Newsletter April 2026

From the Resolute Keyboard

The resolute keyboard

Over the past months, we have improved the way our chapter communicates. We refreshed our channels, made it easier to stay informed, and created more ways for people to connect. Still, one piece was missing, this newsletter.

I hope this space becomes more than a recap. I want it to become a place where we can share where we are as a chapter, what we are building, and start a more meaningful dialogue with the community. A chapter is not built on paper, it comes alive when its people show up.

There is a lot moving right now. We have started laying the groundwork for scholarship support, with Mark Alexander leading the early effort. The first step is identifying the Mexican schools that consistently produce strong candidates for UT. From there, we will coordinate with Texas Global in Austin, because before committing any funds, we need to be sure those students are accepted. I have also been in contact with McCombs Admissions so prospective students can connect with the chapter, get a feel for the Texas spirit, and, especially, join us at our breakfasts.

We are also continuing to strengthen the chapter through partnerships. Our collaboration with Pinche Gringo is growing, not just because of the upcoming Tex Mex Fiesta, but because we believe it can become an important gathering point as football season approaches. We also renewed our collaboration with Fight Club, and Yana Immis joined us as speaker at our last breakfast. I still think many Texas Exes have not yet realized the potential there, both for networking and for simply having memorable, high-quality experiences.

But the area I care most about right now is Project Worldwide.

Even if the official timing in Austin has passed, that is no reason for us to sit still in Mexico City. This year, our effort has three fronts. We will continue supporting AFEECI, with Javier Solache taking a leading role there. We are also in contact with Tejiendo Alianzas, led by a fellow Texas Ex who is doing remarkable work in Oaxaca. And finally, our biggest focus right now is Fundación Hogar Dulce Hogar, an organization supporting children living in very difficult circumstances.

I especially hope you will join us on May 12 to hear Izzy explain why this work matters so much.

Please browse this newsletter, especially the Don't Miss It and Project Worldwide sections. What makes a community is not just staying informed, but choosing to engage.

Hook’em!

José Antonio “Toño” Pedraza
President | Texas Exes Mexico City Chapter
Texas Exes | Life Member

Breakfast Brief

Yana Immis

By the Editorial Staff.
Our last breakfast was one of those mornings that reminds you why these gatherings matter. Yana Immis gave a fantastic presentation on networking, and she had the room from the start. It was smart, practical, funny, and full of the kind of advice people can actually use the same day, which is always a good sign. There was a lot of note-taking, a lot of nodding, and probably a few people mentally updating their follow-up game on the spot.

The best part was that Yana did not just talk about follow-up, she modeled it immediately. Shortly after the breakfast, she sent attendees a warm note sharing her presentation, inviting people to keep the conversation going, and reminding everyone that the follow-up is where the real magic happens. That little move landed perfectly, because it turned the presentation into a live example.

Next month, we turn from networking to impact.

At our next breakfast, we will be joined by Isabel “Izzy,” volunteer teacher and caregiver at Fundación Hogar Dulce Hogar. She will share what life inside the home really looks like and what support is most needed right now. According to the foundation’s official site, Hogar Dulce Hogar was founded in 1985 in Mexico City and provides housing, food, clothing, education, medical care, psychological care, legal protection, and recreation for children at risk. Its programs include education, psychology, legal support, health and nutrition, and recreation.

This one should be meaningful, eye-opening, and very much worth showing up for.

Register now, space is limited!

Don’t Miss It

Hook’em

Arch Manning

By the Editorial Staff.
There is real reason to be excited about Texas football in 2026.

The Longhorns are entering the season with national-level expectations again. ESPN ranked Texas No. 2 in its first way-too-early Top 25 after the title game, then No. 5 in its spring update. CBS put Texas first in its early SEC power rankings, and one early Sports Illustrated projection had the Longhorns finishing the regular season with just one loss. That is lofty company, especially after a 10-3 season in 2025 that ended short of the playoff, but it tells you how much belief there is in the roster and in Steve Sarkisian’s window with this group.

A big part of that optimism starts with Arch Manning. ESPN’s spring outlook points to 2026 as a full go-for-it year, with Manning back, Cam Coleman arriving as a major portal addition, Ryan Wingo still in the picture, and new backfield help from Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown. Analysts also keep circling the same concern: Texas has to be more physical on offense, especially up front and in the run game. Athlon adds that the defense still has high-end pieces, including Colin Simmons and Graceson Littleton, but the line and secondary will have to hold up against a brutal slate.

And brutal is the right word for the schedule. Texas opens with Texas State, Ohio State, and UTSA, then gets Tennessee on the road in September, Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl in October, and a closing stretch that includes Ole Miss, LSU, Arkansas, and Texas A&M. CBS has already flagged Ohio State on September 12 as one of the defining games of the national season, and Athlon ranked Texas with the toughest SEC schedule entering 2026. That is exactly why the ceiling feels so high. If this team is as good as people think, it will have every opportunity to prove it.

On our side, all 12 scheduled games are already on the chapter calendar, and we expect to watch them at Pinche Gringo. The anticipation for this season is real, and so is the excitement. We also cannot wait to start publishing in this section the takes of some of our sharpest football minds in the chapter, especially Carlos Diaz and Guillermo Gonzales.

