Meet the Board

Apolonio Borrego Jr.
President
Apolonio Borrego is Executive Vice President of Corporate Planning at Falcon International Bank, with 15 years experience on the Texas border. His community interests include economic development, health and education. He serves on the Texas Business & Education Coalition, Valley Baptist Foundation and the UT-Brownsville Development Board.

Diane Milliken Garza
Vice President
Diane Milliken Garza holds a doctorate in special education and is a consultant with the BISD’s special education department. She is chairman of the Brownsville Red Cross, and vice-chairman of the Tip Of Texas Girl Scout Council. She is a board member for the Children’s Museum of Brownsville, St. Joseph Academy Development Board and Guadalupe Regional Middle School.

Richard Burton
Secretary/Treasurer
Richard Burton, a founder of the Brownsville Community Foundation, is a Certified Public Accountant and partner in the regional accounting firm of Burton McCumber & Cortez, L.L.P.  He helped establish the Brownsville Adult Literacy Center and has assisted the United Way of Southern Cameron County for more than 20 years. He has served on the boards of the Brownsville Economic Development Council and the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation.

Irvine W. Downing
Irvine Downing is president of Chase Bank’s Rio Grande Valley region, where he directs Commercial Banking from Brownsville to Laredo.  His current community service involvement includes vice president for the Texas Southmost College Foundation, and member of the UT-Brownsville Development Board and the Rio Grande Valley Multibank board, a regional affordable housing corporation.

Gilbert Elizondo
Gilbert Elizondo is Vice-President of Human Resources for Keppel AmFELS, Inc.  He is currently on the boards of the United Way of Southern Cameron County, Cameron Works Inc., the National Association of Workforce Boards and the UT-Brownsville Development Board.

Hon. Rolando Olvera
The Hon. Rolando Olvera is an attorney/mediator/arbitrator, a former State District Judge, and present Municipal Court Judge for the City of Brownsville. During his term as a Texas Lottery Commissioner, the lottery contributed over $2 Billion to the Texas Foundation School Fund. He is an ex-officio director of the Children’s Museum of Brownsville, a director of the United Way “Success by Six” program, and a regional interviewer for Harvard University.

Yolanda Rosenbaum
Yolanda Rosenbaum, owner of Rosenbaum Flowers & Gifts in Brownsville, is a master florist who promotes education and city beautification through her work with organizations such as the city’s beautification and zoning committees, the Brownsville Citizen’s Advisory Committee and the Children’s Museum of Brownsville. She was the first to chair the Southmost Veteran’s Day Parade, an outgrowth of the Beautification Committee and a community involvement project for young people.

Fred Rusteberg
Fred Rusteberg is founder and CEO of IBC Bank in Brownsville and has been honored repeatedly for his community service. Rusteberg has been involved in numerous regional economic development projects, and helped pass important civic and educational improvement campaigns at both the public school and university level. His other interests include the Boy Scouts, the Gladys Porter Zoo and the Brownsville library.  He is currently serving as one of the three co-chairs of the Imagine Brownsville! Task Force, the city-wide comprehensive planning effort.

Sandra Sweeney Wilson
Sandra Sweeney Wilson, community volunteer, serves on the boards of the Gladys Porter Zoo and the Brownsville Library Foundation, the UT-Brownsville Development Board, the Girl Scout Board and is Past-President of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Nursing Scholarship Fund.  Ms. Wilson is past-chair of the Brownsville Community Development Corporation and a past board member for Cameron County Children’s Advocacy and the Children’s Museum of Brownsville.

Mary A. Yturria
Mary Yturria is a founder of the Brownsville Community Foundation. Over more than a half-century, her name has become synonymous with philanthropic and charitable causes in South Texas. Her compassion for Brownsville has had a positive effect on the lives of literally thousands of its citizens. Mary has created and served on numerous boards and commissions addressing issues involving conservation and the environment, historic preservation, health and education. She has been honored at the local, state and national levels, and a school was named to honor her and her husband, Frank. Each July 4 is designated “Mary Yturria Day” in Brownsville.

Dr. Asim Zamir M.D.
Dr. Asim Zamir is a board-certified pediatrician with the Brownsville Children’s Clinic. He is chief of staff at Valley Baptist Medical Center in Brownsville, chief of pediatrics at Columbia Valley Regional Medical Center, and is on the teaching faculty of several universities, hospitals and health science centers. Zamir is a sponsor for the Children’s Museum of Brownsville, Charro Days, Monica’s House and Maggie’s House, and scholarship programs for area high school and college students.

Elvira Ramos
Elvira Ramos moved from Denver to join the Brownsville Community Foundation as Executive Director in July 2005. Ms. Ramos brings nearly 30 years of professional experience in the not-for-profit field, where she has worked in areas including domestic violence and crime prevention, the arts, and community mental health. She is currently on the Susan G. Komen Foundation's national Hispanic/Latina Advisory Council.