Meet the Intergovernmental Relations Office Team
Carrie Rogers
Chief Government Relations Officer Legislative Director
512.923.7577 cell
Carrie Rogers joined the City of Austin as the Government Relations Officer in 2024. Carrie previously served as the Director of the Office of Government Affairs and Executive Liaison to the Mayor and City Council for the City of Dallas where she managed executive policy communication with local, state, federal and international officials, and countless government and business stakeholders. Prior to this role, Carrie served as the Director of the Mayor and City Council Office where she managed the daily operations of the office, including personnel and financial management with more than four dozen direct reports.
Carrie previously served as the Director of Government Affairs for the North Texas Tollway Authority for 11 years, and as the Deputy District Director for United States Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. She also served as the Director of Government Relations and Director of Education for the Dallas Regional Chamber. Carrie holds a master’s degree in American studies from the University of Dallas and a bachelor’s degree in English from Westminster College.
Since joining the City of Austin, Carrie and the GR team have been focused on establishing connection and ensuring collaboration across all stakeholders. This strategy centers around engaging the entire Texas Legislature and Texas Congressional Members as the “Austin delegation” to build greater ownership and investment in the State’s capital city. In addition, GR is standing up a centralized grants and funding division within Government Relations
Rick Ramirez
Rick Ramirez joined the City of Austin Government Relations team in 2024. Previously, Rick led the City of Sugar Land’s intergovernmental relations office and legislative program for 10 years. During this time, all Texas cities secured millions of dollars in funding for the Sugar Land community through local, state, and federal programs. Prior to this role, Rick served as Sugar Land’s Water Resources Manager for one year and contributed his expertise to the Houston-Galveston Area Council Transportation Advisory Committee. Rick holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M University and is a licensed professional engineer with over a decade of experience in municipal engineering.
Erika Dzangare
Deputy Government Relations Officer – Grants
Erika has 15 years of experience serving as a funding strategist in local government, non-profit and private sectors in Texas, Washington and the Midwest, with broad knowledge in grant writing, management, administration, Texas Grant Management Standards and 2 CFR Part 200 Federal Uniform Grant Guidelines. Her experience includes standing up and leading teams to secure federal, state and private grants, executing projects and ensuring compliance relating to subrecipient contracts. Originally from the Austin-area, Erika attended the University of Houston and earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and business management. She holds several certifications in state, federal and non-profit grant management.
Greg Dutton
Local-Regional Administrator
Greg Dutton serves as the local and regional policy administrator and will act as a conduit to share City policy, plans, and projects with local and regional City partners, to find areas of coordination and enhancement. As Austin and the region continue to grow and change, cooperation and support between cities, counties, and partners will be necessary to successfully address the challenges we face. Greg has more than 17 years of experience as a City of Austin employee, with both the Planning Department and Development Services Department. Greg previously worked on neighborhood plans, the Imagine Austin comprehensive plan, and amendments to Austin’s land development code, including efforts to overhaul the code.
Alison Ross
Senior Government Relations Coordinator
512.680.3631 cell
Alison has seven years of experience working in the Texas House of Representatives to her role as the GR Senior Coordinator. She worked closely with the City and the GR team over the two legislative sessions as the Legislative Director for Rep. Eddie Rodriguez, the former dean of the Austin delegation. She has over 10 years of professional research experience and worked for political, litigation, corporate, and nonprofit clients prior to working at the Capitol. Alison grew up in Austin and earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin.
Christian Aguirre
Senior Government Relations Coordinator
Christian brings more than five years of experience in city, state, and federal government to his role. He began his career in the City of Houston with Mayor Sylvester Turner’s office and later served in the Texas Legislature as Policy Analyst for Senator Carol Alvarado and Legislative Director for Representative Chris Turner, gaining experience across five legislative sessions. At the federal level, he worked with Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia and the Partnership for Public Service’s Center for Presidential Transition. Christian holds dual bachelor’s degrees in political science and public Relations from the University of Houston and an M.P.A. from the LBJ School at The University of Texas at Austin.
Karen Bowers
Karen joined the City of Austin’s Office of Government Relations in the spring of 2025. She has more than a decade of experience in grants, policy, and organizational management. At the University of Nevada, Reno, she managed state and federal grants, including projects funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and contributed to legislative efforts by drafting and advocating for state policy proposals. Her earlier experience includes coordinating strategic initiatives for Northern Nevada’s largest health network and administering employee health insurance programs for rural Texas counties. She holds a master’s degree in public health with an emphasis in Policy and Administration and a bachelor’s degree in English Editing and Writing.
Andy Farias
Andy is a proven grants and contracts professional with over 10 years of experience driving high-impact fund development initiatives. Farias has collaboratively secured over $73 million in grant and contract award funding, ranging from federal awards to private philanthropy. He is adept at opportunity prospecting, competitive intelligence, government contracting, partner coordination, proposal management, workflow development, award administration, and program implementation. Andy has demonstrated success in leading grant and contract proposal efforts for nonprofit direct service organizations and government agencies specializing in social services, both nationally and in Central Texas. Andy graduated Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in public service and public policy from Arizona State University.
Collin Lessing
Grant Administrator
Collin has worked in the grants field for the last 15 years. He has extensive experience across grants systems and lifecycles, including grants administration, funding research, grants planning, application writing, application review and scoring, and award management and reporting for government agencies. He has secured and managed grant awards with private, state and federal funders, and has written more than $20 million in successful grant applications. As a Grants Administrator with the Government Relations Office, Collin will bring his passion for grants to help City of Austin departments advance their priorities and projects. Collin holds a bachelor’s degree from UT Austin and a master’s degree from UT San Antonio.
Valerie Gomez
Valerie brings over 15 years of experience to the Government Relations team, combining exceptional administrative expertise with proven legislative capabilities. In addition to managing core office operations, Valerie plays an active role in the City’s legislative and grants work, ensuring the team’s operations run smoothly.