Nonprofit Advocacy: Yes you can!
Angela Castilleja - YMCA of Austin
Laura Colangelo - Texas Association of Non-Public Schools
Catherine Herter Ervin - St. Andrew's Episcopal School | Austin, TX
If there ever was a time for the nonprofit sector to work together with a shared voice of inclusion, common sense and reconciliation, now is the time. Nonprofits have a critical role in organizing and educating the community for civic action and engagement, and if any one sector has the ability to respond to critical discussions and bring people together, it's the nonprofit sector! Learn how you - as a nonprofit professional - can effectively advocate for your organization at the state and federal level and even teach the basic skills of democracy itself.
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Angela Castilleja - YMCA of Austin
Since 2015, Angela has served as State Director of the YMCA Texas Youth and Government Program (Texas YG) for the YMCA of Austin. As of March, she added Director of Grants and Foundation Relations to her role and will be supporting the Y in both capacities. She received her B.A in Political Science from St. Edward’s University and M.A. in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix.
Texas Youth and Government provides opportunities for students across the state to study and debate public issues, with hands-on experiential learning of Texas Government. As State Director, Angela manages the organization, delivery and quality of Texas YG across the state of Texas while working cooperatively with the Texas YG State Board, YMCA Associations, school districts, statewide leaders and community organizations. She is a member of the recently created Texas Civics Education Roundtable committee, whose goal is to help advance civic education statewide through State Advocacy efforts.
Having lived in the ATX for over 30 years, she has more than 20 years of professional experience in program management. Her diverse work background includes previous roles with Travis County Juvenile Court, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central & South Texas, Housing Authority of the City of Austin and Keep Texas Beautiful. She has served as a moderator and trainer at numerous local and statewide events.
Her involvement in the community includes Leadership Austin Essential Class (2009) and volunteering for organizations such as the SIMS Foundation, Girl Scouts of Central Texas, Young Women’s Alliance and SXSW Film Festival. She has also served on the boards or committees of Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation, Aging Services Council and Camp Fire of Central Texas.
Laura Colangelo - Texas Association of Non-Public Schools
Laura Colangelo is the Executive Director of the Texas Private Schools Association, an advocacy organization representing the over 870 private, accredited schools in Texas in the state legislature and in DC. In this role, she is the “public voice for private schools in Texas.” She has had three successful legislative sessions in which she passed bills regarding credit card fees, epi-pens, and school marshals in private schools. This past session, she passed four student protection bills that keep predators out of all schools in the state, including a Do Not Hire registry for teachers guilty of misconduct. These became law on September 1st.
Prior to this role, she was the head of an Episcopal preschool in Austin, Texas, focused on providing a quality early childhood educational experience in a historically under-served population. Her focus was on providing an individualized and developmentally-appropriate curriculum with an eye to school readiness. This approach resulted in exponential growth for the school and the community.
Laura received her Bachelor's Degree from Duke University and her Master's in Education at the University of Kentucky. After teaching middle and upper school Spanish in both public and private schools in Houston, she focused her University of Texas doctoral work in curriculum and instruction on the integration of minority students in private schools. She is able to use both her experience and research not only to represent the interests of private schools, but also to advance education policy focused on quality outcomes for all students in Texas.
Catherine Herter Ervin - St. Andrew's Episcopal School | Austin, TX
Catherine Herter has over 20 years of experience in public and community relations, journalism, media and crisis communications training, fundraising, marketing, and advertising.Catherine Herter Ervin is the Director of Development and Communications at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, an independent K-12 school with two campuses in central and southwest Austin. A member of the Development Team since 2003, Catherine manages a staff of six fundraisers and communications professionals and is responsible for all aspects of institutional advancement, including fundraising, strategic planning, special events, parent relations, alumni relations, communications, media and public relations. She has been a member of AFP for more than a decade, has served in the Women’s Symphony League, Women Communicators of Austin, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), Komen-Austin Advisory Board Member, Young Fundraising Mentor, and is a past Board Member of All Saints Episcopal Day School.
Prior to her work at St. Andrew’s, Catherine had an eight-year career in public relations, advertising and broadcast journalism, working at WFAA-Dallas and CBS-Houston before moving to the non-profit world. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Political Science and Communications, Catherine enjoys cooking, hiking, traveling, writing, and photography. She has three children and is based in Austin.
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