Events

Lisa is the Director of Development for Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Galveston and has been an advancement professional in higher education, healthcare, community service and the arts for 30 years.  She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Oswego (Ah-swee-Go) and LeMoyne College in Syracuse, NY.

Lisa enjoys a long history in Rotary - Her father Richard was a Rotarian, her family hosted numerous exchange students and she too was a Rotary exchange student to Cape Town, South Africa.  Lisa was a member of the Cortland Rotary Club, co-chaired the youth exchange committee and subsequently served as club president in 2001.  She is now a member of the Galveston Rotary Club.  She moved to Texas nearly three years ago to join her brothers who have settled in Galveston.

Lisa is here today to share the powerful story of Shriner’s Hospital for Children and their mission of “Love to the Rescue!”

JuliAnna Jelinek serves as Executive Director of The Arbor School. Previous to assuming this role, she served as The Arbor’s Chief Development Officer for two years. As Executive Director, Ms. Jelinek is responsible for overall management of The Arbor including operations, brand management, business development, and public engagement. Prior to joining The Arbor, Ms. Jelinek spent over seven years in business development and fundraising for public policy and advocacy groups in Arizona, California, and Washington D.C.

Barry Ward, the Executive Director of Trees for Houston since 2008. Founded in 1983 as the Live Oak Society, Trees for Houston has expanded to plant, protect, and promote all of Houston’s urban forest. Growing with the city of Houston, they have worked to see that trees shade neighborhoods, clean air, beautify streets, and slow runoff – all vital to the beauty and well-being of our urban environment. Barry manages all conservation, project and administrative aspects of the organization which now has a 1.5 million dollar annual budget. He established and manages their 20,000 tree nursery operation.

From 1999 to 2006 Barry served with the Battleship Texas / San Jacinto Battleground Historic Park, Texas Parks and Wildlife, first as Curator and promoted to Director. In 2006 he because the Executive Director of the Battleship Texas Foundation where he served until taking the helm at Trees for Houston.

Barry’s background includes serving as Head Archivist, Assistant Curator, and Development Officer at The Haggin Museum in Stockton, CA from 1988-1995 and as part-time Historical Consultant and Site Manager if the historic Klamath Ferry Center in Stockton from 1993-1998. He served as Assistant Curator of the Houston Cultural Heritage Society from 1998-1999.

Barry has done guest appearances on PBS, the Discovery Channel and the History Channel.

Barry is also author of Stephens Brothers: A Century of Shipbuilding, published in 2002 and is a freelance writer, with articles published in the Wooden Boat Magazine, The Central Valley Harvester, Touchstone, The Caravan magazine, and others.

Nicole Normandin currently serves as the Executive Director for Stuff the Sleigh, a nonprofit organization that supports the psychosocial and emotional needs of pediatric cancer and hematology patients and families. Over the last ten years, Nicole has worked with vulnerable populations in several capacities – most recently as a Clinical Social Worker at Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers and as a Community Outreach Specialist with the American Cancer Society.

Nicole has a Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology and a Masters of Science in Social Work, both from the University of Texas at Austin. In May 2017, she completed the Rice University Leadership Institute for Nonprofit Executives. She has extensive work volunteering and serving others, including time as the President of Student Hope, a pilot program through the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

What she loves most about her role in Stuff the Sleigh is the ability to give each patient, sibling and parent a little something to make them smile despite the devastating circumstances around them. When Nicole’s father lost his 7-year battle to pancreatic cancer, her personal and professional passion for positively impacting the lives of cancer patients was reinforced, allowing her to lead the efforts made by Stuff the Sleigh.