Announcing the 2012-2013 AWC Austin Board of Directors

By Dara Quackenbush

Congratulations to the newly-elected board for AWC Austin! With this fabulous group of women, the year promises to be great. The new board term starts June 1, 2012 and will run until 2013. If you see these ladies at Banner Brunch, Connect Over Cocktails or any of our AWC functions, be sure to say hello.

Dara Quackenbush, President – before serving as President-Elect, Dara was VP of Career Services, VP of Programs and VP of Member Recruitment. She also started the Texas State AWC student chapter and has served as its faculty advisor for three years.
Susan Moore, President-Elect – a 20-year member of AWC Austin, Susan has served on the AWC Board as Treasurer (twice), VP of Member Retention (twice), Arrangements Chair and Student Chapter Liaison. This year she served as Program Coordinator for Freelance Austin and filled in as Freelance Austin Co-Chair (and AWC board member) when Christine Cox moved to Seattle.
Julie Tereshchuk, Past President – congratulations to Julie for completing a successful year as president. Throughout the years, Julie has served AWC Austin in numerous capacities, including co-chairing Banner Brunch and heading Freelance Austin.
Laura Shankland, Treasurer – for two years, Laura has served as Website Editor for AWC Austin. She also recently earned her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
Susan Lahey, Secretary – Susan became involved with Freelance Austin after moving to Austin in 2010. This past year, she served as Member Support for Freelance Austin.
Andrea Exter, VP/Programs – welcome back to the board, Andrea. She’s served several positions for AWC Austin, including Newsletter Editor, VP of Member Recruitment and VP of Member Retention. Additionally, Andrea co-chaired the first ever Get Smart event. Even while taking a break from the board, Andrea served on several committees. She is the 2008 recipient of the AWC Austin President’s Award.
Ellie Scarborough, VP/Recruitment – as founder of PinkKisses.com and Media Bombshell, Ellie is an entrepreneur whose focus is helping women be their best. For AWC Austin, she was a great asset on the 2011 Get Smart committee.
Emily Fraser, VP/Retention – Emily has previously served on the AWC Austin board as Arrangements Co-Chair and as Social Media Chair. In 2011 she was awarded the Anne Durrum Robinson Creative Initiative Award and the Chapter Star award from the national AWC organization.
Sheila Scarborough, VP/Freelance Programming – not only has Sheila been active in AWC Austin and on the board of Freelance Austin for several years, she is on the national board for AWC. She is also the winner of the AWC Austin 2012 Gladys Whitney Hearst Outstanding Chapter Member Award.
Leslie Sopko, VP/Career Services – Leslie is continuing her position on the board as VP/Career Services. She and her committee have done a great job and are looking forward to another successful year.
Brittany Eck, Co-VP/Special Programs (Banner Brunch) – Brittany currently serves on the 2012 Banner Committee and has done an excellent job chairing the auction this year.
Emlea Chanslor, Co-VP/Special Programs (Banner Brunch) – Emlea has been on the Banner Brunch committee for two years, including chairing an outstanding auction in 2011 and doing registration for 2012.
Julie Lara, Co-VP/Professional Development (Get Smart) – Julie is continuing on the board for another year and already has great ideas underway for the 2012 Get Smart conference.
Cristen James, Co-VP/Professional Development (Get Smart) – After two years of serving as Co-VP/Development for AWC Austin, Cristen is joining Julie with Get Smart programming.
Kathy Estes, Co-VP/Development – not only is Kathy an AWC member, through Frost Bank she’s been a sponsor for many of our events. Kathy is very involved in the community and brings great development expertise.
Ann Friou, Co-VP/Development – a member of AWC Austin since 1975, Ann has served in several board positions, including President. She is also the winner of the AWC Austin 1994 Gladys Whitney Hearst Outstanding Chapter Member Award.
Kristen McLaughlin, Online Newsletter Editor – Kristen has served as reporter and editor at both local newspapers and trade publications. She is finishing her master’s degree in mass communication at Texas State University.
Michele Myette, Design Chair – since launching her own graphic design business in 1996, Michele has won ADDY awards in both Austin and San Antonio. She will share her design talents to support our many events and programs.
Allison Birk, Publicity – since joining AWC Austin last year, Allison has been an active member and is looking forward to becoming more involved in our chapter.
Andrea Michnik, Co-Chair Social Media – Andrea currently serves in this board position and will continue AWC Austin’s social media reach for an additional year.
Sara Peralta, Co-Chair Social Media – Sara is a non-profit professional, as well as a graduate student at Texas State University studying mass communication with an emphasis in digital media.
Judi Hays, Website Editor – since launching a website for Texas Restaurant Association in 2000, Judi has honed her skills as an interactive marketing director who gets results.
Jennifer Ballow, Arrangements Co-Chair – in addition to serving as Secretary this year, Jennifer arranged the 2011 AWC Austin Holiday Party and chaired our Lights of Love 5K team which raised more than $900 for the Ronald McDonald House Charities.
Noelle Salerno, Arrangements Co-Chair – relatively new to Austin, Noelle has jumped in to AWC with both feet, including serving on the 2012 Banner Brunch committee.
Samantha Furry, Student Chapter Liaison – for the last two years, Samantha has written the member profiles on the AWC blog. In March, Samantha became Student Chapter Liaison.