Claudia Aguirre is President & CEO of BakerRipley, one of the oldest, largest, and most highly recognized nonprofit community development organizations in the United States. With more than 1,400 employees and an annual operating budget exceeding $500 million, Claudia is responsible for ensuring that BakerRipley provides resources, education, and connection through 70 operating locations, including community centers, charter schools, Head Start sites, senior citizen centers, and Workforce Solutions offices that serve a combined total of more than half a million neighbors/clients every year.

Since joining BakerRipley in 2010, Claudia has served the organization as Vice President of Community-Based Initiatives, Superintendent of Promise Community Charter Schools, Senior Vice President, and Chief Program Officer. In these progressively responsible leadership roles, she has overseen operations and expansions of community centers and charter schools, guided development of a special school for immigrant and refugee children, enhanced programs for entrepreneurship, and immigration services, and she spearheaded the implementation of Appreciative Community Building, a strength-based approach to community engagement. Under Claudia’s leadership, BakerRipley received widespread acclaim for administering the nation’s most successful COVID-19 rental assistance program that prevented thousands of evictions during the pandemic. The organization has also demonstrated excellence in its capacity to quickly ramp up and operate massive temporary shelters to help people displaced by natural disasters. Claudia is a Class C Member and Deputy Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Board of Directors.

She also serves on the board of the Greater Houston Partnership and actively participates on various task forces for the City of Houston and for Harris County. She has been featured in national media and has been a speaker in programs for several organizations. Additionally, Claudia has been honored with numerous awards recognizing her professional leadership accomplishments and BakerRipley’s community contributions. Claudia earned a B.A. in Political Science from St. Edward’s University and a M. Ed. from the University of Houston. She is also a Texas Education Agency certified teacher, principal, and superintendent and has completed the Education Executive Certification program at Harvard University. In her free time, Claudia enjoys spending time with her family. She is the proud mother of two adult children – a son and a daughter.

Kirk Rummel came to BakerRipley in 2013 as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He is responsible for all Accounting, Reporting, Treasury, Budgeting and Financial Analysis for the agency. In 2019, he assumed the role of Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer, adding oversight of the Information Technology, Human Resources, and Facilities teams.

Kirk, a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner (inactive), came to the agency from the City of Houston where he was Deputy Director of Aviation and Chief Financial Officer of the Houston Airport System (HAS). At HAS, he was responsible for annual revenues exceeding $490 million and net assets of $2.9 billion at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, William P. Hobby Airport and Ellington Field. Prior to joining the City, Kirk spent 17 years with Continental Airlines in various financial roles of increasing responsibility. Prior to Continental Airlines, he spent 6 years with the Alliance for Audited Media.

Kirk earned a B.B.A. from Texas Christian University and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin.

 

Rene Solis was named Chief Program Officer (CPO) of BakerRipley in 2018. In this role, he leads and is responsible for all program areas at BakerRipley.

Previously, Rene was Senior Vice President of Public Sector Solutions Division where he led the growth of programs such as Child Care, Disaster Recovery, Veterans Services, and Workforce. He has been instrumental in developing new program opportunities and is skilled at innovative program design and effective implementation and operation of human services programs.

Because of his leadership, BakerRipley programs have grown to a large portfolio of private and publicly funded programs serving over 48 Texas counties and totaling over $550 million annually in revenue during calendar year 2021.

Rene leads and oversees the BakerRipley portfolio of programs which include –

• Community Initiatives - 5 community centers throughout the Greater Houston area, and programs including immigration, youth, and civic and community engagement


• Early Childhood Education – serving as the Head Start grantee for Southwest Harris County and Fort Bend


• Economic Initiatives – ESL classes, High School Equivalency and GED testing, Integrated Education and Training, Intensive English lessons, Literacy efforts, and Digital Literacy Classes


• Health and Wellness – senior community centers and evidence-based wellness programs


• BakerRipley Community Schools – K-8 Charter School


• Regional Initiatives – Rental Assistance, Disaster Recovery, Utility Assistance, and Weatherization programs


• Workforce – Workforce Solutions offices and Child Care subsidy programs

Kate Birenbaum joined BakerRipley in July 2017 as General Counsel and Vice President of Governance. In her role, Kate provides legal counsel to all departments and divisions of the Agency on various matters. She identifies, assesses and minimizes legal risks, conducts trainings, develops policies, and interfaces with outside counsel as needed. Kate oversees the Agency’s Compliance & Quality Assurance Department, and works closely with its People & Culture Department to support all aspects of the employee lifecycle. She additionally serves as a liaison to the Board for the Agency on governance and compliance matters, and supports a number of Board committees.

