Teresa was born and raised in Houston, Texas and met her future husband, Ben at the University of Texas at Austin, where she received a degree in Architectural Engineering. They have been married for 37 years and have lived in San Antonio where they raised their four children, Jennifer, Chase, Addison and Matt. Her family has expanded with the addition of two precious daughters-in-law, Kara and Anna.

She is a member of First Presbyterian Church and is currently serving as chairman of the Local Missions Committee, as well as a Deacon. In addition, Teresa has invested much of her time ministering to young adults at First Pres. Outside of the church, the focus of her ministry has been a long term commitment to training and mentoring moms as they strive to faithfully raise their high school children into adulthood.

Teresa has had a lifelong love for missions and has been blessed to be a member of First Presbyterian mission teams to Kenya, New Jersey, Dominican Republic and Russia and, most recently, helped lead a trip to Malawi. However, while mentoring a foster teenage mom through Young Lives, that heart for global missions turned excitedly local. Teresa realized how blessed she was to have been adopted at a young age into a loving Christian family. Her heart broke for this young mom as Teresa pondered how her own life might have been different if she had not been adopted. She set out to begin a foster/adopt ministry at First Pres and these efforts led her to Jennifer Smith. Teresa and Jennifer quickly realized that The Alliance simply needed another strong church behind it; one with a long history of establishing and growing vital new community ministries. Soon, a beautiful partnership between First Presbyterian Church and this crucial orphan ministry had begun.

Melody McCrea grew up an Army brat and landed in San Antonio, which she proudly calls home. She holds a degree in Education from the University of Texas-Austin, a Master’s in Christian Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and an MBA from Our Lady of the Lake University.

Melody spent 8 years in children’s ministry, planning and executing large scale events and programming. God then guided her down a very different path to the corporate world. She spent over 5 years in the federal contracting industry, in roles ranging from project management to operations management. As that season drew to a close, God opened an exciting door leading her back to the nonprofit space. She currently serves as Director of Volunteer Services at Haven for Hope, the largest comprehensive homeless service center in the country.

Melody is a single mom to her 2 amazing children, Josiah and Aria. Her younger sister was adopted from foster care, and Melody subsequently stepped in to raise her from the age of 7 after the passing of their mother. This early introduction to the world of foster care and adoption spurred a deep passion to engage the church with the heart of the Father. What began as a God-sized dream in the hearts of Jennifer and Melody, has become reality in the Alliance.

Mike and Jacqui have been married since 2002 and have 2 daughters, Elayna and Sophie.  In 2012 they began their journey of getting involved in foster care in response to hearing testimonies of other families at their church and God convicted them of the irrefutable priority this is for His Church.  In 2013-2015 they were involved in helping champion a new Gospel-centered foster child placement agency launching in San Antonio and in December 2015 they had their first foster placement.  They are passionate about marriage, families, discipleship, and seeing the entire Body of Christ come together on the matters God declares as priorities in His Kingdom.

Mike is the President & CEO for The C12 Group, a national platform whereby thousands of Christian CEO/Business Owners learn and pursue building “great businesses for a GREATER purpose” together.  He has held numerous leadership roles with previous organizations such as Walgreens, TQ Strategies, Health by Design, Grace Point Church and The C12 Group of Central Texas.  He and Jacqui are active members at Grace Point Church, he serves on the board for Breakthrough Moments, San Antonio Marriage Initiative and is active in a variety of “Kingdom conspiracy” projects around the globe.  Mike joined the Alliance in 2016 out of a passion to see “the Church solve the orphan crisis in this region in the next few years,” and is convinced that not only is this a matter the Church must respond to but that God has called and resourced us to eliminate it together.

After completing his Doctorate in Experimental Psychology at Baylor University, Jeff started a career as a research scientist in a civilian capacity with the US Air Force. Over the next 30 years, Jeff conducted research in areas such as improving the selection of candidates for pilot training, collaborative research programs with NATO, Australia, and Israel and development of aeromedical evacuation equipment. Additionally while with the Air Force, Jeff served in management and leadership positions and as an advisor in psychological operations in the intelligence community. After finishing his 30 year career with the Air Force as Chief Scientist at Brooks Air Force Base, Jeff went on to serve as Associate VP of Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio and VP of Strategy and Research at Our Lady of the Lake University. Since 2015, Jeff has been an Adjunct Faculty at Johns Hopkins University.

Jeff and his wife Beverly have been married since 1973 and share a love for their own three children and all children as well. He has volunteered in the Texas foster care system through CASA and is committed to helping improve the conditions and care for children across the world.

Born and raised in North Carolina, Aaron moved out of state to attend the United States Air Force Academy where he earned a degree in Business Management and commission into the Air Force.  In 2002, he married his beautiful wife Erika then began globetrotting to various locations such as Texas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.  Along the way they raised two boys, Asa and Aiden, who continue to keep them busy.

Aaron also holds a master’s degree in information management systems and he’s attained several certifications in Information Technology.  After serving over 20 years in the Air Force leading multiple small and large diverse organizations he retired in San Antonio, TX.  He now serves as a C12 Chair in the Central Texas where he gets to work with local Christian CEOs and Business Owners who seek to integrate faith and business in the marketplace.

He leverages his passion for service by volunteering as a group leader for Bible Study Fellowship, where he leads groups of men through a yearlong in-depth study of God’s Word.  Aaron also works with several non-profits around San Antonio to support economic and community enhancement.  Having experienced the foster care and adoption system in multiple states, Aaron joined the Alliance in 2021 out of a desire to help others see that “we all” can play a part in responding to the foster care crisis.

Mark is a lifelong resident of Texas, being raised in the family business of pharmacy and has entrepreneurship running through his veins. He graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in 1998, and then later attended Dallas Theological Seminary to further his faith and walk with Christ.

He and his wife, Rosanna, married in 2006 and have been blessed with three daughters.

Mark and his family have owned and operated Carvajal Pharmacy since 1969. Mark is the CEO of Carvajal Pharmacy which has several pharmacy locations including a long-term care pharmacy servicing nursing home patients throughout Texas and six retail locations. Mark is also founder and CEO of Carvajal Technology Group, LLC, which is a technology company that offers fully managed hosted desktops, applications and business consulting throughout the US.

Mark has held leadership positions in healthcare, software and technology industries for both global 500 and start up organizations, including executive of two technology companies that have been acquired.

Mark is a slave and ambassador in Christ to make Him known. He also serves on the South Texas committee for Young Life, South Texas Alliance for Orphans and the San Antonio Medical Foundation.