We are here to start something

Denise Barkhurst
President & Chief Executive Officer

Denise Barkhurst became the fourth President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas in August 2008. As CEO, she leads one of the largest Big Brothers Big Sisters organizations in the country serving 14 counties in South Texas. Her passion for making a difference in her community and the future drove her to success in the social profit sector. During her tenure with the organization, the agency increased the number of children served from 500 to over 3,000 in seven years. Agency revenues also increased to over three million dollars during this period.

Denise first became involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters in 1995 in Oklahoma where she and her family were stationed with the Air Force. When her family moved back home to San Antonio she began her work with the South Texas Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliate as Vice President of Programs in 1999, and was promoted to Executive Vice President in 2002, where she provided leadership and inspiration for the employees while also overseeing day-to-day management of agency operations.

Denise graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. She is a Big Sister to Little Brother Christian, age 12, since 2004 and the proud mother of Ariel, a 22-year May 2010 graduate of Trinity University, Lacey, age 17, a senior at Macarthur High School and Zoe, age 8, a third grader at Thousand Oaks Elementary School.

Armen Babajanian
Chief Operations Officer

Armen Babajanian is currently the Chief Operations Officer for Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in political science and developmental psychology. He completed his Masters in Political Science from the University of Texas, San Antonio (UTSA). Armen worked for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Houston for 2 years before moving to Kerrville in 2003 to restart and run operations for Big Brothers Big Sisters serving Kerr County. In 2009, Armen relocated to San Antonio to continue to work with Big Brothers Big Sisters and focus on communications, marketing, partnerships & public relations, as VP of External Communications. In 2014, Armen relocated to Warsaw, Poland to help start and sustain the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Poland affiliate as their Executive Director.

Armen has also been a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer, worked for Head Start and has been a Big Brother mentor to Tyler and Jesse. Finally, Armen has been involved with the Kerrville Area Chamber of Commerce as an Ambassador, was on the committee for Kerrville’s ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and on the Former Texas Rangers Foundation committee. He has served on the Government Affairs committee for the San Antonio Greater Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Rotary Club and was actively involved with the American Chamber of Commerce of Poland.

Chuck Altmiller
Vice President of Finance

Chuck has served as the accountant for Big Brothers Big Sisters since 2002, and was named Vice President of Finance in 2009. He graduated from Texas Tech in 1984 and started working for Humana Hospital in Abilene for a year and a half, before being transferred to Humana San Antonio. Chuck then worked as Assistant. Finance Director at Laurel Ridge Hospital for 10 years. In 1997, he moved to Jacksonville Florida, and worked with Planned Parenthood, Baptist Health System and WJWB-TV. Chuck returned to San Antonio in 2000 to be closer to family, working for Operational Technologies until July 2002, when he started with Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Hugh Hawthorne Farr
Chief Development Officer 

Hugh Hawthorne Farr has been in the Nonprofit Development in San Antonio for over 15 years. He joined the Big Brothers Big Sisters team in 2016, and advocates for community investment in mentoring. He leads the Fund Development team in raising critical dollars to support the program. 

Hawthorne received his BA and MA from St. Mary's University and joined Big Brothers Big Sisters from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer, dancing, and cooking healthy meals. 

Christina Martinez
Vice President of External Relations

Christina Martinez has been with the agency for a little over 8 months, however her relationship with us began almost six years ago when she became a Big Sister to Julisa.   Christina and Julisa are still matched today and enjoy shopping, going for walks, and cooking dinner.

Previously, Christina led San Antonio Youth Literacy to triple the size of its program in just three years. She also helped to strategically place the organization on the map and ensure that SAYL was seen as the leading early literacy organization in the city. Christina began working in the non-profit sector over 15 years ago at the Witte Museum, and since then she has also served at the Girl Scouts.

In Christina’s new role as VP of External Relations she is overseeing the agency’s partnerships, external messaging and marketing department. She is also working closely with our fund development and special event staff to ensure that all aspects of the organization are mission focused with the desired outcome of matching more children with caring adult role models. She is excited to be part of our agency and looks forward to helping Big Brothers Big Sisters improve its external messaging.