Early life and education
Altamirano was born in San Juan, Texas, and raised in Mission, Texas, both in the Rio Grande Valley. [6] His father’s deportation when he was 17 and his mother’s career as a teacher influenced his early interest in government and civic participation. [7]
Altamirano graduated from Sharyland High School in Mission, Texas. [8] He earned a Bachelor of Arts in government from the University of Texas at Austin in 2013, where he was selected as an Archer Fellow. [9] In 2022, he completed a Master of Public Administration at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he was a U.S. Latino Leadership Fellow at the Center for Public Leadership, a Social Innovation + Change Initiative Fellow, and a Charles Edison Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. [7] [10]
Career
Early public service
Altamirano began his public service career in 2011 as a legislative aide during the 82nd Texas Legislature in the House of Representatives, serving as a Moreno/Rangel Legislative Leadership Fellow. [11] In 2012, as part of the Archer Fellowship Program, he worked in the Office of the United States Trade Representative and in the United States Senate for Senator John Kerry. [1] [2] [12] Altamirano also served as Public Involvement Specialist at the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (AAMPO), where he supported regional transportation planning and infrastructure policy across the San Antonio area. [2] [13]
Entrepreneurship
He moved to San Antonio in 2013 and in 2016 co-founded Cityflag, a civic technology startup that created the first gamified 311 platform in the United States. [14] Its flagship application, 311SA, [15] was adopted by the City of San Antonio, the nation’s seventh-largest city. [2] [16] The platform was recognized by the Voto Latino Innovators Challenge, supported by the MacArthur Foundation. [16] [17] [18] Cityflag was incubated through Techstars, where Altamirano refined its model for civic engagement and technology-driven community building. [19]
Building on Cityflag’s success, he co-founded Irys Technologies, which develops AI-powered, cybersecurity-enabled platforms for governments, defense agencies, and infrastructure clients. [20] [21] Under his leadership, Irys participated in the Harvard Innovation Labs program, which supported the company’s early growth and development, and went on to provide services to the U.S. Air Force. [3] [22] [23]
In 2023, Irys acquired Diversified Technical Services Inc. (DTSI), one of San Antonio’s oldest cybersecurity and IT services firms, expanding into federal contracting and aiming to position the company as a prime defense and modernization partner. [3] [24] The company has also worked internationally with clients including Arcadis and Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks. [25] [26]
Nonprofit and civic leadership
In 2024, Altamirano co-founded the Better Futures Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to workforce development, civic technology, and regional innovation across the South Texas Triangle. [28] Through its Civic Tech Scholars program, the institute trains college students and partners with the City of San Antonio’s Public Works and VIA Transit, and hosts the Workforce of the Future: Policy & Civic Lab conference at UTSA. [29] [30] [31]
In 2025 he was named the new CEO of Tech Bloc, a tech advocacy non-profit formed in 2014 to help grow and advocate for San Antonio's tech sector. In his new role, Altamirano said he will focus on improving digital and artificial intelligence literacy and bring cybersecurity, bioscience, manufacturing and AI companies to San Antonio to create accessible technology jobs. [32]
Internationally, Altamirano serves as an associate expert with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Task Force on Digitalization in Energy, where he contributes to integrating digital technologies into energy systems and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. [33] [34] [35] He also co-founded the Chad Innovation Hub in N’Djamena, launched in partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Reciprocal Mandela Fellowship to promote entrepreneurship and digital inclusion in Central Africa. [36] [37]
Altamirano served as vice chair of Port San Antonio, a public entity established to redevelop the former Kelly Air Force Base into an innovation campus hosting more than 80 companies and generating approximately $5.6 billion in annual economic activity. [5] [38]
Other business ventures
Altamirano is co-owner of Shotgun House Coffee Roasters, a San Antonio coffee company that has expanded into Whole Foods stores across Texas. Beyond its retail presence, the coffee shop serves as a community hub, providing space for students and residents on the city’s West Side. [39]
Political career
In 2024, Altamirano announced his candidacy for mayor of San Antonio. Running as a first-time candidate, he finished third out of 27 candidates, outperforming all sitting city council members. [4] His campaign emphasized economic development, childcare, small business support, public safety, and infrastructure, alongside a proposal for a South Texas Triangle Economic Alliance to strengthen regional collaboration. [6] [40] [41]
He received endorsements from community leaders including former Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and University of Texas at San Antonio quarterback Frank Harris. [42] [43]
Following the campaign, Altamirano launched Plan 210, a political action committee dedicated to supporting civic participation and policy innovation in San Antonio. [4] [40]
Personal life
Altamirano lives in San Antonio with his wife, Anna Fernandes, and their child, André. He is the son of Amelia Zavala and Alberto Altamirano, who returned to the United States as a permanent resident after being deported for ten years. He has a brother, Alejandro Altamirano, and a sister, Anna Gabriela Altamirano, a YouTuber with an audience of more than one million subscribers. [50] [51]
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