Meet the Team

Dr. Leah Meunier,
Strategic Advisor

Dr. Leah Meunier is the Strategic Advisor for Raising Travis County. She has dedicated her career to supporting the essential, educational, and workforce needs of children and families in Central Texas. Leah has held leadership roles at El Buen Samaritano, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas, Workforce Solutions Capital Area, and United Way for Greater Austin. She previously taught Child Development at The University of Texas at Austin and served as a Master Teacher in UT’s Child and Family Laboratory School. As a College of Natural Sciences Fellowship recipient, her published research focused on early childhood, adolescent development, maternal depression, and parenting.

Leah holds a B.S. in Psychology from Tulane University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Sciences from The University of Texas at Austin. She has also served as a volunteer on the Boards of Mainspring Schools and Open Door Preschools, and alongside her son at multiple nonprofits through Young Men’s Service League.

Cindy Gamez,
Planning Manager

Cindy Gamez is the Planning Manager for Raising Travis County, bringing extensive expertise in strategic planning and fiscal oversight within local government to advance early childhood and youth initiatives. With more than 20 years of experience across nonprofit and local government settings, she has directed multi-million-dollar investments, ensuring alignment among federal, state, and local partners to deliver accountable, high-impact outcomes for children and youth.

Her background spans multiple social services and public health delivery systems, including direct Early Head Start/Head Start services, administration of the local childcare subsidy program, and leadership of citywide early childhood policy and investments at the City of Austin. Cindy holds a B.S. in Child Development from The University of Texas at Austin and serves on several early care and education planning workgroups in Travis County.

Paloma Gray, MSW, MA
Senior Planner – Communications

Paloma Gray is the Senior Communications Planner for Raising Travis County, where she leads strategic messaging for the initiative. With a background in social work, mass communication, and education, she brings a multidisciplinary lens to public service and inclusive communication. Paloma also serves as a Lecturer in Texas State University’s Department of Organization, Workforce, and Leadership Studies. Her previous roles span program coordination, writing, and marketing across higher education—including both grant-funded and institutional projects—and the nonprofit sector.

Her experience includes work with Texas State University, the Center for Health Communication at the University of Texas at Austin, Meals on Wheels Central Texas, and El Buen Samaritano. Paloma holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Houston and a Master of Arts in Mass Communication from Texas State University, where she also earned her Bachelor of Science in Electronic Media. Bilingual in English and Spanish, she is passionate about equity, storytelling, and strengthening families through clear, accessible communication.

Roxanne Jimenez, MPA
Senior Planner – Out-of-School Time

Roxanne Jimenez is the Senior Planner for Out-of-School Time (OST) for Raising Travis County. In this role, she works alongside youth, community members, and youth-serving organizations to support the continuation and expansion of OST programming in Travis County. Prior to joining Travis County, Roxanne led youth programs for the City of Austin, including youth leadership development, civic engagement, and evidence-based curriculum implementation in both in-school and out-of-school settings.

She also worked with various organizations in San Antonio to support youth through afterschool and summer camp programs using a thematic learning model. Roxanne has worked in OST programming for over 20 years. She holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Public Administration from Texas State University and a nonprofit management certification from the San Antonio Area Foundation.

Mariana Montejano, MPA
Senior Planner – Community Engagement

Mariana Montejano is the Senior Planner for Community Engagement for Raising Travis County. She has spent over 20 years advancing equity and community empowerment in Travis County, serving as a school social worker, parent educator, community organizer, teacher, and restorative practitioner. Her innovative pedagogy was recognized by leadership, and she was selected to moderate a conversation with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Motivated to improve the systems impacting the communities she served, Mariana earned a Master of Public Affairs from the LBJ School at The University of Texas at Austin, where she studied participatory planning and community benefits agreements. While at the Texas Education Agency, she redesigned the Texas College and Career Readiness School Models Student and Family Guidebook to provide families with clear, empowering information. A native of El Paso, bilingual in English and Spanish, and proud mother of three thoughtful children, each committed to bettering this tender world.

Megan Robinson, Ph.D.
Senior Planner – Child Care

Megan Robinson, Ph.D. is the Senior Planner overseeing child care investments for Raising Travis County. A born and raised Austinite, she is proud to be working to expand access to quality child care in Travis County. Prior to joining Raising Travis County, Megan managed investments in workforce education and job training programs for low-income job seekers at the City of Austin.

While with the City, Megan worked closely with Austin Public Health to identify and develop workforce initiatives for the early childhood labor force, including business coaching for center directors and wage supplements for staff. She brings additional experience in social service program implementation and impact evaluation research and is excited to apply her skills in program monitoring to this initiative. Megan earned her Doctorate in Sociology from Vanderbilt University in 2020.

Dr. Megan Reid
Project Manager – Data and Evaluation

Dr. Megan Reid is the Project Manager for Data and Evaluation for Raising Travis County. She has fifteen years of experience directing and managing research and evaluation projects, including ten years in the federal Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation. There she served as a Project Officer for over $60M in contracts and grants focused on understanding how to improve employment and economic stability, well-being, and equity for children and families. Prior to that she worked as a Project Director at the National Development and Research Institutes in New York City, directing an NIH-funded project about parenting and partnering in families with low-incomes.

Megan holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Texas at Austin and has expertise in mixed-method research and evaluation design. She has a proven track record of building coalitions across organizations, conducting rigorous research, and translating findings for diverse stakeholders. She is committed to centering lived expertise and real-world relevance in her work.