‘I’ve been in your shoes’: Eight new PAs step up to lead NHI regions in 2025

Being a project administrator is one of NHI’s most involved and important volunteer missions. A PA provides leadership for a region, allowing students to prepare for Great Debate tournaments — with older students leading new-to-NHI ninth graders — and to progress in their NHI leadership journeys.

This year, eight new PAs, co-PAs, and assistant PAs have stepped into these integral leadership roles, either helping to launch brand-new regions or providing continuity for some of the more established regions in the NHI family.

Here’s an opportunity to meet them.

Antonio Morin

Assistant Project Administrator, Austin

Antonio Morin has done just about everything you can do at NHI. He’s participated in all three summer programs, has worked at NHI headquarters as a JFL intern, and has staffed programs. He’s even had experience working with an alliance — as a high school volunteer in San Antonio.

But his latest role, as assistant project administrator in Austin, has tested him like nothing else he’s done in his myriad NHI roles.

“It’s very much a learning curve,” he said. “It’s a challenge to me to be able to develop those leadership skills, pushing me forward working with the students.”

He also credits the high school students who have stepped in to work with those preparing for the Texas Great Debate as a valuable resource. “It’s a constant reminder that NHI high school students are going to be the future. All of them are just on top of it, intelligent — the way they can come up with lesson plans, activities for training. It’s more that we’re supervising and assisting. If they need any advice, they come to us, but it’s really the students that are running the show.”

Morin is proud that Austin’s grown to be a large enough region to field a full team at the upcoming Texas Great Debate, noting, “We’re just growing exponentially at this point,” crediting those older high school students for “creating an environment for that exponential growth for the chapter.”

Diana Villarreal

Project Administrator, Corpus Christi

Though Diana Villarreal has moved from teaching to a Title 1 specialist role in Corpus Christi ISD, her new role as the project administrator for Corpus Christi makes her feel like she’s in a classroom again.

“It’s like having students again,” she said, noting that her daughter Linda (featured in a recent story on NHI volunteers) moved from participating in the Great Debate to coaching, and by taking on this role, she’s been able to understand what’s motivated Linda to take on her level of involvement. 

“It’s neat to see that the kids really take ownership, especially with the staff working with them,” she observed. “I’m just helping facilitate.” 

She sees the work NHI doing as similar to what she’s seeing at Corpus Christi ISD. 

“A lot of our philosophy in our district is wanting to make sure students are strong leaders when they graduate, and it doesn’t matter whether they go into straight into college, they go into a career, they go into the military. We want them to advocate for themselves, just know what they want to do and be strong leaders. So I think iit goes hand in hand,” 

She’s also proud that NHI is allowing students to work together, even those coming together from rival high schools. 

“I love the idea that the kids can come from anywhere in Corpus, and it’s no longer from this school or from that school,” she noted. “They come together as one, and they’re super proud.” 

Nathan Valdez

Assistant Project Administrator, Corpus Christi

Nathan Valdez credits NHI with giving him direction, noting, “This is really what allowed me to come out of my shell,” noting that his gravitation toward law studies came out of an interest in “representation of Hispanic people, more resources provided to local families,” which also allowed him to come back to Corpus Christi.

Now working with Corpus Christi NHI students, after starting his NHI journey in the Rio Grande Valley, he’s determined to provide an experience that is specifically tailored toward them.

“They’re constantly asking themselves where they need to improve individually,” he said of those students. “Being able to guide these students, to be on the other side, behind the curtain, has really allowed me to reflect on the things that I didn’t get the chance to as a participant … like exercises on how the staff is bonding with the participants. They feel like that’s the one thing that’s going to allow them to bring more people in, allow them to have a good memory. And so overall, I would just say they’re very motivated, very disciplined, and curious.”

He said of the current group of students he’s working with, “I just want to make sure that the Great Debate is a phenomenal experience that allows the kids to come back, knowing that they’re still going to improve even after the Great Debate.”

Reynold Gonzalez

Project Administrator, El Paso

With two of his children having made NHI part of their high school experience, and a third currently doing the same, Reynold Gonzalez felt like this was a time to get involved with NHI on a more substantive level, bringing his skills as a practicing attorney to his new role as El Paso’s Project Administrator.

“At the end of the day, it’s the kids that run the show,” Gonzalez said. “We’re just there to be the adults in the building and provide advice as needed. Not to impose our way of doing things, but rather, we see something and make a recommendation to the head coaches.”

