Heroes Behind the Scenes
Our Veteran team of experienced professionals are always on call, utilizing their unique skills and passion to move the work of Heroes Rancheros forward. We’re always pushing ourselves to stay ahead of the curve and striving to perfect our programs. Meet some of our incredible leaders below.
LaVon Anderwald
President & Chief Executive Director
LaVon is a disabled Army and Texas Army National Guard veteran of 8 years from the 82ND Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps at Ft. BRAGG, NC to HQ, 36th Infantry Division, at Camp Mabry, TX from 1994-2002. She founded Heroes Rancheros with the vision and drive to fight veteran homelessness. She hopes to improve the focus on developing our community with experience, integrity and passion to better serve our homeless heroes. Her desire is to target suicide prevention and treat every veteran with the respect and dignity they deserve while meeting their mental health needs thru animal therapy and professional intervention.
Kristyn L Hansen
Vice President & Chief Operations Director
Kristyn is an absolute asset to our Organization. Not only does she bring an endless list of experience from multiple fields, but she has an absolute heart of gold. Her undeniable passion and total dedication to helping others is inspiring. Not only did she bring Heroes Rancheros into the light, but she also takes care of the social media, fundraising, marketing, networking, and so much more. And talk about hands on... this one is not afraid to get her hands dirty either. She will help out when and wherever help is needed to complete our mission. You can always count on her and she will always find a way to put a smile on your face. We are truly blessed to have Kristyn with us to help ensure we reach our goals to help our Veteran Heroes.
Jimmy "Caz" Caswell
CFO/Treasurer & Chief Security Director
With us since our founding, Caz is one of our Marine veteran team members. He brings years of experience and skills to the forefront in helping our organization grow and succeed. He always has a smile and word of encouragement for every occasion. A true warrior and patriot to defend and promote our mission for homeless veterans. Lead the way commander, oorah!
PERSONAL BIO COMING SOON...
Guy Johnson
Chief Mechanic & Construction Director
If it needs to be repaired, Guy is your man. If it needs to be built, Guy is your man. Every tiny home, farming tool, piece of equipment, vehicle and special project was probably worked on by Guy. He's the fixer upper and fix it man to have on the team. Even though he's not a veteran himself, he's been behind the scenes making it happen for all the veterans we support. We're grateful to have a go to man like Guy who has the skills and experience to make almost anything possible.
Mickey Willenbring
Senior Veteran Mentor and Heritage Livestock Expert
This woman is amazing. Combat veteran from the Gulf war with the 101st Airborne Division has literally done it all. Survived a helicopter crash, started her own ranch, acts as a huge humanitarian for both her Native people and fellow veterans in Oregon. She manages a breeding stock of Navajo-Churro sheep, Navajo Angora Goats, Mottled Java chickens, Muscovy ducks, Irish Dexter cattle and continues to add new heritage breeds as the need arises. She has unselfishly offered hours of guidance, support and knowledge from the vision of our mission to the establishment of our livestock inventory. When we need an expert, we call Mickey. While we are separated by a thousand miles or so from Oregon to Texas, I consider Mickey as one of my closest confidants and sister. We would not have made it this far without her input. Please, take a moment and visit Mickey at www.dotranchchurros.com and follow her on instagram.
Keaghan Johnson
Ranch Manager & Livestock Handler
Keaghan is our youngest Army veteran's family member supporting homeless vets with Heroes Rancheros. His tireless energy, witty humor and forgiving nature is such a value to our team. Keaghan has worked many hours building animal shelters, chasing escaped livestock, treating injured or sick chickens and various other labor jobs to build this ranch. We are grateful and proud that he has become such an integral part in helping our veteran community.
Maisie S. Watson
Chief Communications & Social Media Director
Creative, intelligent, motivated and hard working gets the job done when Maisie is on the project. She wears many hats and does all of them to the best of her ability. Another valued family member of dual Army parents she is anything but an Army "brat". After graduating with honors from Hutto HS and being selected Drum Major 2 years in a row, it's no surprise she received scholarships to attend the University of Texas. We're proud to have her time and talent volunteering to help us spread our message to support our homeless heroes.
PERSONAL BIO COMING SOON...
Haley Watson
Chief Digital Artist and Creative Director
Haley has contributed hours of personal time to provide sketches, drawings, designs and logos for Heroes Rancheros. Her maturity, talent and creativity comes from years of sacrifice and separation from her dual military Army parents. Being the oldest of 4 siblings she has become the most thoughtful, caring, tender hearted person to show compassion when others are hurting. We are blessed and very proud to have such a perfect example of a generous human being on our team.
PERSONAL BIO COMING SOON...