Austin ISD Board of Trustees
(from left) Robert Schneider, District 7; Tamala Barksdale, At Large 9; Lori Moya, SECRETARY, District 6; Cheryl Bradley, District 1; Mark Williams, PRESIDENT, District 5; Vincent M. Torres, VICE PRESIDENT, District 4; Christine Brister, District 3; Annette LoVoi, At Large 8; Sam Guzmán, District 2;

Mark Williams, District 5, President
Term Expires: November 2012
1111 W. 6th Street, A250
Austin, TX 78703
OFFICE: 414-2590

In November 2004, Mark Williams was first elected to the Austin ISD Board of Trustees, and in November 2008 was elected to a second four-year term on the Board. In November 2006 Mark was elected by his fellow trustees as Board President. He was reelected to the position as Board President in November 2008 and again in June 2010. Mr. Williams is married to Linda McCalla Williams and they have three children, two have graduated and are now attending college, and one still remaining in AISD. He and his wife have been active volunteers in their children's schools, including serving in various capacities in both the PTA and CAC organizations as well in booster clubs at their children's elementary, middle and/or high schools. Mark serves on the Board of Austin Partners in Education (APIE), and has also served as a middle school math classroom coach for APIE since 2008.  In May 2011 was selected to be a member of the APIE Hall of Fame.  In addition, Mark is currently a member of the board of directors and has served in various officer and/or committee positions for the Center for Child Protection, which is the Travis County affiliate of the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Texas (CACTx).  In 2010, Mark was selected as the statewide CAC volunteer board member of the year by the CACTx. Mark is also on the board of United Ways of Texas, and a Community Board Member for the United Way Capital Area. Mark also serves on the advisory board and finance committee for Any Baby Can, as well as on the Leadership Team for the University of Texas Recreational Sports Department and is a member of the Advisory Council for the University of Texas Department of Diversity and Community Engagement. He is a former board member of the Ex-Students Association of the University of Texas (Texas Exes), West Austin Youth Association and Prevent Child Abuse Texas. Mark is the AISD representative and on the Board of Envision Central Texas (ECT). Mark also serves as an AISD representative and is a past Chair of the Board of the Community Action Network. He was member of the 2003-04 Leadership Austin class. Mark is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting. He worked for Arthur Andersen in the areas of audit, regulatory and operational consulting, and for Dell Inc.

Vincent M. Torres, District 4, Vice President
Term Expires: November 2014
1111 W. 6th Street A250
Austin, TX 78703
OFFICE: 414-2550

Vincent Torres was elected to the Austin ISD Board of Trustees in November 2006 and re-elected in 2010. He graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in 1979 with a master of science degree in engineering. A registered professional engineer, Mr. Torres has been employed by The University of Texas at Austin since 1986, where he is the Associate Director of the Center for Energy & Environmental Resources. His research interests include indoor air quality, as well as heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems.

He is married to Suzanne Torres, and they have two children who attend AISD schools. Mr. Torres and his wife have been active volunteers in their children's schools and on district-wide committees. Mr. Torres was one of the tri-chairs of the Citizens' Bond Advisory Committee and a co-chair of the Community Bond Oversight Committee for the 2002 Health & Safety Bond. He was one of the tri-chairs of the $519 million 2004 Citizens' Bond Advisory Committee and the Community Bond Oversight Committee. In 2005, Austin Partners in Education named him District Volunteer of the Year and in 2001 was named Volunteer of the Year by Hill Elementary School.

In addition to his volunteer work with AISD, Mr. Torres has been active in the Austin community serving on the Travis County Grand Jury and on advisory committees for the Gardner-Betts Juvenile Justice Center and the Travis County Community Justice Council. He is a member of the board of the Children's Environmental Health Institute. Mr. Torres has been instrumental in securing state legislation to obtain greater assistance benefits and improved counseling programs for victims of violent crime and established the Crime Victims' Institute at the Office of the Attorney General in 1995. He also served on the faculty of the first three offerings of the Texas Victim Assistance Academy. Mr. Torres worked with the Texas Rangers to obtain legislation that established in 2001 the statewide Unsolved Crimes Investigation Team of the Texas Rangers, which provides unique expertise to law enforcement agencies in the solution of unsolved homicides (cold cases). In 2003, the Texas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers named Mr. Torres their Public Citizen of the Year.

Lori Moya, District 6, Secretary
Term Expires: November 2014
1111 W 6th Street, A-250
Austin, TX 78703
OFFICE: 414-2610

Ms. Moya was elected to the board in 2006 and re-elected in 2010. She is a lifelong resident of Austin and attended the University of Texas at Austin and graduated from Travis High School in 1975. Ms. Moya's two children attended and graduated from AISD schools and her grandson attends public school in a neighboring district. Her community service with AISD include PTSA President at Bowie High School, Baseball Booster club President, Secretary of the Football Booster club, member of the CAC, ACPTA representative, member of the DAC, member of the AISD Budget Council, and recently member of the Community Bond Oversight Committee for the 2004 Bond Program. She represents the Austin School Board and the Austin ISD as a member of the Board of Directors of the Texas Association of School Boards. During her service on TASB, she has served on the following committees, By Laws and Resolutions, Nominations, and Member Services. Ms. Moya is employed by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts with 24 years of service.

