Idealists of the Year

Deborah Amini has been a resident of San Antonio since 1962 having graduated from it public schools in 1968. She received her BA in Educational Psychology from The University of Texas in Austin in 1972 and her Masters in Educational Psychology from the same institution in 1976.

She spent three years working for the St. Jude’s Psychiatric hospital in Austin before going to work for the Edgewood Independent School District as a psychologist in the Jose Cardenas Center for Developmental Disabilities. Subsequently she was a co-owner of the PlayWorks Toy Stores before beginning a successful real estate career as a commercial broker.

Mrs. Amini has been a board member of Boysville, Big Brothers & Big Sisters of San Antonio and Young Life San Antonio. She and her husband, Rex, were active supporters of and contributors to the Episcopal Church of Rwanda from 2005-2007. Mrs. Amini served on the Advisory Council for the Christ Healing Center and served on the board of San Antonio Metropolitan Ministries (SAMM) from 2005 through 2014 and was Board Chair in 2012-2013. She is currently on the Advisory Council of SAMM and is a board member of KIPP San Antonio (a charter school network) Teach for America, where she serves as vice-chair, and is a board member of the SAISD Foundation.

Mrs. Amini's passion for educational equity began when she served on the Board of SAMM, whose mission is to serve the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless. She noticed that many of those served by SAMM were mothers with young children.

While Mrs. Amini joined took on the role of Board Chair for SAMM, she requested that all meetings begin with a testimony from a homeless mother, who SAMM was serving. It became evident that the lack of quality education was a key deterimnator of poverty, instability, and eventually homelessness. It was at this time that Mrs. Amini began to realize that education can be the great equalizer, and she started to consider ways in which her time and effort could be used to create educational equity.

Mrs. Amini was drawn to Wendy Kopp's mission of, "One day, all children will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education" which led her to join the board of Teach for America.

In recent years, Mrs. Amini has become an an energetic supporter of City Year. She believes that an excellent education should be laser focused on equity and access and that every child should have a quality seat. 

As Mrs. Amini has become more involved in local education over the last several years, she has been encpuraged by the San Antonio Independent School District, who City Year partners with. She has seen SAISD forge partnerships and develop innovative initiatives designed to provide all students with excellent education options. The holistic approach adopted by SAISD, its willingness to collaborate with other education partners and the district's inclusion of the community has resulted in remarkable improvement in academic performance. This trajectory of performance should be celebrated and expanded. 

Mrs. Amini is a fierce advocate of education and works diligently to ensure that every student has the opportunity to suceed. We are thrilled to honor the Aminis for their hard work and support of students in San Antonio.

Rex Amini has been a resident of San Antonio since 1980 having graduated from public schools in Midland, Texas in 1968. He received a BA from Cornell University in 1972, a JD from the University of Texas Law School in 1975 and a BS in Geology from the University of Texas, Permian Basin in 1979.

He spent several years working for the Stubbeman law firm in Midland, Texas before joining Sage Energy Company in 1977. In 1990, Mr. Amini was one of four partners who purchased Sage. Since then, the company has conducted oil and gas exploration and production activities in a number of states but with a primary emphasis on Texas out of headquarters in San Antonio.

Mr. Amini was a board member of San Antonians Against lawsuit Abuse from 1996-1999 and served as its Chairman. He was an active member of Coker United Methodist Church and served in a number of administrative and leadership positions from approximately 1989-2000. He has served on the board of Young Life San Antonio and was its chair from 1999-2006. He and his wife, Deborah, were active supporters of and contributors to the Episcopal Church of Rwanda from 2005-2007. He was a committee member of KIPP San Antonio, a charter school network, and an adviser to Edify, a non-profit which finances private schools in the developing world. He currently serves on the board of Texas Biomedical Research Institute and is an active supporter of several local education initiatives including Teach for America, City Year and the SAISD Foundation.

He is married to Deborah Amini and has three grown daughters, Ashley, Erin and Brooke.