2022 Conference Speakers

Karen Anderson has served as the Executive Director of the Red Oak ISD Education Foundation for 13 years. Funding priorities include innovative classroom grants as well as support in teacher recognition and district initiatives. She also provides oversight of the district volunteer and Community Partner programs.

In her 13th year as director of the College Station ISD Education Foundation, Teresa has a strong passion to bring excellence to public schools. As a product of public schools and a 1988 journalism graduate of Texas A&M University, she has worked in many areas including communications, public relations, graphic design, and sales. She is a 2015 Texas A&M College of Education Dean’s Roundtable recipient and has won numerous Texas School Public Relations Association Star Awards and Texas Education Foundation Network awards. Teresa has been happily married to her Aggie Professor husband, Mark, for 33 years and they have 3 sons, 3 daughter-in-loves, and 7 grandchildren.

Brian Brandt has spent his life supporting the transformation of organizations and individuals.

He is the President of Core Insights, a Texasbased company providing board and staff training, strategic planning, leadership coaching, and keynotes for businesses, nonprofits, and associations. He regularly trains and speaks on topics including board engagement, leadership, effective communication, and non-profit issues.

Brian holds a Master of Global Leadership, as well as a Bachelor of Accounting. Brian serves on the board of several non-profit agencies. He coauthored The Ambassador’s Journey: A Parable About Nonprofit Board Leadership and Blind Spots: What you don’t know CAN hurt you.

Janet Bubert is a shareholder in the Public Education Section of Underwood Law Firm. Janet has significant experience advising and representing school districts, charter schools, and education foundations. Her work with foundations ranges from the development of new organizations to assisting established foundations with legal compliance issues and overcoming other organization challenges. Janet regularly provides training for boards, administrators and staff, and she is a frequent speaker at education conferences. Following law school, Janet served as a briefing attorney for the Honorable James A. Baker and the Honorable Michael Schneider, Justices of the Supreme Court of Texas.

Matthew Busby loves watching students better their lives … by facilitating donors meaningful philanthropy. He leads the fundraising team as the Director of Development for Del Mar College in Corpus Christi.

Prior to joining Del Mar College in 2019, he spent ten years at two other Texas community colleges, serving in financial aid, academic advising and fundraising positions.

A sixth-generation Texan, he has a B.A. from Baylor University, an A.A. from Temple College and has earned his Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE). Outside of work, he loves investing time with his wife, children and friends; traveling; dancing and genealogy.

Shawn Callaway started his career in nonprofit management in 1993 and has accrued almost 30 years of experience in nonprofit management. From religious and education to business nonprofits, Shawn has served in most roles of nonprofits from Board Member all the way to President/CEO. Under Shawn’s leadership two different local Chambers have received Five Star Accreditation from the U.S. Chamber. Shawn currently serves as the first executive director of the award-winning Aledo ISD Education Foundation, which has raised over three million dollars since its founding in 2013. Shawn is actively involved in pro-education legislation and activism. Shawn earned a B.A. in Communications/Mass Communications from Texas Tech University and holds certifications in adolescent education from Southern Methodist University and Princeton University. Shawn & his wife Anita, a High School Principal have two sons, Cameron, a Cadet at The United States Military Academy at West Point and Kade, a high school student.

Lisa Cox has been the President of the GISD Education Foundation since 2014. Lisa began her non-profit career with Junior Achievement of Abilene and continued that work in Austin and Fort Worth. She has more than 30 years of nonprofit education experience. Lisa earned a BBA with a concentration in Marketing from McMurry University in Abilene, TX.

Cameka L. Crawford is the executive director of The Richardson ISD Foundation, where she provides strategic leadership to advance the organization’s mission. Before coming to Richardson, Cameka was the CEO of the Keller ISD Education Foundation, where she created a scholarship that helped more than 1,500 high school students take Advanced Placement exams, allowing them to earn college credits and save more than $1.6 million in tuition. Cameka has more than 17 years of experience providing strategic, financial, organizational, and program leadership that has helped organizations like the National Domestic Violence Hotline, Verizon, and African American Museum in Dallas.

Laurie Cromwell, CFRE was the first woman elected to an at large position on the local school board, the first woman school board president, the first president of the local education foundation, the first woman president of the local Economic Development Commission, and a founding Board member of the local Chamber of Commerce. She was the first person to receive Chamber Citizen of the Year and the first to receive the Outstanding Service Award by the Texas Pioneer Foundation. She started her mission in the nonprofit field in 1984 and in 2003 founded Foundation Innovation, a consulting firm that has guided hundreds of education foundations and school boards to success.

Mary Sue Daniel is a Client Liaison for Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP – Dallas Office. To better understand and connect with the communities she serves, Mrs. Daniel devotes a significant amount of time assisting various organizations. She has served on the board of the Irving Schools Foundation as the Vice-Chair of the Programs Committee since 2013. One of the Committee’s signature programs is Spark Tank, a competitive grant program that awards funds for innovative, enriching, and out-of-the-ordinary classroom projects and learning experiences for students of all ages across Irving ISD.

