Events

Charlie Gandy is a veteran trail hiker, bike-riding adventurer, and proud native Texan. After graduating from North Mesquite High School in 1976, Charlie traveled around the world solo and received a political science degree from the University of Texas in 1980. At age 23, he was elected to represent Mesquite and East Dallas in the Texas House of Representatives. Charlie went on to work for the governor, the Texas Nature Conservancy, and host the historic Tug O’ Honor event across Town Lake three years in a row to raise funds for Austin’s first Youth Hostel before founding BikeTexas.org. He came up with the idea of creating a hiking, biking, and equestrian route across Texas while hiking in Lake Tahoe California in June of 2024 and encountering way too much snow. It dawned on him that his home state of Texas is perfect for a late fall, winter, and early spring long distance trail. Two months later the website for the xTx was launched and he began physically ground-proofing the draft route. Charlie has climbed all the 14ers in Colorado, hiked over 4,000 miles including the coast of California and biking across Washington state. He’s a serial entrepreneur and has owned several businesses, including a travel agency, a Colorado mountain lodge, and an urban design firm. He currently splits his time between Poulsbo, WA, with his wife Melissa and traveling across Texas organizing the xTexas Trail Project. 

Becky Irvin

Born and raised in Central Texas, I spent the past seven years in Northwest Arkansas working in the cycling industry. While there, I earned my master’s degree in Recreation and Sports Management from the University of Arkansas, and I focused my research on women’s’ barriers of entry to the sport of mountain biking. Following grad school, I cofounded Grit MTB Festival and All Bikes Welcome, 501c(3) in order to increase trail access and ridership for members of historically marginalized communities. In 2023, I opened my own consulting practice where I helped secure over $1 million in funding for projects that focused on outdoor recreation and conservation. All of this led me to being honored as one of the Top 100 Women of Impact in Arkansas by the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas in the Fall of 2023. Since then, my heart called me back home to Central Texas, where I’m excited to continue this work in my home state. I’m especially passionate about conserving public and working lands, advocating for our incredible biodiversity, and ensuring that Texas’ landscapes remain open and accessible to future generations. When I’m not working, you can find me pedaling down gravel roads, swimming in a river, photographing native plants, or reading something nerdy—often about dinosaurs or western water conservation

Grace Cataldo grew up in Las Cruces New Mexico, and graduated with a degree in Home Economics.  She married Gary Cataldo the semester before they graduated.  Gary was in Army ROTC and was commissioned a Lieutenant that began his 26 year career.  Grace was a devoted Army wife and managed all the 12 moves to the posts he was sent to.  Raising their two sons was the focus of her time.  She defines herself as a professional volunteer, holding various positions on various charities at every post they were at and continued after he retired.  She was a WIC nutritionist for 3 years when Gary was stationed in El Paso.  While stationed in Washington DC she worked at the USDA Meat nd Poultry Hotline for 4 years. She answered questions about the safety of meat and poultry.   November was the busiest for answering questions, as people had numerous questions about handling and preparing turkeys and other meats and foods.  It was strictly a food safety hotline so they don't give recipes, etc. just how to handle, store, defrost, and cook in all the methods safely to prevent foodborne illness.  That was in the early 1990's just as the internet was revving up, and so many changes were happening.  Grace's best achievement was convincing the Hotline they needed to have all the information in Spanish and a Spanish speaker on the Hotline and it happened.  In 1995 she and Gary moved to Austin to be close to their grandkids.

Thaddeus Foster, founder of Wildfire Prevention Corp., is a native Texan with over 40 years of customer service and business experience. He has a passion for helping his community. He currently serves as President of JDLV Properties, Ltd. and founder of First Responder Operations Support Team, Inc. (FROSTI), a nonprofit committed to 100% of contributions directly benefiting first responders.  Formerly, he was President of Law Enforcement Assistance & Development (LEAD) Foundation and COO / Operating Partner of Prometheus Restaurant Franchise Holdings, operating 200+ restaurants across the southeast.

Wildfire Prevention Corporation (WPC) is a family-owned and operated business based in Wimberley, Texas, with a combined 60+ years of experience in business operations, leadership, customer service, and executive management. WPC is committed to safeguarding people and properties from the devastating impact of wildfires through preventative action. We provide expert wildfire protection services to homeowners, businesses, and communities across Texas.  As the state's only licensed provider of Phos-Chek® fire-retardant and BrandGuard™ ember-resistant vents, along with fire-resistant mesh, WPC helps safeguard properties from the increasing threat of wildfires.  Our services include wildfire risk assessments, home hardening, defensible space planning, tree and landscape management, and annual inspections to ensure ongoing wildfire mitigation.  With wildfires on the rise and insurance coverage becoming harder to secure, proactive prevention is more critical than ever, and WPC is here to help.

