healthcare, finance, and community institutions.
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#1 Gina Ortiz Jones
San Antonio is a “boardroom city” in the best way: the mayor’s office sits at the intersection of infrastructure, housing, workforce, downtown development, and business recruitment. Since being sworn in as the city’s 69th mayor, Gina Ortiz Jones has been a high-visibility convener-setting a tone around service, economic competitiveness, and citywide problem-solving that directly affects how employers grow and how talent chooses where to live.
#2 Esperanza “Hope” Andrade
Few roles in San Antonio combine cultural stewardship, tourism economics, and large-scale project execution like leading the Alamo Trust. Hope Andrade’s influence is amplified by the Trust’s responsibility for daily operations and implementation of the major Alamo Plan-work that shapes downtown foot traffic, brand identity, philanthropy, and the visitor economy.
#3 Roxanne Orsak
If you want to understand regional influence in Texas, follow supply chains, store expansion, and employment scale. As H‑E‑B’s President & COO, Roxanne Orsak sits at the center of one of San Antonio’s most important economic engines-helping shape how a beloved, high-performing retailer grows, innovates, and supports communities across the state.
#4 Sarah Carabias Rush
Economic development leadership is part strategy, part storytelling, part execution. As CEO of greater:SATX, Sarah Carabias Rush is directly tied to the region’s ability to attract new jobs and investment, sell the metro to site selectors, and keep momentum in targeted sectors like manufacturing, defense, cyber, and life sciences.
#5 Nadege Souvenir
Philanthropy is one of the quiet “force multipliers” in a metro: it funds nonprofits, pilots new approaches, and bridges gaps public dollars can’t cover. Leading the San Antonio Area Foundation, Nadege Souvenir influences which community solutions scale-helping align donors, grantees, and long-term regional priorities around opportunity and equity.
#6 Julia Rendon Reinhart
In a headquarters city, senior HR leadership can shape thousands of careers-and ripple across the broader labor market. As Valero’s SVP and CHRO, Julia Rendon Reinhart influences how one of San Antonio’s flagship public companies competes for talent, builds leadership, and structures culture in an industry undergoing ongoing transformation.
#7 Shanna Ramirez
Utilities are “infrastructure \+ trust.” Shanna Ramirez’s role spans legal, compliance, governance, policy, and risk-work that affects affordability, reliability, and the regulatory environment that both residents and employers depend on. Her remit also touches security and continuity-areas increasingly central to modern utilities.
#8 Elaina Ball
Energy strategy is economic strategy-especially in a high-growth region balancing resilience, modernization, and affordability. As CPS Energy’s Chief Strategy Officer, Elaina Ball helps steer long-range planning and execution priorities that will shape how the metro powers homes, businesses, and new industries over the next decade.
#9 Debbie Stroud
Whataburger is more than a restaurant brand in Texas-it’s a cultural institution and a massive employment platform. As CEO, Debbie Stroud influences growth, operations, and brand evolution at a time when the company’s footprint and complexity keep expanding, with leadership decisions that reverberate through local jobs and vendor ecosystems.
#10 Carla Wright
Manufacturing leadership is where workforce, productivity, and technology meet. As VP of Manufacturing at Toyota Texas, Carla Wright oversees major operations at the San Antonio plant-helping shape how advanced manufacturing careers develop locally and how operational excellence stays competitive in a demanding sector.
#11 Patricia Mejia
Sports and entertainment organizations can be major civic institutions-economic drivers, community partners, and talent magnets. In a role designed to elevate community investment and philanthropic strategy, Patricia Mejia influences how a beloved franchise system translates platform into impact across the region.
#12 Esther Kwon
Healthcare leaders shape not only care delivery, but also public health priorities, employer health outcomes, and community education. As CEO of Methodist Hospital Texsan and a leader in efforts focused on women’s heart health, Esther Kwon is helping drive awareness and prevention in an area that affects countless families and workplaces.
#13 Margaret Wilson‑Anaglia
Port San Antonio is a major platform for aerospace, defense, logistics, and industrial development. As Board Chair, Margaret Wilson‑Anaglia holds governance influence at a site that supports job creation and sector growth-especially in industries that are central to San Antonio’s identity and future competitiveness.
#14 Annette Alonzo
Frost is one of San Antonio’s best-known financial institutions-and HR leadership at that scale shapes talent strategy, leadership pipelines, and culture. Annette Alonzo’s role positions her to influence how a major employer invests in people and builds capabilities in a complex, regulated industry.
#15 Kathleen Schneider
In B2B tech, marketing leaders help define how companies compete and how regions get represented in national and global conversations. As CMO at Rackspace Technology, Kathleen Schneider influences brand strategy, growth messaging, and go-to-market execution for a company with deep San Antonio roots and global reach.
#16 Kellie Teal-Guess
Tech workforce leadership is now inseparable from transformation: reskilling, retention, org design, and the culture that enables innovation. As CHRO, Kellie Teal‑Guess shapes how Rackspace develops and supports talent-important in a city actively strengthening its tech identity.
