Staff
|
Javier Valdez, Executive Director
For the past 25 years, Javier has served as a corporate and nonprofit leader. As a director, he mentors his team to develop their potential to contribute fully to the organization’s growth. He has led several local and national nonprofits, including Breakthrough Central TX, Con Mi Madre, Economic Growth Business Incubator (EGBI), and is also an alum of Leadership Austin Essentials and a McBee Fellow. Javier will build on his demonstrated technology and sales experience to grow HealthStart’s impact. As a leader, Javier has a talent for building strong relationships, facilitating communications between stakeholders, encouraging a collaborative team-centered culture, and managing organizational operations. His professional resume includes executive and senior leadership roles at Oracle, Electronic Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Cisco Systems, Inc., to name a few. When Javier is not working, he loves participating in various fitness activities, honing his foodie skills, traveling, and enjoying live music. |
|
Sharon Burley, Program & Communications Manager
Sharon started as a volunteer with HealthStart and now uses her many skills to spread HealthStart’s mission and purpose to the community. As a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner she brings a nutritional expertise and passion for health education. Sharon’s interest for this work stems from her own struggles with health growing up. She had no knowledge of why nutrient-dense food was important for our bodies and minds, nor an understanding of the science behind it. In her training with the Nutritional Therapy Association she gained knowledge around how different body systems function and how best to take care of them primarily using food as medicine. She believes a basic understanding of these concepts is essential information for kids to develop the tools needed for a healthy lifestyle as adults. Outside of her role with HealthStart, Sharon frequently performs around Austin singing with various groups. |
Board of Directors
|
Lucio Calzada Jr. - TALAS, Chair
Dr. Lucio Calzada has accumulated over 30 years of service to our country’s most precious resource, our children. He began his education career as a high school mathematics teacher at Kingsville High School in Kingsville, Texas. He began his administrative career as an assistant principal at Taft Jr. High School. Soon after this position he became the mathematics consultant for all of Corpus Christi I.S.D. He lead his first school as principal of South Park Middle School in Corpus Christi, Texas. While serving as consultant for Achieve, Inc., he met Dr. Kaye Forgione, wife of then superintendent Dr. Pat Forgione. It was not long before Dr. Forgione recruited Lucio to join the Austin ISD team as principal of Fulmore Middle School. After seven years at Fulmore, Lucio was placed at Garcia Middle School for one semester and then was named the principal of Austin High School in June, 2008. Under his leadership, Austin High School became a State Recognized High School. In July of 2012, Dr. Ralph Draper, Superintendent of Spring ISD, invited Lucio to join his executive leadership team as an area superintendent supervising thirteen schools (K-12) with over 14,000 students. Dr. Draper then asked Lucio to take over the Spring ISD Human Resources Department for a year. In July of 2014, the new superintendent, Dr. Rodney Watson asked Lucio to supervise all high schools in Spring ISD as the assistant superintendent of high schools. In January of 2015, Lucio was invited to join the Hays CISD executive leadership team by superintendent, Mr. Michael McKie, as the assistant superintendent of secondary schools. Lucio earned his doctorate in education leadership from Texas A&M Corpus Christi in 2002. He served his country as a commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve for eleven years. In his spare time, he has served as an adjunct professor for Concordia University, St. Edwards University and Texas State University because he “loves teaching”. He also serves as a board member for the Central Texas Communities in Schools (CIS), he serves his church as a Vincentian with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and is the mentoring director for the Texas Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents. Lucio is married to Dr. Donna Calzada, a fellow educator and is very proud of his three grown daughters, Amanda, Catherine and Hannah and two grandchildren, Brantley and Brylee. Lucio loves to play golf and is an overly invested Dallas Cowboys fan. |
|
Katherine (Kate) Norton - Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Vice, Chair
Kate has spent more than 12 years working in positions with companies that work to improve the health of the community so HealthStart’s Board seemed like a perfect fit for her. She worked as the Director of Marketing and Communications for a fortune 66 company before recently taking a position as a Communications Strategy Consultant at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. |
|
Laura Sankey - Altarum, Secretary
Laura Sankey serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Altarum Institute advising and assisting the CEO, working in close partnership with the executive leadership team to determine strategic priorities, building and maintaining client relationships, and overseeing the communications strategy. Laura is a strategic executive and mission-focused leader with more than 25 years of experience in managed care, social determinants of health, business strategy, product development, operations, and strategic partnerships. Along with the ability to bridge the gaps between concept, strategy, and growth-focused execution, she brings a passion for driving socially responsible changes that address community challenges, create positive social impact, and encourage sustainable business solutions. Laura holds a master’s degree in Management and Leadership and a bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration and Management from Webster University. |
|
Will Penny - Child, Inc., Treasurer
