Governance

CHILDREN AT RISK Board Members at the 2024 Board Workshop.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Chris Wallace, Chair
North Texas Commission

Ben Arriola
Southwest University

Claire Bocchini, MD
Texas Children’s Hospital

Donald Bowers
Federal Reserve Bank

Jason Durham

Allison Esenkova
Pariveda Solutions

Doe Florsheim
Community Advocate

Asha George 
Electronic Arts 

Deborah Gordon
Memorial Hermann Health System

Juan Carlo Hernandez
Herflo Inverna

Jay Jayasuriya
Sendero

Devika Kornbacher
Clifford Chance

Dan Longoria
Mattress Firm, El Paso

Michelle Lopez, MD
Baylor College of Medicine 

Yves Mombeleur
Clearinghouse CDFI

Shamina Momin
Rice Board Fellow

Kindel Nuno
The Mattress Firm

Manish Panjwani
Accenture

Amit Parikh
Resultant

Jay Pasale
Salamander Solutions Inc.

Ben Patton
Reed Smith

Chris Pedigo
Cook Children’s Healthcare

Kevin Ramoutar
Aramco

Jeremy Samuels
Samuels Family Foundation

Robert Sanborn, Ed.D.
CHILDREN AT RISK

Adolfo Santos, PhD
Texas A&M University, McAllen

John Seo
Airswift

Alessa Serda
Salesforce

Maya Pomroy 
The Public Lead 

Jasmine Turner
Williams

Chris Watt
Reed Smith

Larry Wisniewski
SensorWise

Ed Wolff
Beth Wolff Realtors

Daniel Yoo
Surestone Group

NORTH TEXAS ADVISORY BOARD

Amit Parikh, Chair
Resultant

Chris Wallace, Co-Chair
North Texas Commission

Garren Alexander
Truist

Janel Barksdale
Independent Financial

 

Melonie Carnegie
Rebelution

Aidan Casey
Urban Logistics Realty

Catherine Davis
Child Care Associates

Ron Jeans
Entrepreneur

 

Ashley Kreklau
Landside Banks

Chris Pedigo
Cook Children’s Hospital

Yves Mombeleur
Clearinghouse CDFI

LaSheryl Walker
Forest Forward

Will Holtz
Holtz Law Firm

 

EL PASO ADVISORY BOARD

Ben Arriola, Chair
Southwest University

Ernesto Avila
Sunflower Bank

Richard Castro
Castro Enterprises

Rosamaria Gonzalez
Grupo De la Vega

Tita Hunt
Community Volunteer

Michael Kelly, PhD
Paso del Norte Health Foundation

Dan Longoria
Mattress Firm

Ricardo Samaniego
County of El Paso

Kelly Tomblin
El Paso Electric

HONORARY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

EMERITUS BOARD

Dr. Carolyn Farb, h.c.

Kathleen Gallagher

Diana Davila Martinez

Virginia McFarland

James S. Mickelson

Richard W. Mithoff

Laurence Payne

Rev. Joe Samuel Ratliff

Jack Segal, Rabbi Emeritus

Melissa Wilson

Philamena Baird
Community Volunteer

Pam Humphrey
Chubb

Michael Maher
Presenture, LLC

David Roylance
Prism Energy Solutions

Jeffrey Starke, M.D.
Texas Children’s Hospital

Buddy Steves
Community Advocate

Robert Zincke
Former President, Kroger

LAW ADVISORY BOARD (LAB)

CHILDREN AT RISK’s Law Advisory Board oversees the research and advocacy efforts of the Public Policy and Law Center. Comprised of over forty dedicated attorneys from across Texas, the board meets on a quarterly basis to discuss current issues affecting Texas’ children and the possible legal solutions to address these issues. The guidance and legal expertise provided by the Law Advisory Board has helped CHILDREN AT RISK to achieve legislative victories on human trafficking, education, juvenile justice, and health issues. With the support of the Law Advisory Board, CHILDREN AT RISK will continue to employ the law and advocacy as tools to improve the quality of life for Texas’ children.

Bruce Hurley, Co-Chair
King & SpaldingLLP

Jennifer Tomsen, Co-Chair
Greenberg Traurig LLP

Wafa Abdin
Catholic Charities

Bob Baker
Attorney at Law

Sherie Beckman
Mithoff Law Firm

Christopher Borrecca
Thompson and Horton LLP

Melanie D. Bragg
Legal Insight Inc.

Andrea Backsheider Burridge, Ph.D.
University of Houston

Katherine Cabaniss
Judge of the 248th Criminal District Court of Harris County

Kate Champion
Exxon Mobil Corporation

Judie Cross
Patient Care Intervention Center

Will Denham
Attorney at Law

Dennis Duffy
Kane Russell Coleman & Logan

Linda M. Dunson
Donovan & Watkins

Joshua Farkas
Dynegy Inc.

Sally Green
Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University

Lauren Harrison
Jones Walker

Eyvette Hetherington
Attorney at Law

James Holtz
Holtz Law Firm PC

George Jordan
Fullbright & Jaworski LLP

Ellyn Josef
Vinson & Elkins LLP

Karyl M. Lawson
Attorney at Law, Retired

Susan Lindberg
Eni Petroleum Co., Inc.

Karen Maston
Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold LLP

 

John Meredith
SpringSpirit

Silvia Mintz
Plake and Mintz PLLC

Susan Pennebaker, Esq.
Pennebaker Fifth Ring

Yohanna Romero Baca
Garza & Associates

Lynn Sessions
Baker Hostetler

Lisa Sherrill
Attorney at Law

Ann Stephens
Shell Oil Company

Andrew Strong
Kalon Biotherapeutics LLC

Angie Truitt
Collier Legal

CHILDREN AT RISK INSTITUTE

The CHILDREN AT RISK Institute is an academically oriented policy and research collaborative focused on facilitating research and scholarship to promote new and innovative public policy solutions to the challenges faced by children.

 

Jayna Dave, PhD
Assistant Professor, Baylor College of Medicine

Angelo P. Giardino, M.D., Ph.D.
Medical Director, Texas Children’s Health Plan
Clinical Professor, Baylor College of Medicine

Christopher Greeley, M.D., FAAP
Associate Professor, University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston 

Deanna Hoelscher, Ph.D.
Director, The Michael & Susan Dell Center for Advancement of Healthy Living, Professor at UT School of Public Health

Stephen L. Klineberg, Ph.D.
Professor, Rice University

Quianta Moore, M.D., J.D.
Scholar in Health Policy, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy 

Rebecca Pfeffer, Ph. D
University of Houston-Downtown

Jean Raphel, MD, MPH
Baylor College of Medicine
Texas Children’s Hospital

Cathy L. Rozmus, Esq.
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, University of Texas Health Science Center- Houston

Steve Schnee, Ph.D
Executive Director, Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD

Ruth SoRelle, M.P.H.
Chief Science Editor, Baylor College of Medicine

 

Whitney Stewart, PhD.
Assistant Professor, UT Dallas

Lori Taylor, Ph.D.
Professor and Head of Public Service and Administration Department, Bush School of Government and Public Service Texas A&M University