#17 Kim Pollok
Business services firms often have outsized impact because they enable other companies to grow. As CEO of SWBC’s PEO business, Kim Pollok influences how employers manage HR, benefits, and operational complexity-especially for small and midsize businesses across the region.
#18 Tami Cabaniss
At USAA’s scale, senior HR leadership affects career pathways, leadership development, and the culture of one of San Antonio’s most prominent employers. Tami Cabaniss’s work sits at the center of how the organization recruits, retains, and develops talent in a competitive market.
#19 Lindsey O’Neill
Influence isn’t always operational-it can be reputational, policy-facing, and community-defining. In her executive role, Lindsey O’Neill helps shape how USAA shows up with stakeholders, communicates its priorities, and executes corporate responsibility-work that can set the tone for broader corporate citizenship in the metro.
#20 Carla Underwood
Behind every “made here” headline is an enormous engine of scheduling, supply chain coordination, people operations, and on-site supplier relationships. Carla Underwood’s scope-spanning major administrative and operational functions-makes her a critical force in how one of the region’s biggest manufacturing ecosystems runs day to day.
#21 Elizabeth Selva
As vice president and controller, Selva is a key steward of Valero’s financial integrity, ensuring rigorous reporting, controls, and decision-ready insight for a complex energy business. Her leadership strengthens stakeholder confidence and helps the company deploy capital responsibly, an outsized impact in a headquarters market where Valero’s scale supports jobs, suppliers, and civic investment.
#22 Christy Banazek
Banazek shapes people strategy at H‑E‑B, one of Texas’ most admired employers, where workforce excellence directly translates to customer experience and operational performance. By investing in leadership development, culture, and retention at scale, she helps keep a San Antonio-rooted powerhouse competitive while creating opportunity for thousands of Texans.
#23 Ericka Pullin
Pullin leads culture and people development at Frost, guiding how the bank attracts, develops, and empowers talent in a relationship-driven industry built on trust. Her work translates values into everyday behaviors and leadership practices, strengthening service quality and long-term performance across a major regional employer.
#24 Adrienne Cox
As COO of Port San Antonio, Cox helps run one of the region’s most important platforms for aerospace, logistics, and advanced industry growth. By turning infrastructure, tenant operations, and strategic development into measurable job creation and investment, she expands San Antonio’s economic engine and global competitiveness.
#25 Alison Nabatoff
Nabatoff brings strategic discipline and operating rhythm to Spurs Sports and Entertainment, aligning teams and initiatives across a portfolio that blends sports, venues, and community impact. Her ability to translate vision into execution helps a civic icon grow sustainably while amplifying the organization’s influence on tourism, downtown activity, and regional brand.
#26 Jessica Reicher
Reicher oversees the operational excellence that keeps Whataburger’s brand promise consistent across hundreds of restaurants and thousands of employees. Her leadership in scaling systems, service, and talent makes growth possible without sacrificing quality, an important contribution from a San Antonio-headquartered company with national reach.
#27 Deborah Gray Marino
Gray Marino is a connector between SWBC and the community, shaping partnerships, reputation, and civic investment that strengthen the company’s stakeholder relationships. By aligning corporate resources with local needs and long-term relationship building, she helps translate business success into visible impact across San Antonio.
#28 Ana Vera
Vera’s nursing leadership at University Health elevates patient care by advancing professional practice, workforce development, and evidence-based standards on the front lines. In a health system that anchors regional wellbeing, her focus on quality and team performance improves outcomes while supporting the sustainable delivery of care at scale.
#29 Jessica Yao, MD
As chief medical officer, Yao sets clinical strategy and quality priorities that influence how Community First Health Plans delivers access, affordability, and better outcomes for members. Her physician leadership bridges medicine and operations, helping the organization turn population-health goals into practical care improvements for the San Antonio region.
#30 Dr. Erika Gonzalez
Doctor Gonzalez has built a physician-led practice that pairs clinical excellence with strong entrepreneurship, expanding specialized care for allergy and asthma patients across South Texas. By growing a locally rooted medical business and elevating patient experience, she contributes to both community health and the professional services economy.
#31 Cat Dizon
Dizon helps power San Antonio’s innovation economy as co‑founder and COO of Active Capital, where she supports early-stage companies with disciplined operations and founder-focused execution. By helping channel venture resources toward scalable businesses, she strengthens the region’s startup pipeline and the high-quality jobs that follow.
#32 Leticia Van de Putte
Van de Putte has leveraged a career of civic leadership into practical influence for organizations navigating policy, partnerships, and growth across South Texas. Through her work co‑founding Andrade‑Van de Putte and Associates, she helps clients translate relationships and strategy into outcomes that benefit both business performance and the broader San Antonio economy.
#33 Lucy Adame‑Clark
Adame‑Clark modernizes the essential public infrastructure of records, vital services, and administrative efficiency that residents and businesses rely on every day in Bexar County. Her focus on access and service improvement helps create a smoother environment for commerce, real estate, and community growth while protecting the integrity of public trust.
