Animal Trustees of Austin

In addition to her role as Director of Community Engagement at I Live Here, I Give Here, Courtney Clark is also the Founder and Director of Austin Involved, where connecting young professionals to meaningful philanthropic opportunities is her passion. Courtney beat melanoma at age 16 and survived brain surgery at 31, and the causes dearest to her heart are cancer awareness, humane treatment of animals, and children aging out of foster care. She has previously held development and marketing positions at Planet Cancer and the Houston Humane Society, and has consulted on programs for LIVESTRONG and the Austin Community Foundation. A recovering actress, Courtney spent eight years in New York City studying theatre at NYU and producing television segments for a public relations firm. Courtney created and produced live interview segments with Cal Ripken, Jr., Christina Applegate, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and the training department of NASA. Courtney currently serves on the board of directors for the Animal Trustees of Austin and the Coats for Kids committee of the Junior League. Her time is also spent on the advisory boards of GivingCity magazine and the mayor’s Cities of Service project. Courtney was recently honored with the Leadership Austin Ascendent Award for her commitment to community service and leadership.

Carmelita Cabello is a state employee with over 30 years of Human Resources experience. In a previous life, she was an elementary school teacher. She is originally from Laredo, Texas, but has lived in Austin for more than half of her life. Although her dedication to animals came later in life, she nonetheless has embraced this dedication without reservation and has committed herself to the vision and mission of ATA. She credits both her teaching experience and her HR experience with providing an insight into the wonderful world of dogs and cats. Carmelita and her partner share their home with numerous four-legged creatures and include any neighborhood creature that ventures into their space as a welcomed guest, needing to be fed. Carmelita also bleeds Orange and is a long-time women’s Longhorn sports enthusiast.

Sandy Rice has worked exclusively in the non-profit healthcare industry. For the past 20 years, she has been with the Center for Health Training, a private, non-profit organization that provides training and staff development to nonprofit agencies locally, statewide, and nationally. Sandy facilitates strategic planning for nonprofits and conducts training and organizational development on cultural proficiency, management, supervision, and customer service. She shares a home in southeast Austin with her husband, Greg, and four dogs (two Rotties, one Golden mix, one Bea-Bull — all rescues or strays) and six cats (all rescues or strays).

Carol Smith Adams is a non-profit consultant living in Austin, Texas. She has been a consultant for the National Endowment for the Arts, the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the Heritage Society of Austin, Keep Texas Beautiful, Westcave Preserve, Colorado River Foundation, Central Texas Library System and numerous other non-profit organizations. She served as Development Director for Austin’s historic Paramount Theatre and was Executive Director for Sharir Dance Company before joining the staff at Zachary Scott Theatre Center as capital campaign consultant in 2000. She has been Board Chair for the Austin Center for Battered Women, Board President of the Austin Children’s Choir, Treasurer for the National Society of Fundraising Executives and board member of the Heritage Society of Austin, Dance Umbrella and Animal Trustees of Austin.

Kent Burress has been with the Ronald McDonald House since 2001. Prior to being formally on staff, he was associated with the Ronald McDonald House as a consultant, coordinating the House’s Bereavement Support Program. Kent served on the Global Advisory Council for Ronald McDonald House Charities from 2005 to 2007. Kent has his Masters in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. He has also successfully completed the Executive Program of the Center for Non Profit Management at Kellogg School of Management in Chicago. His social work career has included rewarding positions as a trauma social worker in the Emergency Rooms and in the Intensive Care Units of Brackenridge Hospital. He has also spent many years of direct practice in the areas of grief and loss, geriatrics and ethics. He is currently on the Board of St. James’ Episcopal School and Animal Trustees of Austin.

April is a seasoned financial and operational executive with over 17 years of experience working with publicly and privately held companies. She is currently providing executive consulting to technology start-ups. In 2009, April joined Dachis Group, the world’s leader in Social Business, as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to Dachis Group, April was CFO for AlterPoint, Inc. and Motive, Inc.; she started her career at Price Waterhouse. As well as her work with ATA, April is an Advisory Board Member for Women’s Sake (an organization focused on Career and Lifestyle Resources for Women). She is also an active member of Helping Hand Home for Children and serves on the non-profit’s Finance Committee. April has been recognized by the Austin Business Journal’s Profiles in Power and was nominated for Austin’s 2008 Best CFO Award. April has a master’s degree in accounting from The University of Texas and is a certified public accountant.

Craig is a Managing Partner of Sampa Partners, a private equity firm focused exclusively on software and technology-enabled businesses with an emphasis on buyout, founder recapitalization, industry consolidation and growth transactions into businesses with revenues between $10 million and $100 million.
Prior to founding Sampa Partners, Craig spent over a decade at Austin Ventures, a venture capital and growth equity firm with $3.9 billion under management. At AV, Craig served as a General Partner, co-led its Growth Equity practice and served on the firms Investment and Operating committees.
Craig is a current or former director of Asset International, All Star Directories, Creditcards.com, HomeAway, Newgistics, and ReTrans Inc. Craig earned an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BBA with Distinction from the University of Michigan.
A long-time supporter of animal welfare causes, Craig currently serves as a board member of Animal Trustees of Austin. He lives in Central Austin, with his wife Leah, their son Devin, and two adopted rescue dogs, Peyton and Porter.

Mellie Price has over 15 years experience as a successful entrepreneur and senior executive. She is the Founder of Managing Partner of Source Spring — a small business management and investment group that focuses on web-based organizations.Ms. Price was the Founder and CEO of Front Gate Tickets- one of the largest independently owned ticketing software provider in the US. Mellie’s past experience includes selling her first company to Human Code (1997), a leading software and application developer that was sold to Sapient Corporation (NASDAQ: SAPE) in 2000. At Sapient, a leading business and technology consultancy, Mellie was a Vice President in the Media, Entertainment, and Communications division. A long-time entrepreneur she is also a co-founder of Symbiot Security, Surgery Code Solutions, LG Source, and Bedrock Solutions. Price started her career as a web designer, programmer, and system administrator when she founded Monsterbit (1994), one of the first commercial web development and hosting companies in the nation. She is a frequent guest speaker at industry conferences and a passionate instructor of anything to do with technology or entrepreneurship. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Front Gate Tickets and the Austin Music Foundation.

Alisa Weldon is the Founder, Publisher and Editor of L Style G Style Magazine and owner of well+doneDESIGN. She has more than 15 years in design and marketing experience. Her career began with the opening of H.E.B. Central Market in 1994 which ultimately landed her the position as Regional Art Director. In 1999, she became lead Art Director for Dell’s Small Business Division Catalog & Direct Mail Team at T3 advertising agency. After a couple of years, she branched out on her own to partner in VoxGroup Marketing & Advertising as Creative Partner of from 2001 until early 2007. After dedicating time to corporate clients and donating services to many organizations, Alisa decided expand her talents in June 2007 in the creation of L Style G Style Magazine. At the same time, she launched well+done DESIGN — the creative arm of the magazine as well as other clients. She’s served on many nonprofit boards, most importantly as board President of the Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival from 2005 until 2008. She currently serves on the Austin Music Foundation Board as well as advisory Board to Austin Pride Foundation. Alisa is a true entrepreneur, risk taker and idea generator driven by her passion for community and creativity.