 

Prior to joining BakerRipley, Kate practiced law for nearly 25 years, primarily representing employers in their relationships with their employees. She was recognized by Texas Monthly Magazine as a “Super Lawyer” in the area of “Employment Litigation: Defense” every year from 2012-2019. Kate has written articles for use by management on current employment topics, and spoken around the state at legal education seminars and other programs to educate attorneys, human resources professionals, and executives on various employment law issues. She served on her law firm’s Pro Bono Committee, where she worked with various local non-profit organizations such as Tahirih Justice Center, Kids In Need of Defense, and Catholic Charities to coordinate representation. In her practice Kate represented a number of individuals pro bono, including undocumented women seeking asylum after fleeing gang-related persecution and persecution based on sexual orientation in their home countries.

Kate is a native Houstonian. She graduated from Smith College with a major in psychology and a minor in psycholinguistics. She received her law degree from the University of Houston Law Center. She is married and has three children. Her volunteer work has included serving on the Board of Advisors for Dress For Success Houston, and volunteering at the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program, the Houston Area Women’s Center and the Houston Food Bank.

May Cahill joined BakerRipley’s executive team with an established career in fundraising and grant development for academic and healthcare organizations. As the agency’s Chief Development Officer, May provides leadership and strategic direction in areas of philanthropy, marketing, communications, and stakeholder cultivation.

Prior to joining BakerRipley, May was an independent consultant providing strategic planning, training, and coaching services to nonprofit clients. She previously served as Chief Development Officer at CHI St. Luke’s Health, Vice President of Development for Houston Methodist Hospital and Director of Principal Gifts at Yale School of Medicine.

Throughout her career, May has supported initiatives centered on providing resources and services to marginalized groups. Her work has enabled programs which provide coaching, home visits and resource navigation to low-income, first-time parents; training for healthcare workers to identify, intervene and help human-trafficking survivors; and the study of the genetics of dyslexia in Hispanic and African American children, both historically understudied populations.

May earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Rice University, and she continues to support her alma mater as a volunteer for the university’s annual fund. May’s volunteerism also extends to service on the trustee boards of Duchesne Academy and the Ninfa Laurenzo Foundation. She serves on the gala committee for the Dominican (Vietnamese) Sisters of Mary Immaculate Province and is a member of the finance committee for St. Joseph Parish.

Steve Gomez started as a volunteer with BakerRipley and then joined formally as Chief of Special Projects. In his role, he focuses on the Agency’s internal processes and organizational development, ensuring a streamlined approach to maximize the level of service provided throughout our community with an engaged BakerRipley workforce.

Originally from a small town in Texas, Steve played third base for his high school baseball team, where he was part of back-to-back AAA state championships. After high school, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he began to pursue engineering. Upon graduation, he received a master’s degree in Robotics and Control from Stanford University. He went on to have a twenty-four-year career at Schlumberger. At Schlumberger, he developed directional drilling technology. He went on to have senior managerial roles, ranging from Program Manager, Technologies Manager, Quality Manager, to Global Talent Manager. He is currently in the process of acquiring his Doctor of Education degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He is now an expert in developing experts into leaders.

Steve and his wife are raising two great kids and enjoy tennis, playing with their rescue dog and cat, collecting art, and solving the Rubik’s cube. They strive to give back to the community and organizations which have empowered their learning.

Regina Harris joined BakerRipley in 2020 as the Senior Advisor for the President’s Office. Since then, Regina has had additional roles in the President’s Office, with her last promotion to Chief of Staff in October 2021.

Prior to joining BakerRipley, Regina worked as a Project Manager at Sysco Corporation, and in various other roles at the Houston Chronicle, Humana, Inc., and United HealthCare. In these roles she saved these organizations millions on an annual basis through streamlining and improvement processes to make them more efficient.

Regina has a Master of Science in Human Resource Management from Tarleton State University, a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baker College, and is certified as a Professional in Human Resources with the HRCI.