Community Advisory Board

Community Advisory Board

Within the central Texas area there are many organizations and individuals that seek to promote gender equity and to understand and improve the lives of women, girls, and families. We applaud their efforts and endeavor to provide scholarly support for their work. Our Community Advisory Board includes representatives from business, the arts, education, and advocacy organizations that are involved in such efforts. We plan to work with these distinguished community leaders to plan programs and workshops that allow our faculty and students tolearance from the experience and expertise of community members and that provide scholarly support to groups seeking to understand and advance the position of women and girls. We will also seek the board's assistance in our development efforts, so that we can achieve financial security for our programs.

Linda Aaker - Attorney, author of A Women's Odyssey, active participant in environmental and political causes. She is a freelance writer and the former Chief of the Antitrust Division of the Texas Attorney General's office. She also served on the advisory board of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Lynn Bradshaw - Practicing lawyer for the past 22 years, in Houston, Dallas and Austin. For the majority of her career, she has been fortunate to represent individuals against corporate interests.  Because much of her work has involved death caused by occupational exposures, many of her clients have been widows; her life has been touched by each of them and the strength and power they have shown in the worst circumstances.  Lynn is also a single mom raising 2 teenagers, Zachary and Katie, whom she regards as her biggest reward in this life and the next. Recently, she took a few years for self improvement and reflection and began pursuing a Masters' degree in Art History with a portfolio in Gender and Women's Studies.

Martha Cotera- As an independent scholar working with a concentration in Latina feminism and political development, she has worked for the University of Texas-Austin for more than 30 years and was instrumental in creating the Mexican American Library Program of the Benson Latin American Collection at UT/Austin. A noted historian and author, Cotera has been a key player in establishing some of the most influential Latino organizations in the country.

Lulu Flores - Attorney and community leader. Currently, Flores is President of the National Women’s Political Caucus, President of the MexicArte Museum Board, and on the board of Leadership Austin.  In the past, she served as President of the Texas Political Caucus, legislative coordinator for the Mexican-American Bar Association, and two terms as chair of the Women's Advocacy Board.

Rosa Hernandez - President of Central Texas Utility Services LLC

Cynthia Levinson - Educational consultant, community activist, and author. Levinson used to work for the Texas Education Agency. She is active in the Austin Interfaith Alliance andin the Breast Cancer Resource Center.

Catherine Mauzy - Attorney and community activist. Mauzy is regarded as one of the leading family law practitioners in the state. She is also involved in reproductive rights and other progressive causes. She is currently the chairperson of the NARAL Pro-Choice Board. Last fall, she helped to lead the anti-Prop 2 campaign.

Bettye Nowlin - 

Rachel Muir - Named as one of Austin's Most Loved Women in 2005 by Austin Monthly magazine and a finalist for the 2007 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, Rachel Muir founded Girl start at age 26, with $500 and a credit card, in order to empower girls in math, science and technology. Ms. Muir graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with Honors. Ms. Muir has presented around the country at events, conferences and workshops and is a proud recipient of Oprah’s Use Your Life Award. 

Nancy Scanlan - Professional award-winning photographer and long-time community leader. In addition to her work with Save Our Springs Alliance in Austin, she is a board member of KMFA, classical radio station in Austin, TX; Texas Photographic Society, and Advisory Councils of the University of Texas School of Architecture and the Ransom Center.

Judge Bea Ann Smith - Justice on the Texas Court ofAppeals, Third District. She also is the first Texas judge to serve as president of the National Association of Women Judges. She is on the faculty of the Institute of Judicial Administration at New York University Law School and is an adjunct professor at the University of Texas Law School. In 1999 she won the Outstanding Achievement award by the Women Lawyers Association. She is a member of Leadership Texas and the Texas Journal of Women and the Law and the Journal of Texas Administrative Law.

Carmen Tawil - VP, Diversified Communication Engineering, Inc.

Linda Webb - Principal of Garza Independence High School in AISD