Meet the Team

Hired as a part-time consultant in 2009 to support the re-launch of the SAISD Foundation and rally private support to increase educational excellence in SAISD schools, Judy has served as its full-time Executive Director since January 2014.  Judy earned her MEd from James Madison University and an MA from St. Mary’s University. Prior to supporting K-12 education, she launched the Service Learning Center at St. Mary’s University where she served as Director and adjunct faculty in the Psychology Department for ten years and earned national recognition.  Judy has a background in program development and evaluation as well as fundraising and grant writing.  She has served as an evaluator for TEA funded after-school programs in San Antonio, national and international grant programs, and K-16 service-learning education programs in Texas.  Judy and her husband Mike have called San Antonio home for the past 30 years and their sons (twins) attend UT Austin.

Vanessa is a proud graduate of Sidney Lanier High School in SAISD. When she was earning her degree in Speech Communications at St. Mary’s University, she became interested in service learning and corporate community relations. Working at the SAISD Foundation allows her to put her heart (and brain) for service and community involvement to good use. She brings her 5 years of event coordinating experience as a catering manager and 15 years with the Cavender Auto Family with her. She has experience with every facet of a vehicle purchase from sourcing inventory to customer service in sales and negotiation to finance. While at Cavender Toyota she spent 10 years on the management team during a period of explosive growth. Over this time, she developed her skills collaborating with other managers across the organization to execute company vision, mission, and values.  Supporting students and teachers in SAISD hits close to home for her. Vanessa was raised by her grandmother Josephine, also a Lanier graduate, who taught in SAISD for over 20 years, on the westside of San Antonio. She is a problem solver at heart and likes to think of creative ways to get things done.