Annie Linebarger
Annie was born and raised in Austin and attended high school in Bonners Ferry, Idaho where she developed a love of nature, hiking, and camping. She attended UT Austin (Hook-em!) and rowed for Texas Crew, then studied abroad in Sydney, Australia for a year. After receiving her B.S. in Biology in 2008, she backpacked around the world, then spent several months in West Africa volunteering at a hospital. In the spirit of adventure, she settled back in Sydney for medical school where she lived before moving back to Texas and completing Family Medicine residency in Galveston.
Annie is passionate about preventative and integrative medicine, mindfulness/meditation, and educating patients on the importance of mental health in relation to physical well being. She and her husband, Jason, have three children, Twila, Wesley, and Wyatt.
Bailey Harrington
Bailey has over 15 years of entitlement, design, permitting, and construction support experience spanning over $1.5 billion in real estate development projects, and prior to moving to Austin was a commissioned Engineer Officer in the U.S. Army serving a year-long deployment in RC(S) Afghanistan. Bailey holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point and is an active member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the Real Estate Council of Austin (RECA), and Leadership Austin.
Carrie Hicks
Development Committee Co-Chair
Carrie Hicks grew up in Southern California and graduated from Vanderbilt University with a BA in economics before pursuing interior design in New York and LA. Eventually she and her husband, Robert, found their way to Austin (spoiler: he’s from Austin) and currently live with their three children and one dog just steps from Pease Park. Carrie feels strongly about supporting Austin’s public green spaces as well as fostering community through educational outreach and engagement.
Catherine Lucchesi
President
Catherine has a lifelong passion for connecting diverse leaders and communities through movements. A graduate of NYU and McCombs School of Business, she has over 8 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. During her career she organized citywide programs serving over 110,000 people and raised over $57 million for the Austin community. Passionate about building equity in green spaces and conservation, she is committed to supporting the future of Pease Park. Catherine is a Young Patron of Yellowstone Forever and chair of Austin Speech Labs OWAAT committee. She and her husband, Tucker, enjoy long walks in the park with their dog, Louis.
Charlton Lewis
Charlton is a Senior Lecturer and the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, where he earned a Post-Professional Master and a Bachelor of Architecture. He has taught continuously at UTSOA since 2006, in design and construction courses, and in seminar courses such as Race and Gender: By Design, which examines the relationship of design relative to narratives of race, gender, equity, and diversity. Over the last several years he has served in various service capacities on both UTSOA and university levels, including as Co-Chair of the UTSOA Committee of Diversity and Equity, and on the University’s Graduate Education Task Force. He is currently the faculty liaison for the UTSOA chapter of NOMAS (National Organization of Minority Architecture Students), and a faculty representative for the Design Futures Public Interest Design Forum. He is also currently serving as the Educator member on the Texas Society of Architects, and on the University’s Faculty Advisory Committee on Budgets.
Diana Anzaldúa
Diana Anzaldua is a first gen psychosomatics therapist dedicated to embodied trauma alchemy. She is the founder of the award winning health and wellness centers; Austin Trauma Therapy Center and Contigo Wellness. Diana is a social change activist and influential leader in community-organized mental health equity and reform in historically marginalized communities. Her vision of decolonized healing and anti-oppressive trauma-informed leadership create safe spaces for other survivors to grow, embrace their resilience, and heal; in-community with others. She is passionate about the connections between healing and nature and sees parks as an essential component of mental health and wellbeing.
Gerardo Gandy
With a well-cultured background in architecture, interior design, and brand strategy, Gerardo works with some of Austin’s largest developers. He is on the front lines of creating the vision for how the urban, cultural, and architectural landscape is transforming in Austin. As a member of the steering committee for Gensler’s Community Impact Program, Gerardo helps steer the firm’s vision for community impact by focusing efforts and resources on initiatives ranging from non-profit collaborations, mentorship programs, and community engagement events. Gerardo was named the 2018 Associate Member of the year by the AIA Austin and is the recipient of the 2020 Austin Under 40 Awards in the category of Architecture, Construction, and Engineering.
John Donisi
Vision Plan Implementation Committee Chair
John Philip Donisi is an attorney and civic volunteer. He has served in leadership roles for various nonprofits, including Preservation Austin, Envision Central Texas, and the Heritage Society of Austin. He and his family reside in the Snead-Rieck House, overlooking Shoal Creek and Live Oak Meadow.