Will Penny is a CPA in Texas. He has over 25 years of experience in banking, investments, and accounting. Will has dedicated himself to the accounting profession since 2012. Before that, he was selected in 2004 by senior management at Wachovia Bank in NY and moved to TX to be part of a new expansion team. While a branch manager, he was awarded the President's award for turning around an ailing branch. His last role in the bank was as a commercial banker. Will has applied his broad background and experience throughout his career to be a trusted advisor, mentor, facilitator, and team member to boards, management, and project teams. As an accounting & finance executive, he has helped companies establish policies, procedures, integrations, financial reporting & performance management, staff evaluations, audit planning, and scaling business needs. His core strength is identifying and nurturing talent. As a CFO for a premier non-profit, Will successfully pursued and closed a pivotal $13M New Market Tax Credit financing deal, guiding the organization through a rigorous application process that required extensive coordination with banks, attorneys, and government agencies. Will has two children in college and has been married for over 25 years. He enjoys high-performance driving events. |
|
Robin Herskowitz - RH2 Consulting
Robin brings business know-how and 25 years experience in public health and public health finance to her role with HealthStart. Previously Robin worked as a legislative aide, policy analyst, and director of governmental affairs for a company serving persons with disabilities, and as the Executive Director of a Texas nonprofit. Robin's experience working as a legislative aide and a policy analyst taught her that big changes begin in communities, not in the states' legislatures. Robin attended the University of Texas School of Public Health. There she examined pressing public health issues including access to mental health services and state and federal statutes relating to mental health. In addition to her role with HealthStart, Robin owns and directs the operations of RH2 Consulting, Inc. which specializes in healthcare and public education studies and evaluation and performance reviews. |
|
Tatiana Jitkoff - L’Aiglon Foundation
Tatiana has deep roots in Texas. She and her family have a long history of charitable giving to Texas communities. In addition to her board service with HealthStart Foundation, she is a Social Venture Partner with Mission Capital. Beyond her experience guiding charitable organizations, Tatiana brings expertise in business and product development which she is pleased to use to help HealthStart grow and expand its impact. When she is not working with L’Aiglon or her real estate company, you can find Tatiana doing improv theater around town. |
|
Marissa Marquez - Houston Methodist Hospital
Marissa has a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Baylor University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law. While Marissa is a licensed attorney in Texas, she is currently serving as the system-wide Human Resources (HR) Program Manager for the Americans with Disabilities Act Accommodation Request program and Employee Relations Program at Houston Methodist in Houston, Texas. Prior to joining Houston Methodist, Marissa was a HR Business Partner at Legacy Community Health and has also served as a Senior Employee Relations Consultant at Texas Children's Hospital. Marissa has served as Deputy Senior Legal Counsel to Hope Andrade Commissioner Representing Employers at the Texas Workforce Commission in Austin, Texas. A passionate advocate for foster care children, Marissa serves on the Texas Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) statewide board and has served as their Governance Committee Chair and is currently their board Secretary. Marissa is currently a member of the Houston Bar Association’s Employment Law Section’s council and is a member of the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion committee. In 2020, Marissa was awarded the Houston Bar Association’s President’s Award for her outstanding service as co-chair of the Gender Fairness Committee. Marissa has always had a passion for serving her community. She has served on the following boards throughout her career: the Strong Start board, Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas board, BikeHouston board, and the League of Women Voters of Houston board. In July 2015, the National Head Start Association honored Marissa as a star alumn in their "Connections" newsletter. Marissa was born and raised in Laredo, Texas and is fluent in Spanish. |
|
Jeff Pinsker - Mondo
Jeff Pinsker has founded and sold three companies in businesses ranging from practical jokes to children’s TV and publishing to toys and games. Accomplishments include:
Pinsker is President of Mondo, a subsidiary of Alamo Drafthouse, where he serves on the senior management team. Most recently, he was CEO of Amigo Games, the US subsidiary of one of Germany’s top game companies. Previous positions include top management roles at: Cardinal/Spin Master, Pressman Toy, Scholastic’s Klutz division, and University Games. Board service includes: Literacy Coalition of Central Texas, Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA), American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA), Project Genius, Mashup Foods, Cooloo, Trophy Skin, DASH Robotics, National Education Week, Stanford’s Entrepreneurs Group, Stanford Health Library, and the Tech Museum’s Tech Challenge. Pinsker has written 13 children’s books, holds a master’s and two bachelor’s degrees from Stanford University, and is the proud father of two grown children and a 17-year-old stepson. |
|
Ana Moreno VanDiver - Stanford Alumni Association
Ana Moreno VanDiver was raised in El Paso and lived in Northern California after her college days at Stanford University. She worked for her alma mater for over 14 years in alumni engagement, fundraising, and event planning. The draw of family and "real" Mexican food drew her back to Texas in 2016. Eager to dive into local community engagement, she joined the Junior League of Austin staff as their Donor Operations Project Manager to help the organization complete their capital campaign for a 48,000 sq ft Community Impact Center. She returned to the staff of the Stanford Alumni Association in 2020 and works remotely from Austin (a Covid-19 silver-lining) as the Senior Manager of Diversity and Inclusion. Raised by educators, Ana passionately supports equitable access to all levels of learning. Ana thrives on volunteering, traveling with her husband, studying art, entertaining friends, and training her rescue dog. |