Horns & Hobbies

Fight Club

By the Editorial Staff.
This section is where we will feature the activities and momentum of our SIGs, our Special Interest Groups. Right now, we have SIGs for social events, networking, UT sports, social impact, literature, and entrepreneurship, and over time this space will help everyone get a better feel for what is happening inside them.

For this first edition, we want to focus on Social and Networking.

These two SIGs are where we often share some of the most interesting opportunities for connection that do not always make it to the top of our main chapter channels. On the Social side, that includes things like the Hawaii party, our Tex Mex Fiesta on May 2, hiking outings, and Coffee & Art walks around Mexico City. These are great spaces to meet fellow Longhorns, expats, and plenty of interesting people who may not have studied at UT but absolutely add something to the community.

On the Networking side, we have shared events such as speed networking, Sun & Fun co-working, and Wine & Cheese networking. These are valuable opportunities too, but we do not always publish every one of them on the main Mexico City WhatsApp group or across our social media, because we also want to protect attention around core chapter events like our monthly breakfasts, watch parties, and the Tex Mex Fiesta.

That does not make the SIG events less important. Quite the opposite. It just means we are trying to keep the main channels focused and useful.

A practical tip: in our calendar, chapter organizers tag events by category, including breakfasts, networking & social, Project Worldwide, Texas, volunteering, watch parties, and webinars, in addition to the source. It is worth checking those tags from time to time.

A special note on Fight Club. Their events are unusually creative and consistently well organized, and they were recently recognised by Capital Meetings as a Top Event 2026 in Mexico’s event industry. Their own site also highlights the format that makes them distinctive, curated networking experiences with changing themes and locations across the city. We are fortunate to have built a joint collaboration with them, and I still think much of our community has not yet taken full advantage of it. Ask anyone who has already gone to one. That is usually all it takes.

In our next edition, we will feature the Literature SIG and see what they have been up to.

And one more thing. If you have ever thought our chapter should have a SIG for something new, this is your sign. We even have a kind of SIG for SIGs, where we help people launch and organize new groups. A Golf SIG seems like an obvious candidate. The only question is: who is going to take the initiative?

Know Your Longhorn: Sofía Baeza

By the Editorial Staff.
This edition, we are excited to introduce Sofía Baeza, a Mexico City native, Full-Time MBA graduate from Texas McCombs, Class of 2021, and one of those Longhorns who brings both sharp professional insight and a very grounded personal warmth to the community. Sofía studied Finance at Universidad Panamericana and built an impressive early career advising on mergers and acquisitions, spending nearly eight years helping companies navigate complex transactions and strategic decisions. Today, she is part of the leadership team at Axcent Software, where she works on building a platform of SaaS companies across Latin America, a space that sits right at the intersection of finance, growth, and entrepreneurship.

What makes Sofía especially interesting is that she combines serious financial and strategic depth with a very real, relatable perspective on life. She is 34, married, and a proud mom of two young children, a two-year-old daughter and a six-month-old baby, so these days her calendar is probably even more demanding than any deal room ever was. Still, her curiosity and energy clearly remain intact. She enjoys yoga, swimming, and biking, though, as she jokes, free time is not exactly abundant these days.

She also has a self-described nerdy side, which we fully support. When she does get a moment to herself, she loves reading and listening to podcasts about successful entrepreneurs, including favorites like How I Built This. That mix of intellectual curiosity, professional excellence, and sense of humor makes her exactly the kind of person who adds something special to any Longhorn community.

We are very glad to have Sofía as part of Texas Exes Mexico City and hope more of you get the chance to meet her soon.

Project Worldwide

Fundación Hogar Dulce Hogar

By the Editorial Staff.
Project Worldwide is a Texas Exes initiative, not a University of Austin program. It was created in 2014 through a partnership between Texas Exes and UT’s former Division of Diversity and Community Engagement Advisory Council, originally to connect alumni and students around the world with The Project, the university’s largest day of service. Texas Exes also makes clear that, while it used to revolve around February, it has now evolved into a year-round initiative. That is exactly how we are choosing to live it in Mexico City, as an ongoing commitment rather than a single date on the calendar.

For us, that commitment has three fronts this year.

The first is AFEECI, the organization we supported last year and do not want to treat as a one-season relationship. AFEECI has more than a decade of work in Tacubaya focused on preventing homelessness among vulnerable children and adolescents through programs tied to education, health, family support, and life planning. As this newsletter goes out, our Vice President Javier Solache is meeting with AFEECI’s coordinators to help define the next stage of that relationship.

Our main priority, though, is Fundación Hogar Dulce Hogar. The foundation was established in 1985, and for us it is impossible to see that date without also thinking about the devastating 1985 Mexico City earthquake, a magnitude 8.0 event that killed thousands and shattered countless families across the city. In that aftermath, many children were left especially vulnerable, and Hogar Dulce Hogar has spent decades responding to exactly that kind of need. Today it provides a safe home, food, clothing, education, medical and psychological care, legal protection, and recreation for children whose integrity is at risk.

