Meet Team Deeds.
Edith Valle
Staff | Edith Valle
Edith Valle
Art Director
Our Art Director, Edith Valle, is a multi-talented graphic designer, illustrator, and fine artist based in Austin, Texas. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design degree from St. Edward’s University. Edith is deeply engaged in Austin’s local art scene, where she contributes by painting murals, initiating community art projects, organizing workshops, and delivering lectures on design and publications for local creatives. Edith’s professional journey as an artist is centered on graphic design, enriched by years of experience collaborating with non-profit organizations. Her portfolio extends to creating art in alignment with movements dedicated to immigration, workers’ rights, climate justice, and reproductive justice. Through her expertise and commitment, Edith serves as a valuable guide and mentor to our program’s participants, ensuring they receive comprehensive and relevant guidance as they develop their artistic careers and engage with pressing social issues. She is a proven mentor and has already graduated four artists through her curriculum. These artists have gone on to further their careers in spaces like nonprofits, freelance work, and more. The skills Edith has been able to develop in these young artists gives them tangible development to take into their long-term endeavors.
Andrea Reyes
Staff | Andrea Reyes
Andrea Reyes
Senior Advisor
Andrea Reyes Sierra is an American latina originally from El Paso and CD. Juarez, CHIH, MX. borderland region. As the daughter of immigrants, she understands the value of living in a bicultural world and to relentlessly fight for the dignity and representation of all people.Â
Andrea earned her dual Bachelors in International Politics and Microbiology from the University of Texas at El Paso and Corvinus University in Budapest. Motivated by her passion for strategic revisioning, her enthusiasm for using advocacy and outreach techniques as a tool for progressive change and her personal firsthand experience as an immigrant— led her to spearhead immigrant justice movements in the borderland region at the start of her career in advocacy. Combining her firsthand encounters with racial injustice within the United States and her observations of rising authoritarianism during her studies abroad at the strengthening of the Fidesz party’s leadership in Hungary, she brings a poignant perspective on the challenges posed by an increasingly nationalist and authoritarian regime. With experience from five political campaigns and five TX legislative sessions, including under State Senator Jose Rodriguez and Deeds Not Words, she exemplifies the power of collective action in realizing our shared vision of an equitable world. Upholding the belief that together, we can create a future where all voices are valued, and every person has the opportunity to thrive.
Andrea’s ethos is grounded in the belief that meaningful change can only be achieved by authentically engaging with and understanding the communities she serves. Employing grassroots approaches and rejecting one-size-fits-all solutions in favor of initiatives that resonate with the unique cultural and social fabric of each community. Moreover, Andrea is a fervent advocate for investing in women, trans, and non-binary-led organizations, particularly those spearheaded by BIPOC individuals actively combating anti-Blackness and nurturing the leadership potential of young BIPOC women.
Crystal Zamarron
Staff | Crystal Zamarron
Crystal Zamarron
Digital and Communications Director
Crystal Zamarron is a Latina, born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley. She earned her master’s degree in Strategic Communications from Washington State University and her bachelor’s degree in Communications with a minor in Women and Gender Studies from Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Having lived the experience of an immigrant daughter, she wishes to uplift and bring awareness to the important issues that partake in people’s daily lives in all issues that affect them daily.
From a young age to recent, she has been involved in political change on and off campus, served a 3-year-term as Editor-in-Chief of her university’s newspaper, involved in the LGBTQIA+ community, advocates for migrants to be safe, community clean ups, and more. She worked in various marketing and communication roles with a range of professions from music to healthcare to the tech industry before transitioning to the non-profit sector. She is no stranger to advocacy work as she has been volunteering and actively engaging in her community through child advocacy work, rallies, food banks, advocating for women in music, and more.
Crystal joined the Deeds team as the Digital Intern in the summer of 2022. Through the Deeds growth pipeline, she has served as the Digital associate. Now, she serves as the Digital/Data and Communications Manager. She continues to actively work with changemakers to bring awareness to policies, solutions, and legislative agendas that reflect the people’s values through digital and media efforts.
Her passion goes beyond advocacy work and reflects in her love for music, games, her family, and friends. She enjoys attending concerts, roleplaying in D&D, and spending quality time with her orange tabby cat and fiance.