He believes El Paso “is poised to be one of the premier chapters in NHI,” noting, “El Paso is unique. I think the kids, not only because of the large number of Latinos in the El Paso area, but being that El Paso is a border city with Mexico, I think it provides the El Paso chapter with a unique insight into the Latino culture, the Latino community, and as they progress in the United States, as well as where there are the opportunities for leadership and everything that NHI promulgates.”

Amaya Castellon

Project Administrator, Guadalajara

Amaya Castellon’s NHI journey began in 2023 when she, a teacher, accompanied a group of students to the Midwest Great Debate at Augustana College.

“From the very first day, I realized that this experience was far more than just an academic trip. I witnessed students being pushed out of their comfort zones — traveling to a different country, living alongside students from other schools, and engaging in high-level debates conducted entirely in English. Despite moments of stress, language barriers, and long working days, what struck me the most was their personal transformation and growth as young leaders.”

This inspired her to build a new Guadalajara region for NHI, one of two in Mexico preparing to send students to Great Debates in Texas this summer.

“Developing the program in Guadalajara has been a challenge,” she said. “In 2022, our school joined the Great Debate for the first time, so everything was new: the logistics of the trip, student expectations, and even understanding the depth of the experience. This year, we’ve leveraged all those lessons and are preparing students more thoughtfully. We’re training them not only in debate and English, but also in teamwork, stress management, and leadership under pressure. Recruitment has been exciting; students are curious and motivated by the idea of representing Mexico.”

She adds, “The participating students have shown outstanding commitment, dedicating time to their preparation even on non-school days. Stories shared by past participants have inspired them to embrace this opportunity with enthusiasm and a strong determination to rise to the challenge. The Head Coach and JFLs have stood out for their remarkable leadership skills, demonstrating resilience and maturity well beyond their years.”

Paul Morales

Project Administrator, Monterrey

Like Castellon, Paul Morales is working to build a new region in Mexico, which means that he’s doing a little more than a project administrator in the United States would, which includes recruiting students and planning and coordinating with coaches.

“Recruitment in Monterrey has always been a little bit murky,” Morales said, noting that with high school starting in 10th rather than 9th grade there, it’s been challenging to coordinate with both middle and high schools in preparing students for the leadership pathway. “For some reason, we’ve struggled with high schools understanding what we’re trying to do and giving us access to have meetings or presentations. So we knew that there had to be a different way of recruiting … and decided maybe this is the path that we should take to increase the NHI presence in Monterrey.

He sees creating a Monterrey region geared toward sending a team to the Texas Great Debate as “the chance to do something different, the opportunity to do it in a different way.”

Citing NHI Fundamental 17 (“If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me”), he added, “I felt an immediate responsibility as soon as I was asked.”

Julie Tomasino

Project Administrator, San Antonio

Though Julie Tomasino is younger than typical NHI project administrators — she’s currently a junior at UTSA – she’s at work to help grow numbers for what’s been one of the largest and most-engaged NHI regions.

“There are a lot of volunteers that wanted to come back this year, so they’re helping us regrow post-pandemic,” she said. As for the participants, we actually just talked about this with high school volunteers recently — the group as a whole already seems more willing to put in the work and more engaged than we’ve seen previously. They’re excited.”

San Antonio’s chapter has not only had a strong showing at recent Texas Great Debates, while also representing at other programs, it was also recently instrumental in helping bring the venerable Texas Lorenzo de Zavala (LDZ) youth legislative program to Trinity University — all the more reason for Tomasino to step into her new role with energy and anticipation.

“I’m excited for another year,” she said. “We’re very dedicated and proud to continue our strong legacy.”

Bianca DeHoyos

Co-Project Administrator, San Antonio

Bianca DeHoyos’ NHI experience harkens back to the late ’80s when she participated in one of the first-ever LDZ programs. Having worked in information technology for more than 30 years now, she feels her role as a longtime professional positions her well for helping lead the next group of San Antonio NHI students.

“I want to bring my professional experience and whatever I can back to NHI,” she said, noting that she can come to the region with the perspective of, “I’ve been out there. I’ve done that. I’ve been in your shoes.”

In an era when social media impacts how students talk and think, DeHoyos is encouraged by how NHI training is helping students advance their public speaking and critical thinking skills.

“I’m very impressed to hear them when they come out and they’re trying to debate or do oratory, whatever it is they love,” she said. “And I can hear them over time, we’ve learned that they will improve, and that’s what I’m looking forward to seeing.”