Jen is the Meadows Institute’s Vice President of Education Policy and Regional Development and is based in Austin. In this role, Jen works to develop and implement a statewide strategy for student mental health policy across the education continuum.

Jen has spent the last twenty-five years working in nonprofit and education policy, first as a program and development director for nonprofit and higher education institutions, and later as served as the executive director of the KDKHarman Foundation, a family foundation based in Austin.

In 2011 while at the KDK-Harman Foundation, Jen founded the Texas Education Grantmakers Advocacy Consortium (TEGAC), a grantmaker collaborative that has grown to over 50 private family, corporate and community foundations across the state working to promote, protect and improve Texas public and higher education through advocacy and public policy. In this role, Jen worked closely with Texas philanthropists, education advocates, and policymakers to identify and develop policy solutions for the state’s most critical education challenges. Most recently, TEGAC (which was renamed Philanthropy Advocates this year) merged with Educate Texas at the Communities Foundation of Texas, where Jen became the director of policy at Educate Texas in 2019.

Erica V. Ekwurzel, CFRE, is founder of CivicAIM, a philanthropic consulting practice focused on increasing the capacity of grantmakers. With experience as a professional fundraiser, research scholar in philanthropic strategy, grantmaking program officer, and consultant focused on social impact, Erica brings extensive perspective to her work. Additionally, Erica is a consultant with Foundation Innovation. Erica holds a BA from Austin College and a Master of Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. She is a member of the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers and is a 21/64 Certified MultiGenerational Philanthropy Advisor.

Valerie was one of three who envisioned the formation of the foundation and was instrumental in the organization and development of the Sanger Education Foundation. She brings over 30 years of experience in non-profit fundraising having served with for-profit and non-profit organizations along with providing training with non-profit organizations to build strong board leadership, best practices, organizational structure and program development. In 1999 Mrs. Foster was chosen by the Texas State Board of Education as a “Heroes for Children” for contributions and dedication to Public Education.

Additionally, she was named Citizen of the Year by the Sanger Area Chamber of Commerce in 2005 and again in 2013. Valerie served as a past TEFN Conference Committee until moving onto the TEFN Advisory Committee in 2018. She earned her CEFL in September 2016 through NSFA and the National University in San Diego.

Hired as a consultant in 2009, Judy has served as the Executive Director of the San Antonio ISD (SAISD) Foundation since January 2014. Prior to roles in K-12 education, she launched the Service Learning Center at St. Mary’s University where she served as Director and adjunct faculty and earned national recognition. Judy has a background in program development, evaluation, fundraising and grant writing. She has served as an evaluator for TEA funded after-school programs, for national and international grant programs, and for K-16 service-learning education programs. Judy currently serves on the Advisory Council of the Texas Education Foundation Network.

Maya Golden Bethany is an award-winning multimedia journalist, speaker, novelist and founder of the 1 in 3 Foundation. Her debut novel, The Return Trip, is set to release in November 2023. She’s been featured on Bally Sports, Fox Sports College, ESPN 2 and 3 and other broadcast mediums and speaks for organizations such as the Children’s Advocacy Center, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) and Kids Aspiring to Dream. The Texas A&M alum’s career includes experience as a sports anchor/reporter and television production editor, newscast writer and field producer.

Sean has served a variety of nonprofits professionally since 1999. Before launching his independent consulting practice, he served as Mission Capital’s Chief Financial & Operations Officer where he made improvements that reduced waste, generated new revenue, boosted staff productivity and morale, grew financial transparency, and shrank risk. Over his career, he’s helped boards and management to navigate complex situations and consistently left the organizations stronger and ready for their next stage of growth.

Sean holds a Master’s degree and Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Texas at Austin.

Mita Havlick serves as the Executive Director of the Dallas Education Foundation, the direct philanthropic partner of Dallas ISD.

Previously, Mita served as Executive Director of Emanuel Community Center in Old East Dallas, chairperson of Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa’s Districtwide Advisory Committee, and public education advisor to US Rep. Colin Allred. Mita has worked over the last fifteen years advocating for equity and access to advance educational opportunities for all Dallas ISD students.

With degrees in Physics and Computer Science and experience in leadership, technical sales, program management, and consulting, Mita has chosen to invest her time in the non-profit, public education ecosystem.

Lauren Holloway has her B.S. in International Business from Trinity University and her M.S. in International Political Economy from UTD. After serving as a Peace Corp Volunteer in Senegal, West Africa, Lauren began her career in Development at the North Texas Food Bank where the team raised more than $110 million in three years for its annual and capital campaigns.

After 6+ years in Individual and Corporate Giving at NTFB, Lauren became Executive Director of the Highland Park Education Foundation in 2018 and is now raising over $2 million and granting over $3 million annually to support Highland Park ISD.