Joslynn Sanchez
Staff | Joslynn Sanchez
Joslynn Sanchez
Policy and Advocacy Manager
Joslynn is a graduate of Texas State University and has been a part of Deeds since 2020 as a campus organizer, policy intern, and current policy associate. Her life experiences facing inequities head-on has shaped her advocacy work and desire to build leadership among young people. Joslynn’s favorite part of her role is working during the Texas Legislative Session, when Changemakers from across the state come together to demand action from our representatives.
Gjabrielle Guterrez
Staff | Gjabrielle Guterrez
Gjabrielle Guterrez
Interim Executive Director
Growing up in rural Texas with grandparents who were laborers in the agriculture, dairy and meat industry, and parents who were the first to graduate high school, and with a deaf sibling, Gjabrielle experienced firsthand the marginalization and lack of systemic support within her own community, and the importance of comunidad and mutual aid early on.Â
Being the first in her immediate family to attend college, she began at Austin Community College which only broadened her understanding of intersectionality and advocacy, there she discovered the active community of Monkey Wrench Books, where she began participating in demonstrations at the Capitol, which deepened her commitment to driving social change.Â
She then transitioned to University of Houston – Victoria, where she graduated with a Bachelors in Business Communications and Marketing, she remained present in the rural community by volunteering at The Riding Therapy Center, where she empowered youth to develop a sense of physical autonomy through equine therapy.Â
Professionally, over the past 15 years, Gjabrielle has worked in the public and nonprofit sector developing her expertise in HR, benefits, risk management, development and fundraising, with a keen focus on operations and business strategy across industries vital to community development, art, mental health, and environmental sustainability — advocating for transformative change while fostering inclusive, impactful, and authentic spaces.Â
Her passion for collective action and belief in the power of community shines in her efforts to organize astrology + nature fundraising workshops and sessions contributing to causes that extend beyond her professional realm. Previously she has made an impact by donating proceeds to organizations like Red Canary Song, Lilith Fund, National Bailout, Translatin@ Coalition, and Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund.
Outside her advocacy and professional pursuits, Gjabrielle loves art(ivism), music, psychology and expansive vibes. You can also find her dabbling in photography, floristry, roller skating and exploring the local farmer’s markets, or enjoying time with her family, friends, and dogs.
Shelly Baker
Staff | Shelly Baker
Shelly Baker
Political Director
Shelly Baker, (she/her) Â has dedicated the last decade to community advocacy, focusing on foster care, climate justice, workers’ rights, and equity. Her initial advocacy efforts began in foster care, stemming from her own experience entering the system at age 17.
From 2011 to 2014, she collaborated with a community group in Virginia to deliver holistic services to underserved Black and refugee communities, and served on a state advisory board for foster care policy.
After earning her Master’s degree in Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2019, Shelly relocated to Houston for a climate justice fellowship with 350 Action and the Gulf Coast AFL-CIO. She played a key role in organizing Houston’s largest youth climate strike and advocated for local Congressional support for the Green Deal. Her digital organizing skills led to a position as Communications Director for a 2020 U.S. Senate primary campaign.Â
In 2020, Shelly utilized her organizing skills to plan Houston’s Breonna Taylor Protest which led to her founding Say Her Name Texas, a safe organizing space for Black women. As the founder of Say Her Name Texas, Shelly organized voting registration drives raised awareness about Black maternal mortality, led the launch of the emergency mutual aid efforts in Houston during Winter Storm Uri, developed paid organizing summer internships for Black teenage girls, and supported numerous mutual aid efforts, keeping community members fed and housed.Â
Recently Shelly served as the Texas Organizing Director for NextGen America where she managed youth voter registration programs across the state. Currently, she serves as a board member for the League of Women Voters Houston and as the Voter Engagement Advisor for the Houston Mayor’s Youth Council.
Shelly continues to serve in roles that allow her to build programs and support grassroots leaders in Texas and throughout the South. Shelly holds a Bachelor’s in Sociology from the University of Virginia and a Master’s in Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University. Originally from New Orleans, she now lives in Houston, with her dog, Fancy and cat, Pippa. Find Shelly sewing, tackling DIY home projects or roller skating.Â