Cheryl Bradley, District 1
Term Expires: November 2014
1198 Angelina
Austin, TX 78702
OFFICE: 472-9554

Cheryl Bradley was first elected to the AISD Board of Trustees in 2002, re-elected in 2006 and in 2010. She recently received the 2010 National Forum for Black Public Administrators, Central Texas Chapter, Outstanding Public Service Award. She attended AISD schools and Huston-Tillotson College, and has two children who recently graduated from AISD. Before joining the Board of Trustees, Mrs. Bradley was active with the Pearce Middle School PTA and the 1996 Pearce Bond Task Force. She served as vice president of the Austin Council of PTAs and chaired PTA committees at Winn Elementary School, Pearce Middle School, Kealing Junior High School, and LBJ High School. In 1999, she was appointed to the Texas Attorney General's School Violence Prevention Task Force. Mrs. Bradley is vigilant in her support of the district's efforts to close the achievement gaps between student groups and increasing the performance of all students. She is also a strong advocate higher education and extra-curricular opportunities for students.

Sam Guzman, District 2
Term Expires: November 2012
1111 W 6th Street, A-250
Austin, TX 78703
OFFICE: 414-2530

Mr. Guzman was first elected to the board in 2007 to complete the term of a retiring Board member. He was re-elected to a four-year term in 2008. Mr. Guzman has resided in Trustee District 2 for approximately 30 years, and has been actively involved in education issues at the community level for many years. He has served on the district's Citizen's Budget Committee and his children attended AISD schools, as do his grandchildren now. Mr. Guzman's professional background is in the area of community affairs, housing and human services. He is a former Chairman of the Great Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and has served as President of the Texas Association of Mexican-American Chambers of Commerce. He has also served numerous other community and civic organizations, such as the Travis County Appraisal District Board, City of Austin Human Relations Commission. He is most proud of having been the founder of the Youth Advocacy Program.

Christine Brister, District 3
Term Expires: November 2012
1111 W. 6th Street, A-250
Austin, TX 78703
OFFICE: 414-2570

Christine Brister was elected to the board in 2008. Mrs. Brister has a long record of volunteering at District 3 schools and at the district level. She has served as a member of the Lanier Vertical team on the District Advisory Council, on several parent-teacher associations, and on the district's Facility Use and Boundary Task Force. Mrs. Brister and her husband, Sam, are lifelong Austin residents and graduates of Reagan High School. They have four sons three of whom are AISD graduates, and one entering high school. Mrs. Brister is a human resources officer for the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners.

Robert Schneider, District 7
Term Expires: November 2014
8031 Doe Meadow Drive
Austin, TX 78749
CELL: 619-3973

Robert Schneider was first elected to the Austin ISD Board of Trustees in November, 2002, re-elected in 2006 and in 2010. He has recently retired from fulltime work on massively parallel computing systems at The University of Texas at Austin after 30 years of research and departmental work. Mr. Schneider has a long history of community involvement serving on numerous neighborhood, environmental, and school committees and task forces. His primary interests include site-based decision making, promoting academic achievement, and studying models of board governance. Mr. Schneider serves as chair of the Board's Audit Committee. Mr. Schneider has been married to his wife, Kathleen, since 1986, and has four children who attend AISD schools.

Annette LoVoi, At-Large Position 8
Term Expires: November 2012
1111 W. 6th Street A250
Austin, TX 78703
OFFICE: 414-2560

An Austin resident for 28 years, Annette LoVoi has more than 30 years of public service, working at the federal, state, and local levels.

Ms. LoVoi was appointed by former Texas Governor Ann Richards as the first Ombudsman, or Citizen Advocate, in the history of Texas, charged with ensuring public input into the State's decision-making. Later, she helped found Texas Appleseed, a non-profit legal center that has generated thousands of hours of volunteer legal service in Austin and throughout the state.

A long-time active school volunteer, Ms. LoVoi's service includes two terms as president of Pease Elementary School PTA, and a member of the Pease Campus Advisory Council. She also helped lead two AISD citizen bond committees, in 2002 and 2004, and helped to secure $569 million for our schools. She is particularly proud to be co-chair of the 2002 Health & Safety Bond Citizens Committee. She served on two Travis County citizen committees to review and make recommendations for improving elections equipment and procedures.

Ms. LoVoi has an undergraduate degree from Oklahoma State University, where she majored in English and graduated with a teaching certificate. Later, she earned a Master's Degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

She has been married to Jim Marston for 25 years, and they have one daughter, Amanda, who has attended three AISD schools, and was a four-year varsity volleyball player at Austin High School. Amanda is a 2006 graduate, headed to Dartmouth College. Annette and Jim believe that her AISD education has prepared her perfectly for the challenges of college.

Tamala Barksdale, At-Large Position 9
Term Expires: November 2014
1111 W. 6th Street A250
Austin, TX 78703
OFFICE: 414-9609

Tamala Barksdale was elected to the Board in 2010. Mrs. Barksdale has been a diligent volunteer in AISD through the PTA and on various fundraising and activity committees at the campus level. She hosted the professional component for LASA's interdisciplinary studies E-Zine classes for four years. She also has worked with Communities in Schools and AISD's Curriculum and Technology Education program to launch a mentoring program. The Austin Ad Fed Shadow Day program placed underserved students with local agencies and was recognized nationally as a best practice for public-private collaboration to address diversity disparities.

Mrs. Barksdale and her husband, Avery, have one daughter, who is a graduate of Austin ISD schools. Mrs. Barksdale is the Director of Outside Engagement at EnviroMedia Social Marketing where she works every day with schools districts and ECSs around the state to deliver public health and environmental programs.