Andrea Guttin, JD, MA
CO-FOUNDER
Andrea’s commitment to social justice is deeply personal – her parents came to the U.S. from Mexico, where her great- grandparents found refuge from anti-semitism in Europe. Andrea loves seeing people and ideas grow through inclusive, collaborative processes. She believes we should ease the work of social justice through humor, creativity, & compassion.
With 18 years working with nonprofits, Andrea understands the importance of trust and inclusion in coalition building. Andrea lays the foundation for future success by initiating collaboration among organizations through clear strategy and thought partnership. She has developed and managed projects including a court help desk, resource hotline, disaster legal corps, and removal defense project. Her advocacy leadership brought people and power together through community listening sessions, funder briefings, trainings, workshops, and working groups to grow legal representation and services for immigrants in Greater Houston.
Andrea spent the last six years as the Legal Director for the Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative. She has also worked and volunteered with Human Rights First, Latino Justice PRLDEF, The Door, and ACLU of Texas, among others.
Andrea received her J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 2009. She also holds a Master’s degree from UT’s Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies. She is admitted to practice law in Texas.
Andrea spends her free time with family and friends, picnicking, crafting, and doing crossword puzzles – during which she’s usually covered in spit-up.
PAOLA GUZMAN, MSW
CO-FOUNDER
Paola’s experiences as a first generation Latina with roots in California, Texas, El Salvador, and Guatemala have led her to value humor, joy, creative expression, disruption, contemplation, and systems thinking.
Throughout her career in social services, Paola has invested in people through thought partnership, facilitation, collaboration, and mentorship. She has learned that social justice work is not done alone and must not be siloed. In her work across the education, mental health, and immigration sectors, Paola has led the operations and logistics of multi-partner collaborative projects to streamline access to services, and set the strategic development and growth of a national team of social services staff.
Paola finds happiness in mentoring young professionals, educating on cultural training, and designing transformative programs and partnerships for communities impacted heavily by system oppression, trauma, and over-policing.
Paola is an adjunct professor at the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston, focusing on program evaluation. Paola serves on the board for USAHello, which uses technology to empower immigrant communities.
Paola holds a Master of Social Work degree specializing in Community Organizing, Planning, and Administration from the University of Southern California.
As a water sign, Paola is obsessed with all things mystic and can be found reading, in nature, or watching scary movies with her cat.
Chispas Consulting 