LBJ Austin Alumni > Board
Board meetings are held once a month. Contact president - at - lbjalumni.org if you would like to join us.
BOARD
President - Naila Ahmed '06
Vice President - Ginger Lowry '85
Treasurer - TJ Costello '03
Secretary - Theresa Gage '01
At-Large - Bryan Hadley '07
At Large - Lisa Loftus-Otway '04
At-Large -Karen Latta '97
Faculty Representative - Dr. Leigh Boske
Sub-committees
Finance and TexasExes Committee - TJ Costello; Karen Latta; Lisa Loftus Otway (Otway represents the Association on the TexasExes Council)
If interested in serving on a Sub-committee e-mail the board at alumni -a at - lbjalumni.org.
2010
Board of Directors
Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs
Austin Alumni Association
Naila Ahmed, M.P.A., graduated with a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin (2002) and earned a Masters of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin (2006).
She currently works for the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) in Austin, Texas, a not for profit electric and water utility firm. Naila is a Senior Environmental Coordinator focused on water, wastewater and stormwater policy issues. Naila is President of the Board of the LBJ School Austin Alumni Association and has served on the board since 2009. Naila is also the Austin representative on the National LBJ Alumni Association Board.
T.J. Costello, M.P.A., graduated from the LBJ School in 2003 with a M.P.A. and has a Graduate Portfolio in Dispute Resolution. TJ is a native of New York and received a degree in Applied Economics from Ithaca College. TJ is an Economist for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. He performs complex research, consultative services and technical assistance work as well as planning, developing and implementing detailed and specialized research projects regarding economic development, state government expenditures, and policy and statutory issues. Previously TJ served with the Austin-San Antonio Corridor Council and as the Chief Economist at Box Free Thinking where he utilized his extensive background in economic analysis, economic understanding and market research. He has written and spoken on economic issues and market research and is the market research instructor at BiG Austin and is an adjunct faculty member and basketball coach with Concordia University-Texas. Prior to this he was employed by the American Arbitration Association in New York as the National Coordinator where he oversaw regional development, relationship building and membership affairs. Currently, TJ is active with the Huns RFC and the LBJ Future Forum. TJ is Treasurer of the LBJ School of Public Affairs Austin Alumni Association.
Theresa Gage, M.P.A., graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Journalism (1997) and from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin with a Master of Public Affairs (2001). Theresa is the Government Relations Manager for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the flow of electricity to 22 million Texas customers. She previously served as the Director of Governmental Relations at the Public Utility Commission of Texas. Prior to joining the Commission, Theresa was a policy analyst for state Senator David Sibley, the author of legislation that restructured the Texas electric market. Gage has also worked on insurance and consumer issues for Texas Watch, a non-partisan advocacy group. She started her career as a reporter concentrating on government and political issues for The Texarkana Gazette, a daily northeast Texas newspaper. Theresa is Secretary of the LBJ School of Public Affairs Austin Alumni Association and lives in Austin, Texas.
Bryan Hadley, M.P.A., Bryan Hadley has worked as a Performance Analyst for Texas' Legislative Budget Board since graduating with a Master of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs in 2007. Bryan has conducted research for the State of Texas in several policy areas, including Medicaid waivers for family planning programs, transportation planning, and rural healthcare workforce development. While at the LBJ School, Bryan completed the RGK Center's Nonprofit Studies Portfolio Program. His professional report was on the rising costs and declining federal funding for public health clinics receiving Title X grants. Hadley is an At-Large Member of the LBJ School of Public Affairs Austin Alumni Association.
Karen Latta, M.P.A. Karen Latta earned a Master of Public Affairs at the LBJ School of Public Affairs (1997) and a B.A. in Geography from The University of Texas at Austin (1993). She is a Senior Manager with the Sunset Advisory Commission, where she manages and participates in performance reviews of state agencies subject to abolishment by the Texas Legislature. Currently, Karen works on reviews of the Public Utility Commission and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. In this capacity, Karen works closely with management and staff of agencies, agency stakeholders, and members of the Legislature and their staff. She has also led Sunset's efforts to hire qualified policy analysts over the past several years. Before and during her graduate studies at the LBJ School, she worked for the Lower Colorado River Authority. Living in Austin since 1990, Karen and her husband, Russell live in East Austin with their three cats and expect their first child in October 2010. Karen enjoys spending time with friends, practicing yoga, volunteering, traveling, home improvement, cooking, eating and enjoying all of the great things about Austin. She has served on the Board of the LBJ Alumni Association since June 2007, previously served as President (2008 to 2010) and is a current At-Large Member. She also volunteers with Meals on Wheels.
