OUR PROCESS

Mrs. Maria Leonard is a faculty member at the Robert C. Vacker College of Business and Entrepreneurship at the University of Texas rio Grande Valley. She specializes in teaching upper-level business management courses in topics ranging from Business Ethics, communication, Sustainable Economic Development, Stakeholder Management, Organizational Leadership, and Organizational Behavior. During her years at the UTRGV, she has accepted additional administrative assignments, having previously served as intership coordinator and faculty liason to the Executive Advisory Council.  In August 2023, she accepted an appointment as Director of Social Impact and Sustainability for the college.

• Maria Leonard has been named Faculty Advisor of the Year by UTRGV in 2020 and 2022. 
• The 2022 Faculty Excellence Award for Societal impact by the UTRGV RCV College of Business and Entrepreneurship.
•   In 2023 she earned the prestigious UTRGV Faculty Excellence Award for Sustainability Education. 
• The RCVCOBE Management Faculty Excellence Award. 
•  Excellence in Faculty Mentorship by the UTRGV VCOBE Graduate and Professional Program Office.
•   She has also been the recipient of the UTRGV Excellence in education for Sustainable Development award.
•  The Women Empowerment Award by the Association of Accountants and Business Professionals at UTRGV.
•  In 2023 Maria Leonard was awarded the Sam Houston Fellow of the year and now sits on the National Facutly Advisory Board for Enactus and is national Chairperson for the student Engagement Committee for this organization.
•  At the regional level, she received the prestigous Women of Distinction Award by the RGV Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in March 2023.

Mrs. Leonard serves as faculty advisor for the UTRGV chapter of a global business student organization called Enactus, which in its first year of service in 2015 was recognized as Rookie of the Year, and has since continued to win multiple National Awards on a yearly basis. 

Mrs. Leonard has over 20 years of management experience in senior management positions in apparel manufacturing in the USA and Mexico, and received her MBA from the University of Texas Pan American. She has served as trainer for the youth entrepreneurship program sponsored by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Additionally, she acts as a corporate trainer for the Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center, the UTRGV Continuing education Division, and serves as mangement consultant for a wide range of nonprofits and businesses in the Rio Grande Valley and Houston, TX.

Additionally, she is very active in the community. She currently sits on the board of Directors for "Casa Hogar MAMi", a boys and girls orphange located in Reynosa, Mexico, as well as "Proyecto Desarrollo Humano" in Penitas, TX. She has previously served as Board President for The Hidalgo County League of Women Voters, and Board President for Hidalgo County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and was president of the Business Advisory Council for the PSJA career and Technical Education Division.

Mr. Allan Leonard is a Founding Member of Fortem Consulting LLC.  Allan has held Senior and Executive Management positions in manufacturing and construction, over the course of 40 years. He started his management career with Ingersoll-Rand Canada, serving as Materials Manager and Assistant Operations Manager for Western Canada, before transitioning to the Oil & Gas Industry for a 7- year term. 

As an entrepreneur, in 1994 Allan founded (3) companies in Bragg Creek Alberta Canada: Spirit West Designs + Cabin Country + Bragg Creek Rustic Furniture Company  

 Allan successfully owned, managed, and operated these companies for 12 years before divestment and refocusing his attention to the Oil & Gas Sector, where he accepted a stakeholder position in a startup company, Extreme Drilling & Coil Services, a private company with patented technologies for worldwide Oil & Gas drilling exploration.  He held the position of Technology Liason & Project Manager for 6 years, before relocating to Houston, Texas in 2008, where he co-founded Fortem Consulting LLC. He commenced his work in management consulting with various Oil & Gas Manufacturers & Fabricators + Mergers & Acquistion Groups, in the United States, Canada, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia, by applying a "Quality Management" philosophy.

After 7 years of commuting to McAllen, TX., Allan now resides in Mission, TX. where he continues to consult with local businesses and the Oil & Gas Sector, promoting manufacturing opportunities that would align with Economic Development & Social Impact in the Rio Grande Valley. 

He is especially focused on utilizing his experience in Business Management Consulting and Project Management, in assisting businesses and entrepreneurs to realize improved performance and profitability, in the RGV. 

He has served as a student advisor since 2018 for "Enactus" a UTRGV chapter of a global student organization, and mentors with the UTRGV (Startup Tree) in the City of Weslaco. He also serves as a mentor with the McAllen ISD incubator / Competition Series since 2022.