On May 12, Isabelle “Izzy” Director Maris will join us at breakfast to share the reality, the needs, and the heart behind that work. On May 22, the children themselves will present their Spring Concert & Art Show, and all proceeds will go toward funding the 2026 to 2027 school year for the 31 children currently living in the home. Looked at another way, the gap we are trying to help close comes to less than $650 per child for an entire year. That is exactly the kind of goal a community like ours should be able to help meet.

Our third front will be Richard Hanson and Tejiendo Alianzas. We introduce his work in Meanwhile in Mexico, and the next step will be to feature him in our webcast series in late June so the chapter can hear his story directly and begin exploring how we can engage with that work in a thoughtful way.

What matters most right now is simple: please support Hogar Dulce Hogar. Come to breakfast on May 12. Attend the concert on May 22. And if your schedule makes that impossible, please buy a ticket or donate anyway. That is the most important item on our Project Worldwide agenda this year.

Meanwhile in Austin

Juan Villoro

By the Editorial Staff.
One recent story out of UT Austin felt especially worth sharing. In an article published on April 21 by the LatAm Journalism Review, writer Marisela Perez Maita highlights a conversation at UT Austin’s Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, where Mexican sociologist, writer, and journalist Juan Villoro reflected on what journalism still offers in a world shaped by AI, constant notifications, and fragmented attention. His core idea is simple, but powerful: journalism matters not only because it delivers facts, but because it helps preserve nuance, interpretation, and human connection.

Villoro argues that the way many of us now consume information pushes us toward speed, instant reaction, and a more binary mindset. When everything arrives in fragments, through social media, alerts, and algorithmic feeds, it becomes easier to flatten reality into quick conclusions and lose the space for ambiguity, context, and complexity. That, he suggests, is where journalism and culture still play a vital role. They help us interpret, not just react.

What we found most compelling is his insistence that journalism requires empathy. For Villoro, the journalist is not just someone who reports what happened, but someone who gets close enough to help readers care, reflect, and perhaps even act. He connects that idea to what he calls an “informational consciousness”, a shared awareness that helps communities understand not just events, but their human meaning.

For us, this story also lands a little closer to home. Adela Pineda-Franco, Director of the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies have long been friends of the Texas Exes Mexico City chapter, and we have been in close communication with her. So beyond the article itself, it was nice to see LILAS hosting exactly the kind of thoughtful conversation that reminds us why Austin still matters, and why the Longhorn network continues to be about much more than nostalgia.

Meanwhile in Mexico

Richard Hanson

By the José Antonio "Toño" Pedraza Pérez.
Some stories leave you inspired. Others leave you inspired and a little humbled.

That is how I felt after speaking with Richard Hanson, a UT graduate who has dedicated a remarkable part of his life to community development work in Oaxaca. Richard holds master’s degrees from UT Austin in Public Affairs and Latin American Studies, and he has spent years leading Tejiendo Alianzas, where he focuses on sustainable development, social inclusion, partnership-building, and community-based economic initiatives in Mexico.

What struck me most was the depth and seriousness of the work. Through Tejiendo Alianzas and the broader vision now reflected in Weaving Partnerships, Richard has helped support rural communities through social enterprise, education, market access, and long-term relationship-building. The projects are rooted in real local contexts and shaped with the kind of patience that meaningful change usually requires. There is a strong respect for culture, community knowledge, and the dignity of building with people rather than simply arriving with ideas from outside.

I was amazed by what he has helped build, moved by the human dimension of it, and, honestly, a little ashamed that we as a chapter had not really understood before how much work one Longhorn had already poured into Mexico. This is exactly the kind of story our community should know, not only because it is impressive, but because it reflects a way of serving that feels deeply aligned with the best of what the Longhorn spirit can be.

That is why we will be organizing a webcast with Richard in late June. I hope many of you will join us to hear his story directly, understand the scope of this life project, and explore how our chapter might support or engage with this work in a more meaningful way.

Bring’em Back

how to

Our chapter gets stronger every time a Longhorn finds their way back in. If you know a UT friend who has gone a little off the radar, bring them back.

The easiest way is to use the “Invite a Friend” option after registering for any Luma event. 

And yes, we are keeping score:

  • 1 point for every new person you bring back through the "Invite a Friend" option
  • 💸 1 point = 20% off any chapter event
  • 🎁 3 points = one free breakfast
  • 🤘 More points = official Co-op merch straight from Austin

When someone joins through your Luma invite link, we can see who brought them in, so every successful comeback counts. You can also send them straight to our official chapter registry at https://bit.ly/texasexescdmx

Let’s #BringEmBack together, one Longhorn at a time.

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Join the official Texas Exes Mexico City registry. Register at https://bit.ly/texasexescdmx to become an official chapter member. This will also subscribe you to the calendar, so it is the easiest one-stop shop.

The above already complicated? New to the chapter? Start with The Guide. We have an official chapter guide to help you get oriented. Click here.

Visit The Official Texas Exes website. Check out the main Texas Exes Mexico City Chapter home page here.

Questions, comments, or feedback? Email us at mexicocitychapter@texasexes.org