Ana Gaby Becerra is Barracuda’s COO and prior Creative Director. In her previous role as Creative Director, Ana Gaby oversaw the creation of sophisticated, resonant, bilingual campaigns that cohesively tell our client’s stories across platforms and on both sides of the border. She recently transitioned from a creative role into operations and business management. In this new role, she assists the CEO in executing Barracuda’s strategy and vision. Overseeing Barracuda’s internal and external processes ensures that the Barracuda team is running smoothly and working to its fullest capacity. Ana Gaby holds a double degree in graphic design and organizational communication with a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at El Paso.

Israel Irrobali ensures that the Barracuda team is held accountable. He maintains project progress, timelines and high-quality execution. Israel is an El Paso native and a graduate of Syracuse University. Israel started his career in public service, working for the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and Tourism. In 2017, Israel moved back to El Paso and worked for the City of El Paso. Israel was elected as the District 5 Trustee for the El Paso Independent School District in June 2021, with a term set to expire in May 2025.

Patricia Garcia has recently taken on the new role of leading our public engagement initiatives. She is CNU-accredited by the University of Miami School of Architecture program based on the principles of the Charter of the New Urbanism. She joined Barracuda from KTSM-TV where she served as the digital content manager. She also previously served as Editor of Su Casa Magazine, Associate Editor of the Texas Bar Journal and Features Editor of the Las Cruces Sun-News. A graduate of New Mexico State University, Patricia has managed COVID-19 vaccination activations for the Paso del Norte Health Foundation’s Reduce the Risk campaign and content creation for BBB Paso del Norte’s El Paso Business Strong campaign among many other public outreach projects.

A graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso, Gabriel works to establish and expand our clients’ brands. He leads the graphic design team to create cohesive campaigns that effectively communicate the client’s unique story and message. He also works closely with our social media team to create custom graphics and illustrations that reflect the client’s aesthetic voice. Gabriel is flexible and adaptable and is becoming well-versed in creating motion graphics that bring his designs to life. Gabriel’s commitment and passion for the arts in the community are evident in his work. He seamlessly ensures that campaigns are appealing, consistent and optimized for social media, print, direct mail, outdoor, or wherever your story needs to be told.

Regina Garcia leads social media content creation and account curation for some of Barracuda’s most dynamic clients. Constantly keeping tabs on ever-changing trends and policies in the social media world, Regina’s day-to-day duties include executing clients’ social media strategies by disseminating quality content videos and imagery across all communication platforms. She ensures that all social media spending correlates directly to a client’s goals or a particular campaign. Regina is also well-versed in building effective target audiences to deliver laser-focused messages with maximum efficiency. Regina is a graduate of Texas Tech University with a Master of Arts in Mass Communication. She is a Certified Social Media Strategist, helping Barracuda become the first certified social media agency in Texas from the National Institute of Social Media.

As Barracuda’s Chief Storyteller, Dave Acosta’s ultra-sharp writing skills and deep understanding of border culture allow him to execute public relations strategies that immediately resonate with the public and the press. In addition to introducing new franchises to the market and gaining exposure for creative clients, Dave leads Barracuda’s storytelling services for the Hospitals of Providence, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, and many other clients. Before joining the Barracuda PR team, Dave covered entertainment and music for the El Paso Times. Dave is a University of Texas at El Paso graduate and certified Social Media Strategist.

Joe Najera is an award-winning photojournalist who has spent more than a decade covering the people and places that make Far West Texas and Southern New Mexico special. He puts more than 15 years of experience to work for Barracuda’s clients by shooting high-definition, broadcast-ready media kits; producing live, multi-camera social media broadcasts; and capturing compelling still images which tell a client’s story in an instant. During his time at KFOX-TV, Joe traveled to Cape Canaveral to cover El Paso astronaut Danny Olivas’ first mission into space. Joe’s experience behind the camera also includes managing a team of nearly a dozen photographers at KFOX. In his time at The Catholic Diocese of El Paso, Joe was responsible for all aspects of video coverage during Pope Frances’ visit to Ciudad Juárez.

Erika is an experienced Marketing Director with over 15 years of industry expertise. She has effectively developed and implemented innovative strategies to increase brand awareness through customer segmentation models that improve conversions. Erika has overseen placement of content on multiple media platforms and has led the successful development and launch of paid campaigns. She has extensive experience in analyzing data to identify weak areas within marketing efforts and modifies them to improve results and ROI for clients. Erika brings a fresh take on strategic leadership with an emphasis on traditional media, digital media, experiential marketing, lead generation, and brand awareness.

Prior to joining Barracuda Public Relations, she was the Media Buyer at Cardenas Marketing Network, Account Executive at Univision San Antonio, and the West Texas Marketing & Promotions Director for TV & Radio at Entravision where she developed a proven track record of executing high-impact marketing strategies that reach across various markets. She’s run national campaigns for enterprise clients where she’s handled media budgets of up to $10 million per campaign.