Introducing our 2022 Board Chair, Bruny Rios

CASA’s 2022 Board Chair Bruny Rios is driven, talented, and busy. As the Chief Accounting Officer at Dell Technologies, Bruny leads a global team of more than 1200 personnel. She holds an impressive catalog of responsibilities including managing large corporate transactions and system implementations.  But even as she’s steadily built her career, Bruny has never lost her focus on others; both through intentional mentorship of her fellow women and latinx at Dell, and through her service to CASA of Travis County as a board member and today, as Chair.

Born on a coffee farm in Lares, Puerto Rico, Bruny grew up picking coffee beans with her brother. To this day, she remains a coffee enthusiast. Knowledge of the coffee-making process is just one of the takeaways from Bruny’s childhood; another was the seemingly simple yet challenging mantra that “you work for what you want”. As quoted in another interview, Bruny still believes that “you can complain all day long and look at all the things you may not have. But if you stop and look at what you do have, you’ll find it’s a lot and with it, endless possibilities.”

“ I completely trust the process here at CASA. We work hard to make the best use of the funds we have, and we are always open to changing and adapting – which we’ve had to do a lot of over the last two years. But the most important part is that the focus is always on the kids.”

After attending college in Puerto Rico, Bruny moved with her husband to Texas during his military service. They had two children together who both attended UT Austin. Today, Bruny and her husband have been married 33 years and have 2 granddaughters.

Bruny heard about CASA for the first time from a volunteer but didn’t have the time to give yet – “or at least thought I didn’t,” she laughs. “But the way it was presented really caught my attention. Later, I was looking for an opportunity to volunteer my time with kids specifically and my boss recommended me to Laura Wolf, (CEO of CASA of Travis County.)”

Bruny joined the CASA Board of Directors in late 2019 and served last year as Treasurer.  “CASA has a strong governance structure and policies, making it easy for me to jump in and do my role”. says Bruny. “ I completely trust the process here at CASA. We work hard to make the best use of the funds we have, and we are always open to changing and adapting – which we’ve had to do a lot of over the last two years. But the most important part is that the focus is always on the kids,” Bruny emphasizes. “Serving as many kids as we can as well as we can.”

One of the reasons Bruny was drawn to CASA is because she remembers a time when she needed someone to advocate for her, too: “I did have an experience when I was young when I needed help from agencies who protect kids,” she shares. “And you don’t know why it’s happening or what to do. You feel isolated, lonely and angry. But I had really good experience with my social worker who went above and beyond for me. I saw how a person independent of my family went so far beyond for me. You never forget.”

“It’s amazing what CASA is doing and the impact it has in our community. Not just how they can help a child, but the fact that they’re touching a family, community, environment at large –  it’s always more than just one child. And I’m sure we’re going to be here for a long time serving every child who needs us.”

Bruny immediately recognized the same generous spirit in CASA staff and volunteers. “It’s amazing what CASA is doing and the impact it has in our community. Not just how they can help a child, but the fact that they’re touching a family, community, environment at large –  it’s always more than just one child. And I’m sure we’re going to be here for a long time serving every child who needs us.”