This week, I want to brag about (and thank publicly) one of our board members, Rene Dominguez, the CEO of VelocityTX.

Dominguez is the CEO of VelocityTX, a bioscience research campus located in San Antonio’s historic East Side, recently proposed a $60 million center for medical innovation to mesh with the Defense Health Agency’s plans to consolidate and expand its presence in San Antonio.

Why is this important to CAST, a nonprofit network of innovative and high-performing schools where students have hands-on experiences that prepare them for college AND careers.

When CAST was first formed in 2017, we knew that it was important to be governed by a board of directors led by industry, given our focus on career-connected and hands-on learning. Our initial board of directors included long-time backers CPS Energy (board chair, Lisa Lewis), and H-E-B (Katie Chain).

As we began to grow our board, a supporter encouraged us to include industry leaders who, like CAST, were innovative in their sectors.

Across our network, though students may have selected a specific career pathway, we see a common thread where so many are interested in entrepreneurship and starting their own business.

Earlier this summer Velocity teamed up with Methodist Healthcare Ministries to announce a Community Health Accelerator to focus on advancing awareness, research and innovation related to “social determinants of health.” The term refers to non-medical factors  — such as access to food, housing and education — that can influence well-being. Another CAST Schools board member, Dr. Lyssa Ochoa, has been a community champion regarding tackling these root causes of many San Antonio health conditions.

Why is this important? Another theme we consistently hear from our students is the importance of not only doing well, or earning a good living, but doing good in the community. We’re thrilled to be able to expose our students to leaders who are successfully doing both.

Because of our partnership with Dominguez, and VelocityTX, we have been able to include our students to their step into STEM events, with our older students sometimes acting as mentors and our high school students visiting the innovative biomedical hub to learn about some of the most cutting edge new bioscience companies in our city. 

Our partnership with VelocityTX is especially exciting as CAST Schools have been asked by the San Antonio ISD to create a new elementary academy on San Antonio’s Eastside, where the bio-research campus is located. The rationale behind the ask is because the Advanced Learning Academy has a waiting list of about 800 students. 

CAST is committed to co-creating any new school with the community, and we will be hosting focus groups with prospective parents next week at – you guessed it – VelocityTX.

Jeanne Russell

Executive Director

CAST Schools

*Image courtesy of San Antonio Express-News*