Barbara Canales was born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas. She graduated from Ray High School as valedictorian, and thus earned a full academic scholarship to the University of Texas at Austin. Barbara received her Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering in 1989. In 1992, she received her Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Houston. After living in Houston, Texas, for ten years, Barbara moved back to her hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas. From 1992 to 2004, Barbara was a co-owner of BNP Petroleum Corp., an independent oil and gas exploration and production company involved with natural gas development in south Texas. In 2004, Barbara formed her own exploration company, Canales Exploration LLC, and she currently serves as President of this company. Barbara has been recognized for various accomplishments. She is the recipient of the 2005 Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas Las Estrellas Award. In 2006, the University of Texas College of Engineering bestowed Barbara Canales with the Young Outstanding Engineering Alumni Award.

Barbara currently serves on the Driscoll Children’s Hospital Foundation Board, and on The University of Texas Marine Science Advisory Board, and on the University of Texas at Austin Development Board. In the past, Barbara has served on the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Foundation Board, Texas State Aquarium board, South Texas Institute for the Arts board, VICTORY (a division of the American Cancer Society), and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Higher Education Planning Committee. She has served as a volunteer for numerous charitable organizations, but has been most passionate about the Ronald McDonald House over the past four (4) years. Recently, she received the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Leadership Award. She is a lifetime member of MANA, a national Latina organization.

Barbara is the mother of five incredible children: Caroline (age 18), David (age 16), Natalie (age 13), Daniel (age 11), and Jacqueline (age 10). She resides in Corpus Christi, Texas, and is the founder of the Ready or Not Foundation.

Lynae Canales, M.D. is currently a pediatrician in private practice in Corpus Christi, Texas. She was born in Kankakee, Illinois and raised in Essex, Connecticut. She graduated Valedictorian from Valley Regional High School in 1991. She attended Dartmouth College where she graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She received her medical degree and the Janet M. Glasgow Memorial Achievement Citation from Baylor College of Medicine in 1999. She completed her pediatric residency training at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas.

She currently enjoys practicing general pediatrics in Corpus Christi where she resides with her husband, Hector, and three sons, Andrew, Samuel and Benjamin.