A new fiscal year often triggers some change in the composition of our Board of Directors. FY 2024 is no exception. As of July 1, 2023, we welcome a new Board President, Deanna DeHaven, and thank Immediate Past President Katherine Mudge for her two years of leadership. Katherine will continue serving on the board for one more year. Thanks are also due to Earind Carter for her past service; she concluded her board service during FY 2023.
This article shares committee and leadership positions for the FY 2024 Board of Directors. We also welcome three new members to the Board, first introduced at our Annual Meeting. Their biographies are included below. Other board member bios are shared on the Leadership webpage.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Deanna DeHaven – President
Jessica Forrest – Treasurer, Chair of Finance
Allison Marshall – Secretary, Chief Administrative Officer, People
Katherine Mudge – Immediate Past President, Governance
DIRECTORS
Claudia Barlow – Director, Chair of People Committee
Risé Candelaria – Director, Co-Chair of Strategic Planning Committee
Simone Talma Flowers – Director, Chair of Governance Committee
Lillian Gray – Director
Ami Kane – Director, Governance Committee
Tracey Nelson – Director, Co-Chair of Strategic Planning Committee
Denise Shannon – Director, DEIB Committee
Margaret von Flatern – Director, Chair of Advancement Committee
Ricki Wax – Director
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR NEWEST DIRECTORS
Claudia Barlow is an experienced global business executive who is passionate about advising senior leaders about strategic talent topics and coaching individuals to success, professionally and personally. Claudia earned a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin.
At Accenture, Claudia reinvented herself multiple times over three decades, rising to Managing Director and serving as the chief people officer for two multi-billion-dollar businesses.
As a consultant, she served clients in the state, local and federal government as well as in higher education.
She pivoted to Human Resources where she leveraged her consulting skills to build trusted relationships with senior business leaders across industries and around the world, advising them how to best enable and support their people to serve clients and grow their business, and coaching them personally as they advanced their careers.
She partnered with C-suite business leaders to develop and implement talent strategies to drive business growth, including multi-million-dollar talent investment initiatives, and other strategic priorities, such as leadership development, inclusion & diversity, culture/engagement/employee experience, well-being, and the future of work.
Claudia loves building and leading diverse, high performing teams by caring deeply about the people she works with, both personally and professionally, and ensuring they have what they need to be their best: always have their back, remove roadblocks, and make sure they feel seen, safe, appreciated, and valued.
Risé Lara Candelaria earned her B.A. and M.A. in Communication Studies from Texas Tech University, and a Ph.D. in Communication Arts & Sciences from the Pennsylvania State University. She is currently a Professor of Comm Studies, and the Department Chair for Comm Studies/Journalism/Tech Comm at Austin Community College.
In her spare time, Risé volunteers with Impact Austin as a member of the Strategic Planning Committee and has served in various roles on Grant Review Committees as well. She is also a member of the Alpha Delta Pi Greater Austin Area Alumnae Association, as well as the Hispanic Women's Network of Texas.
Ami Kane, MPA, CFRE, is a nonprofit executive, feminist, and philanthropist. She began volunteering with Girls Giving Grants (g3) in 2010 and became an Impact Austin member in 2014.
Ami currently serves as Girls Empowerment Network’s first Deputy Director. She is originally from Indianapolis, which is where her passion for ethical nonprofit leadership began, through undergraduate studies in Political Science and Gender (Butler University) as well her Master of Public Affairs degree, Nonprofit Management concentration (Indiana University). Ami is a Certified Fund Raising Executive, member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), and the Leadership Austin Emerge class of 2014. She was named an Austin Under 40 nonprofit service finalist in 2017 and the AFP Greater Austin’s Chapter Outstanding Fundraising Professional of the Year for 2023.
