Staff

Amy Averett
Executive Director
Amy is the founding Executive Director of Austin Voices. Prior to starting Austin Voices, Amy worked at the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL), where she provided training and technical assistance to schools throughout the southwest United States to help them build strong school, family, and community partnerships. She also developed and co-authored a number of research-based publications and toolkits on school-community connections. Amy is an alumnus of the Teach for America (TFA) program, where she served as a second grade teacher in rural North Carolina. Amy currently serves as a community representative on the Austin ISD District Advisory Council and as a tri-chair of the Superintendent’s Taskforce reviewing Austin ISD’s progress implementing their strategic plan.Under hear leadership, Austin Voices has served a key role in shaping the community process used to develop the new AISP Strategic Plan under the leadership of Superintendent Meria Carstarphen. Contact Amy.

Allen Weeks
Co-Executive Director
Allen helped form the St. John’s Community Alliance and leads the community action teams for Webb Middle School and Regan High School. Allen is currently leading a comprehensive planning effort to address childhood poverty issues in St. John. Allen is a former teacher and long-time community development expert. He has been recognized for his positive impact on education by the Texas Education Agency, Bank of America, Liveable City, and is a Hall of Fame member of Austin Parters in Education. Under his leadership, the St. John Community has won numerous awards, including the "100 Best Communities for Youth Award", given by the America’s Promise Alliance led by General Colin Powell.

Julie Weeks
Consultant
Julie Weeks serves as a coordinator for the Family Resource Centers. From its inception, Julie has developed all of the systems and training for the Family Resource Center project. Julie has extensive experience in healthcare, both as a nurse and nurse educator for the Seton Family of Hospitals. Her work at Seton included developing network education systems, training for the School Health Assistant Program, and network accreditation systems. She is also experienced in community development and directed nursing aboard a large hospital ship in West Africa for four years. Julie has been recognized by the Bank of America for her work, and has been recognized as a semifinalist for the Robert Wood Johnson National Community Health Leader Award.

Tim Eubanks
Lead Community Organizer
Tim is the Lead Community Organizer for Austin Voices directing our youth program work (Stand Up) as well as coordinating our periodic community conversations about education (Our Voice). Tim develops the community organizing, advocacy and critical thinking skills of high school students through our Stand Up program at Reagan, Lanier and Travis High Schools. Tim coordinates periodic community conversations about education including developing and conducting facilitator trainings.In 2007, Tim was awarded the Barbara Jordan Public Service award from the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the "Si Se Puede" Cesar Chavez award from PODER. In 2008 Tim and Amy were awarded the Equity Award by Livable City and in 2010 Tim was named one of the 21 hardest working activists in Austin by La Voz newspaper.Tim is a graduate of Antioch College and is currently taking classes to receive a Master in Education from Texas State University. Contact Tim.

Rose Gabriel
Director of Operations and Finance
Rose is the director of Operations and Finance who joined Austin Voices in September 2008. Rose directs Austin Voices Human Resources, performs accounting duties coordinates daily office functions and serves as a liaison between the Austin Voices staff and board. She has worked for various Austin nonprofit organizations for the past 15 years which include: Meals on Wheels, Family Eldercare, Austin Groups for the Elderly, Family Connections, and the Texas Association of Partners in Education. Rose received her Bachelors degree in Business Communications from the University of North Texas. She is heavily involved in her daughter’s school PTA and is committed to ensuring that students and parents have a voice in the public education system.
Contact Rose.

Sarah Stone
Director of Special Projects
Sarah coordinates, supervises and evaluates several of Austin Voices’ programming and projects. Her professional interests include relational cultural theory, community building as it relates to strengthening public education and school equity issues, and positive youth development. She is involved in multiple community collaborations including Ready By 21 Coalition and the Austin Community Education Consortium. She is a proud graduate of AISD public schools, the University of Texas and the University of Michigan where she received her LMSW. Contact Sarah.

Alice Geaccone
Program Coordinator – Creative Expressions
Alice coordinates the Fulmore After School Art Project and designs the Austin Voices Student Planner each year. Alice is a graduate of the Stand Up Garza and has worked previously as a Youth Consultant at Austin where she designed, produced, and marketed a line of youth-focused merchandise. In August, Alice will begin studying Psychology and Education at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a Big Brothers/Big Sisters mentor. Alice was recognized as the 2008 Young Woman of Achievement from the YWCA of Austin.

Board of Directors

Roger Gordon
Principal, The Law Office of Roger Gordon. Roger heads up the litigation section at Bovey & Bojorquez, a firm specializing in municipal law. In his job, Roger works on behalf of towns and small cities throughout Central Texas. Roger is a graduate of Baylor Law School and Texas A & M University where he was active in Bonfire and served as student body president. He has been involved as a volunteer and fundraiser for a variety of nonprofit organizations and political campaigns.

Karrie League
Co-Owner, Original Alamo Drafthouse. Karrie, along with her husband Tim, is the founder of the highly successful Original Alamo Drafthouse movie theatres in Austin. The Drafthouse has received national recognition for its innovative programming and has quickly become one of Austin’s favorite icons. In 2008 Tim and Karrie were recognized by Texas Monthly Magazine as two of the "35 People Who Will Shape Our World." A longtime supporter of Austin Voices, Karrie also serves on the Boards of the Austin Film Society and Austin School of Film, and as a regular volunteer at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Sinead O'Carroll
Partner, Reeves & Brightwell, LLP. Sinead is a civil litigator representing corporate clients in commercial litigation. Before joining the firm of Reeves & Brightwell, Sinead served as a briefing attorney for Justice Harriet O’Neill of the Texas Supreme Court. Prior to attending law school at the University of Texas, Sinead served as a Teach for America middle school teacher in the Rio Grande Valley and as a kindergarten teacher at Blackshear Elementary in east Austin. She is an active volunteer at her son’s elementary school, in addition to serving on the Austin Voices Board.

Melodie Zamora Summersett
Community Volunteer. As an active community and parent volunteer, Melodie has been involved in her three childrens’ schools and a variety of community organizations. She serves on the Board of the National Instruments Foundation and on the Advisory Council for the UT Natural Sciences Center.
Melodie has had a long-term interest in creating opportunities for young people, especially in the field of science and technology, since her early career as an engineer at National Instruments.