LOCAL Houston | The City Guide JANUARY 2016 | Page 63

FOOD | ARTS | COMMUNITY | STYLE+LEISURE

Amina Belouizdad, 32
Algeria
Amina was born in Algeria and grew up in Abu
Dhabi. She went to college in Canada and lived in
China for 6 years before moving to the U.S. After
graduating from business school (she got her MBA
at Wharton), Amina moved here with her significant other for the opportunity. “I guess you could
say that has been a recurring theme in my life –
moving to places like China for sheer opportunity.”
Houston has been her home for two years and she
doesn’t plan on leaving. She speaks 4.5 languages: English, French, Arabic, Mandarin and
Spanish (“Spanish is the 0.5 – it’s a little
rusty!”). She’s a real estate investor by day and
focuses on Bartaile, a modern travel brand
designed for – and inspired by – people going
places. Amina likes to wear many hats, speak to
many people (in as many languages as possible)
and read as much as she can. She has a mild obsession with dim sum. We asked her what she loves about
Houston: “Houston is oddly familiar to me; it reminds me a lot of Abu Dhabi where I grew up. The energydependent economy makes for the similar environment, attracting the same cast of characters and personalities. The sense of optimism in the city – it’s a place where people make things happen. Tomorrow is
going to be better than yesterday.”

Melanie Espinosa Pang, 29
Missouri City, TX
Raised by a Filipina mom, a Chinese dad and
three older siblings, Melanie Espinosa Pang graduated from the University of Houston’s Graduate
College of Social Work, in addition to her BA in
communication and a minor in LGBT Studies.
Voted as the “Social Worker of the Year” by the
National Association of Social Workers Houston in
2015, Melanie has since spent her time serving
others through the Houston Food Bank, The
Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, Legacy
Community Health Services, Planned Parenthood,
Equality Texas, Children and Neighbors Defeat
Obesity Houston (CAN DO) and First Person LLC.
What inspired her to become a social worker was
when she first interned at the Houston Food Bank
at a Food Fair where she saw lines of people waiting for a ration of food; many kids were holding
“potato sacks and laundry bags” so they could take home whatever they could carry. “When you think
about poverty and you think about how some people don’t have as much as you do, you don’t often think
that they might be living right next door.” What started as a requirement for a journalism class ended up
being a way of life for Melanie, and that’s when she realized that every life endeavor moving forward must
matter and make someone else’s life better.

Minal Patel Davis, 40
Gujarat, India
Minal relocated to Houston from New York City in
April 2013 and served as the Executive Director of
Comp-U-Dopt, a nonprofit computer bank that redistributes refurbished computers to Houston area children for free. Currently, Minal serves as the Special
Advisor to the Mayor on Human Trafficking. Since
being appointed on June 29, 2015, Minal planned
a Human Trafficking Symposium with worldrenowned panelists to raise the level of dialogue
around the issue. City Council also unanimously
passed amendments to the Massage Establishment
Ordinance to more effectively address illicit massage businesses that are often fronts for human
trafficking. We asked Minal if she felt she was
making a difference. “Yes, the position’s structure
provides an opportunity to institutionalize initiatives. I also have the privilege of working with a
group of people that represent service providers, prevention groups and law enforcement that are members
of the Mayor’s Houston Area Council on Human Trafficking (HAC-HT). Terence O’Neill from the City’s
Department of Neighborhoods helped build HAC-HT out in early 2015 after Mayor Parker approved a proposal to double this task force’s size.” Minal and her husband Anthony attend Lakewood Church.

Mario Alberto Rodriguez, 27
Houston, TX
Mario is an American producer, entrepreneur, audio
engineer, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born and raised in Houston to Gustavo and
Gloria Rodriguez, who moved to Houston from
Mexico City in 1979. He is one of five children.
Mario began playing music in his early teenage
years and was self-taught using his brother’s guitar
and parent’s tape recorder for demos. While attending Cesar Chavez High School, located in Southeast
Houston, he and his close friends played music
together and would later form Tax the Wolf. In
2011, Mario met his fiancée and business partner,
Elizabeth Salazar, and with drummer Vik
Montemayor, formed Bang Bangz – an award-winning pop-rock, electronic band. In late 2014, Mario
founded Wonky Power Records and most recently
added a recording studio. The producer and musician has worked in the music industry for over 10 years and is now taking the “record label” and molding
it into an inspiring journey for artists.

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