Prior to joining AAMPO in July 2021, Sonia worked in the private sector, for her family’s business, Ximenes & Associates. She began as Ximenes’ Office Manager with limited involvement in the consulting and facilitation business. In 2001, she left Ximenes to pursue a law degree in Florida, thinking she had left the family business and the great state of Texas behind her. She completed law school only to return to San Antonio and the family business to serve as both the Business Operations Manager, responsible for all business related to professional contracts as well as human resources and office management, and as the Public Involvement Team Lead. Her time since pivoting from the private sector to the public sector has been filled with learning how short and long -range transportation planning efforts occur within the bureaucratic environment. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from UTSA in 1994 and her Juris Doctor from St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida in 2004.