Lisa Loftus Otway, M.P.A. earned a LLB in Law (1996) and LLM Environmental Law (2000) in the UK and a Master of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs in 2004. She is also an attorney at law - licensed in New York. Since graduating from the LBJ School, Lisa has worked as Research Associate at the Center for Transportation Research and focuses her research into three main areas: transportation policy, freight planning, and land use planning. Lisa regularly presents her research at major conferences and recently sat on a Federal Railroad Administration Focus Group providing advice on rail and land use for the development of the National Rail Plan. Lisa is an active member in the Heart of Texas Chapter of the Woman's Transportation Seminar, serving as the Recognitions Committee Chair. Lisa recently co-taught a PRP with Dr Leigh Boske at the LBJ School that analyzed through 12 case studies how Mexico, plans, finances, implements and constructs transportation infrastructure. Lisa's public policy career, began in the UK when she worked for the London Borough of Merton and the London Borough of Islington in their legal services division as the executive assistant to the Director of Legal and Election Services. Previously, Lisa served as the Secretary and the Vice President of the LBJ School of Public Affairs Austin Alumni Association. She is an At-Large Member of the LBJ School of Public Affairs Austin Alumni Association.
Ginger Lowry, M.P.A., earned a B.A. with special honors in Spanish (1980) from The University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs (1985). Currently a Senior Research Analyst in the Texas Comptroller's Economic Analysis Division, Ginger monitors the fiscal impact of proposed legislation, conducts economic and tax impact studies, and serves as project manager of multiple Comptroller annual, biennial and special economic reports. Ginger analyzes the state's expenditures by county of more than 300 state agencies, reports on the state's physician education loan program and evaluates community reinvestment strategies of the Texas Departments of Banking, Governor's Economic Development and Tourism Division, Housing and Community Affairs, Insurance and Rural Affairs and their responses to Texas communities' needs for affordable housing, disaster recovery assistance, financial literacy education, rural economic development, small business and small farm loans and homeowners insurance. Her career includes experience in the nonprofit, private and public sectors. She started in the 1980s as an economic research analyst with the Comptroller's Research Division and the Legislative Budget Board Estimates Division. Trained in business and information systems analysis, Ginger worked as a Management Information Consultant for Arthur Andersen & Co. (Accenture) on the State of Texas Uniform Statewide Accounting System design and as a Business Analyst on the Texas Department of Insurance's Y2K conversion project and design of the state's Texas Online portal. At Tokyo Electron America, Inc. Ginger worked as a Senior Business Analyst in the semiconductor industry. Her nonprofit experience includes serving as Development Coordinator for Hospice Austin-Williamson County where she secured grants and major donor funds to support programs for bereaved children and a work/study program for minorities. Ginger is Vice-President of the LBJ School of Public Affairs Austin Alumni Association.
Leigh Boske, Ph.D. is Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin. His teaching and research interests have focused on transportation policy, economics and finance. Professor Boske's published research includes national and international transport policy issues, the role of transportation and logistics in international trade, and multimodal/intermodal transport planning. Boske served as a Senior Economist at the National Transportation Policy Study Commission of the U.S. Congress and as Chief of Economic and Environmental Analysis at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. In 1993-94, he took a leave of absence from the university to serve as Policy Advisor to the Texas Transportation Commission and to coordinate the analysis of priority transportation issues for the 1994 Texas Transportation Plan. Boske is a current member of the Executive Committee of the U.S.-European "Transatlantic Policy Consortium"; the Organization of American States' (OAS) Coordinating Committee of the Inter-American Training and Research Program for Trade Corridor Development; Ports and Channels Committee of the Transportation Research Board, National Academy of Sciences; the National Cooperative Freight Research Program's Panel on New Dedicated Revenue Mechanisms for Freight Transportation Investment; and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program's Panel on Engineering Economic Analysis Practices for Highway Investment. Boske is a Faculty Member of the LBJ School of Public Affairs Austin Alumni Association.
