The Seedling Foundation - Advisory & Trustees

Ms. Sylvia Acevedo - President and CEO of CommuniCard ™ LLC
Acevedo, a bi-lingual industrial engineer, grew up as a first-generation American in a Spanish-speaking home. She saw the need for a product that would cross languages and aid in communication. Her creation, CommuniCards, have been developed to effectively reduce the language barrier between Spanish and English. CommuniCards require no translators, reference books or knowledge of pronunciation. Acevedo also developed CommuniCards for police departments to use during traffic stops. Ms. Acevedo was recently selected as the Hispanic Business Woman of the Year for the 2004 Hispanic Leadership and Business Excellence Awards by the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) for Region III. Most recently, she was named to the Executive Board of the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders.

Ms. Julia Cuba - Executive Director, GENaustin
Ms. Cuba's background in management, fundraising, media relations, and program development skills helps to further the GENaustin mission. Prior to her move to GENAustin, Ms. Cuba worked for nine years at the Girl Scouts – Lone Star Council to facilitate multi-agency programs to serve girls deemed “high risk” in various settings. She is perhaps best known for her work with a program she developed called Enterprising Girl Scouts Beyond Bars, or Troop 1500. Ms. Cuba led this collaborative partnership to provide counseling, mentorship, case management, peer-support and education to these girls whose mothers are in prison. This innovative and highly successful program was featured in an award-winning documentary called Troop 1500 which broadcast on PBS nationally to over 800,000 viewers in March 2006. As well as raising awareness about the challenges facing the children of incarcerated parents and taking a holistic view to address them, 96 percent of the girls in Troop 1500 have stayed in school, and 98 percent have stayed out of the penal system.

Prior to joining the Girl Scouts, Ms. Cuba worked for seven different agencies that focused on a variety of different women’s issues, including as a counselor for women who ended up in hospital emergency rooms after they had been raped. A recent graduate of the masters program at the University of Texas School of Social Work, Julia was also honored as the National Association of Social Workers/Texas Chapter’s Social Work Student of the Year.

Dr. Janis Guerrero-Thompson - AISD Executive Director of Planning & Community Relations
Dr. Janis Guerrero-Thompson earned her Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts, and Ph.D. in Education Administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Guerrero-Thompson oversees the District's communication, foundation development and Partners in Education Initiatives. She also oversees AISD's strategic planning and ombudsman/customer service programs. Dr. Guerrero Thompson comes to AISD from a similar position with the Charles A. Dana Center at UT-Austin. She previously worked as a project director for the Texas Education Agency and taught school in AISD.

Ms. Maria Hernandez - AISD Dropout Intervention Specialist
Ms. Maria Hernandez is a Dropout Intervention Specialist with AISD, working with students at Dobie Middle School, and an articulate advocate for children of the incarcerated and their caregivers. In addition, Ms. Hernandez is currently pursuing a degree in criminal justice.

Mr. Leroy Nellis - Budget Manager, Travis County
Since 1973, Mr. Nellis has worked in management of a broad range of accounting and administrative activities both in the private and public sectors. He has hands-on experience in development and implementation of policies and procedures for personnel management, budget planning and administration, staff development, management information systems and all areas of accounting and financial management. He currently serves as the Budget Manager for Travis County.

In 2003 Mr. Nellis was named Austin Partners in Education Mentor of the Year and since has been cited in numerous articles on the importance of mentoring. For the past 6 years, Mr. Nellis has been actively involved in recruiting mentors for AISD students and currently serves on the AISD Citizens’ Bond Advisory Committee.

Mr. Rourke has over 30 years of leadership experience in the software industry. His operational and startup successes leading teams in customer support, software development, and services development and delivery have earned him a reputation for being a results-oriented executive. His expertise includes strategic planning, operational management, and large-scale project management. Mr. Rourke is an expert in customer support design and implementation. He has worked across a spectrum of support operations from a high volume retail operation with one million calls per year, to a low volume, high complexity support center.

Mr. Rourke is currently serving as Vice President of Global Customer Support for Cadence Design Systems, the leading Electronic Design Automation software provider. Prior to joining Cadence, Mr. Rourke spent 19 years in technical and management leadership positions at IBM.

Mr. Rourke holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Notre Dame in Mathematics. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and two daughters.

Ms. Suki Steinhauser - Chief Executive Officer, Communities in Schools
Ms. Steinhauser joined Communities in Schools in 1994 and prior to becoming the CEO, she served as the agency's Director of Projects where she oversaw the expansion of its programming and budget. She holds a B.A. from Syracuse University and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to her duties at CIS, Ms. Steinhauser has used her experience and business acumen to improve the lives of disenfranchised youth and families through her volunteer work. She has served as the President of the Board of Directors for Austin Habitat for Humanity and was also a Peace Corps volunteer in Switzerland. Ms. Steinhauser is a graduate of the LeadershipAustin Class of 2007.