Katharine Wilson Bayer
Board Past President
Katharine Wilson Bayer is a designer based out of Austin. She can often be found in one of her hometown parks, marveling at the peace and openness of greenspaces. Her objective at the conservancy is to creatively approach solution making and expand understanding of the park's resources while remaining aware of context, consequence, and value. Her framework for understanding is influenced by aesthetic theory, creative cultural activism, literature and its relation to landscape, and capacity building through community involvement. With delight and itchy curiosity, she strives toward constructing landscapes that enrich and enliven.
Laura Billings Key
Board President Elect
Laura Key, a native of Louisiana, has a deep love for the outdoors. Her time spent living in San Francisco and New York City, where she frequented Golden Gate Park and Central Park, deepened her appreciation for the vital role green spaces play in shaping great cities. Now in Austin, she's passionate about preserving the city's first and oldest park, Pease Park, where she cherishes the unique flora and fauna it supports. Laura, along with her husband Garrett, their two children, and their dog Stevie Licks, can often be found enjoying and staying active in Pease Park.
Mary Tipps
Mary has been walking the trail at Pease Park since college. She lives in Old Enfield and can be found most weekends at the park walking her dogs.
A Houston native, Mary has a degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas. She currently is the Executive Director of a statewide advocacy association.
Previously to the Conservancy, Mary served as Board Chair for Dress for Success and volunteered with the Austin Children’s Shelter in addition to being on it’s Board of Directors.
Melissa Sarkar
Treasurer Finance Committee Chair
Melissa brings more than 25 years of diverse operational experience including managing both for-profit and nonprofit organizations. She spent 20 years with Busch Entertainment Corporation culminating in her role as Vice President of Operations. After meeting her husband in 2007, she decided to hang up her theme park hat and moved to Austin.
She is excited about the energy Pease Park Conservancy brings to reimagining what a city park can provide to the surrounding community.
Micah King
Micah is a shareholder at Winstead. He focuses on land use and real estate development, as well as governmental affairs, with an emphasis on local government. Micah regularly represents clients before city councils, boards, planning and zoning commissions, and other governmental bodies. Previously, Micah served as an Assistant City Attorney to the City of Austin. A Texas native, he earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin.
Michelle Strauss
Secretary
Nominations, Governance, and Strategy Committe Chair
Michelle is a 5th generation Texan who grew up in Houston and now calls Austin home with her husband and their three boys. After living in Houston, NYC, Dallas and Los Angeles, Michelle learned the positive impact urban green spaces can have on mental and physical health and is passionate about preserving and making those spaces accessible to all. Michelle also serves on the Leadership Council for Dell Children’s Hospital, the Gala Committee for Texas Book Festival and she and her husband are also ardent supporters of Austin PBS / Austin City Limits. Michelle and her family have lived above Pease Park for several years and can often be found biking, running and playing in the park.
Morgan Burnham
Development Committee Co-Chair
Morgan grew up in Dallas and attended the University of Texas at Austin, graduating with a BA in corporate communications. After working and traveling as a communications consultant for 6 years, she and her husband moved from Washington, DC to Austin to start a family. Morgan, John, and their three children live just above Shoal Creek and love their daily walks through Pease Park with their dog, Banks. Morgan grew up enjoying the park over holidays with her extended family in Austin and believes in the power of urban green spaces to bring families, neighborhoods, and communities together.
Myra Goepp
Myra was raised in Chicago where parks and public spaces are a core component to many neighborhoods and provide programs that redirect young energy in positive ways. When she moved to Austin to attend The University of Texas Engineering program, Myra lived at the doorstep to Pease Park. She found respite in a daily morning run on the creek side trail. Today, Myra is President at Benchmark Land Development, where she works to find better ways to build complete communities that thoughtfully provide for all the dynamic parts of life, such as where you rest your head, educate, work, shop, eat, play, volunteer, rejoice and collaborate.
Nan McRaven
Dr. Nan McRaven is the owner of McRaven Consulting, a Public Relations and Government Affairs firm, located in Austin, Texas. Before starting her own firm, Nan held positions in the private, non-profit, and government sectors. Her work experience includes: Texas State Director of The Trust for Public Land; Senior Director, Freescale Semiconductor; Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs, Motorola Inc.; Vice President of Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce; and Personnel and Budget Director for Travis County.
