Meet Our Staff
English Team
Monica Ashour
President, Founder, & International Speaker
Co-Founder, President, author and international speaker, Monica Ashour has spent her life spreading the Biblical reflection of the human person known as the Theology of the Body. Her claim to fame is that Pope John Paul spoke to her! While Monica was in Rome in JPII’s large audience, she didn’t say the typical “Viva el Papa” (“Long live the Pope”), but instead she said, “I’m from Texas! I’m from Texas!” That got his attention, and so he stopped, grabbed her hand and said,”You’re from Texas? Well, God bless you!”
Emily Flores
Vice President of Operations & Director of Digital Development
Our Vice-President of Operations, Emily Flores, is known for juggling documents, managing people, and balancing the art of making things happen with the power of multitasking. When she’s not organizing chaos, she fills the Executive Creative Director role to ensure TOBET’s projects are visually immaculate.
Michael Ashour
Vice President of Revenue & Director of Outreach and Sales
Michael is a native Texan and proud former student of Texas A&M University in College Station, where he attributes pivotal growth in his faith from the community of St. Mary’s Catholic Center. As a nephew of TOBET’s co-founder Monica, Michael has been formed by the Theology of the Body since the womb! At TOBET, Michael sets and manages goals for TOBET’s growth in outreach and development and brings steady leadership to the team. Michael has recently married the beautiful Valerie, and the two of them reside in Dallas.
Gabriel Milano
Content Creation Specialist, Speaker, & Ministry Outreach Leader
As the Director of Content Creation, Gabriel is the primary author of TOBET’s program My Body, My Identity: Discovering God’s Design. When Gabriel is not giving talks, writing children’s books, or scripting videos on the Theology of the Body, Gabriel can likely be found watching The Lord of the Rings for the 4,000th time or writing his own fantasy novels for his private publishing company Estel Publishing.
Jennifer Milano, LPC-A
Ministry Outreach Leader, Speaker
Jen is a licensed professional counselor associate who provides mental health therapy and gives talks on flourishing. Owner of Siena Counseling LLC, she loves integrating a Catholic-Christian approach in her therapy. Theology of the Body radically changed her life, and she loves living it out in her marriage, and integrating it into her work.
Kathleen Solis
Content Creation Assistant
Kathleen Solis is a graduate of the University of Dallas and provides TOBET with support in content creation. She brings elements of TOBET’s materials to life through writing, editing, video production, and even voice acting talents.
Sam Mach
Technology Specialist
Samuel Mach is a Computer Science and Philosophy undergraduate at the University of Texas, Arlington. He works with TOBET’s website team to create, manage, and maintain TOBET’s online presence.
Rachel Flick
Office Manager
As an introvert and hobbyist writer, Rachel is happy to be surrounded by lots of books and calendars in her role as Office Manager. She feels very blessed that God led her to TOBET, and is proud to be assisting in spreading the true message of the body amidst the disordered culture of the world.
Karina Barba
Director of Latino Outreach & Bilingual Speaker
Karina Barba is Colombian, married to Carlos, and a mother of three. As a Civil Engineer with an MSc, she lived a couple of years in Scotland where she practiced her English and worked as a geosciences researcher in the North Sea. In 2012, thanks to a priest friend, she discovered the Theology of the Body and changed the purpose of her life, and since then she has not stopped studying it. In 2018 she wrote to Monica, interested in the material she had to teach TOB to children, and that same year she traveled to Dallas to take one of her seminars. This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship! In 2021 she was asked to be part of the translation team for the TBM curriculum and its guides for parents and educators. Karina is now the director of Hispanic formation and outreach for TOBET.
Karina Barba es Colombiana, casada con Carlos y mamá de 3. Ingeniera Civil MSc, vivió un par de años en Escocia donde practicó su inglés y trabajó como investigadora de geociencias en el mar del norte. En 2012, gracias a un sacerdote amigo, conoce la Teología del cuerpo y cambia el propósito de su vida, desde entonces no ha parado de estudiarla. En 2018 le escribe a Monica interesada en el material que ella tenía para enseñar TDC a los niños, ese mismo año viaja a Dallas para tomar uno de sus seminarios, ¡este fue el inicio de una bella amistad! En 2021 recibe el encargo de hacer parte del equipo traductor del currículo TBM y sus guías para padres y educadores. En este momento Karina es la directora de formación y alcance hispano de TOBET.
Alex Perez
Spanish Translator
Alex loves learning about the Theology of the body. She translates and edits books and documents from English to Spanish for children, educators and parents. Share this knowledge with your family and your community, because The Body Matters!!!
Alex le encanta aprender sobre la Teología del cuerpo. Traduce y edita libros y documentos de inglés a español para niños, educadores y padres. Comparte este conocimiento con su familia y su comunidad, porque el cuerpo importa!!!
Katie Calzado
Spanish Proofreader & Graphic Designer
Katie Calzado is a former dual language teacher and graphic designer turned full time mom. Katie met Monica Ashour as a teen when volunteering for TOBET4Teens, and almost 15 years later reconnected with Monica only to discover TOBET had launched a Spanish team! These days, you can find Katie doing graphic design and layout for TOBET’s Spanish resources when her three sweet daughters are sleeping.
Katie Calzado se formó como maestra bilingüe y diseñadora gráfica, y ahora además es mamá de tres niñas preciosas. Conoció a Monica Ashour cuando se unió al grupo TOBET4Teens, y casi 15 años después ¡se reencontraron! justo cuando TOBET inició su equipo en español. Hoy en día, Katie realiza el diseño gráfico de TOBET en español cuando sus tres pequeñas están dormidas.
Deyanira Martínez
Outreach and Sales Associate for Spanish Programs
Deyanira studied Chemical Engineering and a master’s degree in environmental systems and worked in an Environmental Education program at TEC de Monterrey. She studied for a master’s degree in Family Education at the European Institute of Educational Studies. She also studied the Diplomas of Theology of the Body and Education of Sexuality at the John Paul II Institute, Mexico Headquarters. She is the mother of 16-year-old Paola and 12-year-old Helio David. She is Catholic and a member of the Jesed Community in Monterrey, N.L., where she has participated in the apostolate of children’s and youth ministries together with her husband Helio. For a year she has been working for TOBET as Outreach and Sales Associate for Spanish Programs.
Deyanira estudió Ingeniería Química y maestría en Sistemas ambientales, y trabajó en un programa de Educación ambiental en el TEC de Monterrey. Estudió un máster en Educación Familiar en el Instituto Europeo de Estudios de la Educación. Estudió también los Diplomados de Teología del Cuerpo y Educación de la Sexualidad en el Instituto Juan Pablo II, Sede México. Es madre de Paola de 16 años y Helio David de 12 años. Es católica y miembro de la Comunidad Jesed en Monterrey N.L. donde ha participado en el apostolado del ministerio de niños y de Adolescentes junto con su esposo Helio. Hace un año trabaja para TOBET como Asociado de Difusión y Ventas para Programas en español.