Natalie Kelinske joined Waco Foundation in 2015 and serves as the Senior Director of Communications and Donor Services. She graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism/Public Relations and brings more than fifteen years of marketing and fundraising experience to her position.

Natalie is a 2014 National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health fellow and a 2008 graduate of Leadership Pipeline, a Leadership Texas program. She previously served on the Prosper Waco Health Steering Committee, chaired the Women’s Health Workgroup and served as a member of the West Hospital Authority Board. She is currently serving as a member of the West City Council.

Randy is approaching his tenth year as the Executive Director of the Mesquite ISD Education Foundation. Randy and his wife grew up in Mesquite, TX and both currently work for the district. Prior to joining the Education Foundation, Randy was involved in producing a large special event in North Texas for 11 years to benefit Children’s Medical Center of Dallas.

Dr. Sean Maika is the Superintendent of Schools for the North East ISD in San Antonio. He assumed the superintendent role in 2019 after serving as the Assistant Superintendent for Campus Administration and Instruction. Sean has served as an Executive Director for Campus Leadership, principal at middle and elementary school as well as a teacher.

Allison Miller has been with the Frisco Independent School District since 1999. Prior to taking on her role as director of the foundation in 2006, she worked at Frisco High School and in the superintendent’s office. Allison also served as a board member on the foundation chairing the community relations committee. Moving to Frisco in the early nineties and working in one of the fastest growing cities and school districts in the nation, Allison has seen first-hand the impact such growth can have on a district and its education foundation as both their greatest challenge and their biggest inspiration. When she moved to Frisco in the early nineties, the distinct was home to four campuses and just over 2,000 students. Today, in 2022 Frisco ISD is home to 73 campuses serving more than 65,000 students. Currently, Allison serves as the Director of Community Relations for Frisco ISD and as the Director of the Frisco Education Foundation.

Suzi Pagel, CFRE (Certified Fundraising Executive), has served as Midway ISD’s Director of Development and the Executive Director of the Midway ISD Education Foundation since 2002.

Suzi holds a B.S.Ed. from Baylor University. She has taught in Texas and California, served as the volunteer coordinator for the City of Woodway and the program coordinator of Keep Knoxville Beautiful. She is the recipient of the Junior League of Waco’s Golden Wing Award for outstanding volunteerism.

Suzi also consults with other school districts to establish or revitalize education foundations through Foundation Innovation of Buda, Texas.

Clint Pulver has spent his professional career traveling the world helping organizations diminish turnover and create customer loyalty that lasts.

As the leading authority on Employee Retention, he has worked with thousands of individuals at all levels of various organizations. Based on years of his research as The Undercover Millennial®, Clint’s #1 best-selling book “I Love It Here” was released in April 2021.

Clint has been on America’s Got Talent and in movies with actors like Jack Black and Jon Heder. He also won an Emmy-Award in 2020 for his storytelling and film directing. He loves flying helicopters in his spare time, and also enjoys long walks to the fridge.

Robin Ritchey-Roy has been serving as the Executive Director of the Calallen Education Foundation for six years. She began her career as an Officer for the U.S. Army then spent the next 20 years leading, managing, and training corporate teams across the US and Canada.

She transitioned into education to help kids, and found a perfect fit at the Calallen Education Foundation where she enjoys working with the board of directors, teachers, students and donor partners. Robin has been married for 30 years and has two sons and a daughter.

Angela Seaworth, Director of Philanthropic Initiatives & Capacity Building at the Center for Nonprofits and Philanthropy at Texas A&M University, has 25+ years of experience in the nonprofit sector as a professional fundraiser, consultant, and professor. She developed fundraising as a functional expertise early in her career and has consulted with multiple education foundations in Texas. She has focused on advancing the field through nonprofit education and research, and served on AFP Global committees as an ACFRE. Seaworth earned her Ph.D. in Philanthropic Studies at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and her MBA from the University of Chicago.

Sarah Thomas is a Senior National Account Executive for American Solutions for Business – a marketing company that focuses on print, promotional products and apparel. In 2010, she moved from Philadelphia to Texas and has lived in Irving, Texas for over 7 years and on the ISF board for nearly 5 years! When she isn’t working on Irving Schools Foundation projects or selling items with logos on them… Sarah enjoys all things related to food, fitness and fun!

Donna Wald brings a breadth of experience in nonprofit management, higher education and public-school administration. Donna’s experience includes leadership roles in university advancement and development, alumni relations, community relations and board governance. Donna began her post-grad career in university admissions.

A graduate of Oklahoma State University, Donna holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Art in Speech Communication with research in Persuasive Communication and Narcissism.

With her extensive marketing and promotions experience, Donna has worked with teams to create communication campaigns geared towards multi-level audiences and has authored numerous strategic marketing materials.

In her spare time, Donna can be found behind the podium teaching at several of the Dallas-area community colleges and serving as a volunteer to organizations promoting education and academic pursuits.