Dr. Pradeep Kumar
Dr. Kumar is a board-certified gastroenterologist who spent time in Houston, Dallas, San Diego, and Hawaii before settling in Austin in 2002. He and his family live near Pease Park and they enjoy spending time together on the trails. He has an interest in public education about health-related issues, appearing regularly on FOX7 Austin Morning News. He also was the host of his own award-winning call-in radio show discussing health care issues and questions until 2009. His family loves to travel and ski. He speaks English, French, and Tamil, and is excited to use his many talents to benefit the Conservancy.
Raasin McIntosh
Raasin is the Founder of Raasin in the Sun and Director of Parks and Placemaking at Downtown Austin Alliance. She is the community’s creative placemaking gift. She is a visionary, creative, and Track and Field Olympian, whose career spans nearly a decade specializing in community arts initiatives in cross-disciplinary collaborative work.
She attended the University of Texas at Austin where she earned a BA in Communications. She has extensive experience in curating, managing, producing, facilitating and coordinating, public arts, public space activations, creative placemaking, restorations, and community engagement initiatives.
Lead by a humanitarian drive to change the world for the better through the arts, she represents our community to the highest level through the art of storytelling, intentional solution based ideas to strengthen and enhance the city’s cultural identity while promoting/providing economic viability for all artists and creatives alike.
Rob Shands
Rob is a Partner with RedLeaf, where he is primarily focused on capital markets, financing activities, acquisitions, vertical development, and strategic partnerships.
He holds a BBA in Finance from the University of Mississippi. He has been on the Board of Directors for the Hill Country Conservancy, the Board of Directors for the Real Estate Council of Austin (RECA), and the Board of Directors for First Bank, N.A.
Robin Camp
Robin has been a project manager for custom homes, as well as City of Austin public projects, including many city parks. She currently manages construction projects for The University of Texas. She led a series of Habitat for Humanity construction sites, including all women volunteer-built houses and served on the Austin Habitat for Humanity board of directors. Pease Park first came to her attention while in the UT Architecture School when she wrote a research paper on the park. Many years later, after riding through the park as a commuting cyclist and spending countless hours with her dogs in the park, she has brought her talents in design and construction to Pease.
Sean Compton
Sean’s journey as a landscape architect and planner has taken him from Texas A&M to Africa, California, and across the Pacific Rim. Growing up throughout the United States and abroad, he greatly appreciated the richness of different cultures and diverse habitats. He found that, regardless of location, people share a deep connection to place.
After returning to Austin (several times), Sean has dedicated his practice to designing healthy communities, vibrant mixed-uses, and conserving exceptional lands for future generations.
Sean believes in the power of thoughtfully designed public spaces and nature to promote wellness and foster human connections. His morning walks with the family dog, Ava, are a refreshing way to start each day.
Susannah Auby
Susannah serves as the Texas Book Festival's Development Director where she cultivates relationships with individuals, foundations, and corporations who share a love of books and place great value in connecting authors and readers throughout Texas with the annual Festival and year-round community programs. She raised her children on good books, playing in the backyard, and minivan road trips, and feels lucky to be living in a city that values community green space as much as Austin does.
She earned her Bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley where she studied rhetoric, followed by a Masters in Business Administration from Columbia University. Prior to joining Texas Book Festival and with more than a decade of volunteering, she worked with investment banks to optimize their business strategies and grow their market share.
Wendy Dunnam Tita
For more than two decades, Wendy Dunnam Tita has sought to integrate innovation and forward-thinking strategy with exceptional design quality. She is a Page Principal, and the firm’s market leader for Housing and Hospitality projects. As an architect, Wendy champions the conversation between design, craft, and people to advance and nurture this essential collaboration, and to enrich the human experience of architecture and its making. As an Austinite since 1988, Wendy is committed to the rich artery of Pease Park and other urban greenspaces that serve as places to explore, play, and connect our diverse and growing community.
Yusuf Bajwa
Yusuf is an attorney with Sanders Bajwa LLP, where he advises on commercial real estate transactions and represents clients in complex business disputes and securities class actions. He resides in Old Enfield with his wife Lauren and their three daughters.