#34 Anamaria Suescun-fast
Suescun‑Fast has grown talkStrategy into a trusted, full-service marketing and communications partner for organizations that need strategy, creativity, and credibility in the public eye. With decades of industry leadership and recognition for her contributions to public relations, she strengthens how San Antonio brands communicate, compete, and earn trust.
#35 Allison Reyes Boese
Reyes Boese helps lead a multi-business portfolio that spans manufacturing, travel, and real estate, diversifying economic impact while keeping San Antonio-rooted enterprises growing. Her leadership connects family-business scale with civic engagement, supporting jobs, supplier networks, and community investment across the region.
#36 Lisa Navarro‑Gonzales
Navarro‑Gonzales helps steer Forma and the Santana Group, bringing operational leadership to a woman-owned manufacturing platform with deep ties to Toyota and the regional supply chain. By growing workforce opportunity and delivering high-quality production support, she strengthens San Antonio’s role in advanced manufacturing and inclusive economic development.
#37 Nicole Marshall
Marshall’s public affairs leadership at the San Antonio River Authority helps align stakeholders around water, flood, and environmental priorities that underpin the city’s resilience. By translating complex projects into trusted communication and partnerships, she supports quality of life improvements that also protect long-term business stability and growth.
#38 Diane Polanco‑Vandersyde
Polanco‑Vandersyde has built a long career in employee benefits and risk management, helping employers design programs that attract talent while controlling costs. In a market where workforce strategy is a competitive advantage, her consultative leadership helps organizations protect people and sustain performance.
#39 Christy Nichols Quinn
Nichols Quinn has built Q2 Promotions as a service-driven marketing and branded merchandise partner that helps organizations show up professionally and stay memorable in competitive markets. By supporting business visibility and customer loyalty for companies across the region, she delivers practical growth impact while strengthening the local business community.
#40 Erika Radis
Radis founded Working Moms of San Antonio to give women a platform for connection, resources, and visibility as they balance careers, entrepreneurship, and family. By building a thriving network through events, programming, and storytelling, she helps women-owned businesses grow and keeps experienced talent engaged in the region’s economy.
#41 Danielle Ledezma
Ledezma expands opportunity for women entrepreneurs through her franchise-development leadership at DivaDance, where she helps others launch and scale community-centered businesses. As a proven operator herself, she pairs growth strategy with culture-building that drives engagement, local spending, and jobs.
#42 Carla Sierra
Sierra shapes Trinity University’s public narrative, ensuring the institution’s achievements and priorities resonate with prospective students, partners, and donors. Strong university branding supports a stronger talent pipeline, and her communications leadership helps connect San Antonio’s education assets to economic and civic momentum.
#43 Kristi Wyatt
Wyatt leads strategic communications and brand experience for Alamo Colleges District, elevating one of the region’s most important engines of workforce development and social mobility. By strengthening trust, clarity, and engagement with students and employers, she helps align education with the skills demand driving San Antonio’s growth.
#44 Dr. Adriana Contreras
Contreras advances inclusive economic growth as a leader at the Mays Center, connecting entrepreneurs and small businesses to training, mentorship, and resources that improve their odds of success. Her work turns higher education into hands-on business acceleration, helping local companies scale and create jobs in the community.
#45 Joanna Weidman
Weidman helps the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce build the relationships and visibility that keep business leadership coordinated and forward-looking. By strengthening member engagement and external partnerships, she amplifies the Chamber’s ability to support investment, talent attraction, and a strong regional brand.
#46 Katie Ferrier
Ferrier drives the Chamber’s public policy and economic development efforts, translating business priorities into advocacy and strategies that help employers grow in San Antonio. Her work supports a more competitive climate for investment by focusing attention on the issues of workforce, infrastructure, and opportunity that shape long-term prosperity.
#47 Mari Aguirre Rodriguez
Aguirre Rodriguez has built Opt In Experts as a focused, modern marketing partner that helps organizations grow audiences and customer relationships with clarity and integrity. By bringing strategic expertise to outreach and conversion, she helps local businesses compete more effectively and scale their impact in a digital-first marketplace.
#48 Yonnie Blanchette
Blanchette’s tenure at the Carver Community Cultural Center strengthened a vital institution that preserves heritage while generating economic activity through arts programming and events. By championing culture as a driver of community pride and tourism, she expanded opportunity for artists and small businesses across San Antonio.
#49 Joan Duckworth
Duckworth has helped steward the Bonham Exchange as an enduring hospitality and entertainment landmark, sustaining jobs and drawing visitors into the city’s nightlife economy. Her leadership underscores how inclusive, well-run venues contribute to a vibrant downtown and a sense of belonging that strengthens the community.
#50 Susan Blackwood
Blackwood brings seasoned education leadership to her role with the San Antonio Women’s Chamber of Commerce, grounding programs and advocacy in a clear understanding of workforce readiness and opportunity. Her civic commitment helps elevate women-owned businesses and mentors emerging leaders, strengthening the region’s talent and entrepreneurship pipeline.
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