Chad was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1989, to Mel and Kellie Rixse, where he grew up until graduating from South Anchorage High School in 2007. After high school, Chad spent 11 years in Seattle, Washington, where he graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish before entering the financial services industry as a Financial Advisor in the fall of 2014. Chad later returned to Alaska in September 2018 for a 5-year stint before moving to Austin in August 2023. Chad is a former Rotary Youth Exchange Student to Argentina from 2005-2006, and a former member of the Rotary Club of Anchorage South. In 2019, he met his beautiful wife, Genesis, while still living in Alaska, and they married in June of 2020. Since moving to Texas, Chad has continued to build his wealth management firm, Forefront Wealth Partners, has made a bunch of new, wonderful friends, joined the Rotary Club of Austin Southwest, and adopted his fun-loving Basenji, Luna. In his free time, Chad loves to golf, play basketball, cook, run, and lift weights.  

Krista Kelly is the Volunteer Coordinator at Shoal Creek Conservancy, where she has worked for over two years. She manages the volunteer program, leading public and custom
trash cleanups, as well as public riparian restoration workdays and rain garden workdays. Krista is the main point of contact for all volunteer inquiries and communications, and alongside other
staff members she works to ensure that all volunteer experiences serve as meaningful contributions to the health of the Shoal Creek watershed. Over the last year, Krista has also
helped kickstart SCC’s environmental education program, visiting schools or appearing at community events to give presentations and lessons on riparian health, pollution in watersheds,
and the functions of rain gardens.

A 50-year member of the State Bar of Texas, Terry received his undergraduate degree (BA-History) from Southern Methodist University and his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law.  A Vietnam veteran, he obtained a commission as a Second Lieutenant upon graduation from the Infantry Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia and served three years in the US Army.

After his military duty, Terry began a long career in criminal prosecution at the city, county and federal level.  For almost thirty years, he served in the US Department of Justice Criminal Division as a frontline organized crime prosecutor in Chicago, Los Angeles and Las Vegas; as a section supervisor of national criminal initiatives involving customs and immigration fraud, large scale industrial health and safety violations and major corruption violations by individuals in the private sector.  For six years, he was the Chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section directing the investigation and prosecution of online child pornography and the sexual exploitation of children on a nationwide basis.  His duties included being a member of the Interpol Crimes Against Children committee; he promoted new and innovative legislation on child exploitation in countries throughout the world and assisted in training investigators and prosecutors about law enforcement and legal developments in the area of child exploitation.

It was an honor for Terry to be selected as the Resident Legal Advisor in Romania where he worked with the Ministry of Justice and Prosecutor General to establish new programs to combat organized crime, corruption and transnational human trafficking.

Today’s presentation concerns two of the most important mafia cases in Los Angeles that had a tremendous impact on organized crime in the US.  Terry prosecuted the first RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations), case in California, and certainly one of the first RICO trials in the US.  Secondly, he will discuss the prosecution of Joe Hauseer, the mafia’s insurance expert, who bribed union officials in LA to represent the unions in contracting for huge health-welfare and pension plans.  The mob then stole millions from these funds.   Hauser became an FBI informant and aided sting operations against corrupt union officials, political figures and the mafia.  This series of cases was the most extensive and expansive organized crime investigations ever conducted.  Terry has completed his second book, “The Los Angeles Experience”, which discusses these cases in detail.

Terry’s experience and knowledge brings passion and innovation to the mission of promoting the Rule of Law and criminal justice reform. His career in public service is a tremendous benefit to our efforts to give the best law enforcement system to our communities.

Michelle's midwifery journey started as a doula more than 12 years ago. She went on to serve hundreds of families as a birth assistant, as a student midwife and then a staff midwife at the Austin Area Birth Center. Midwifery is a calling, one that found Michelle when she had her sweet babies. She believes in the profound impact of this work on families and the community and on herself. Michelle joined Central Texas Midwifery in early 2024, and she truly loves it. In addition to her midwifery work, she is also an advocate in the volunteer capacity for the midwifery profession here in Texas; serving as Legislative Chair (elect) for the Association of Texas Midwives and on the Midwives Advisory Board for Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Most importantly, Michelle is a mom to two beautiful teenagers and a wife of a public school teacher.

Raeeda Gheewala, MD is the Founder and CEO of Sports Nephrology. She is board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Nephrology and has extensive experience caring for thousands of patients for almost two decades.

Dr. Gheewala completed her Medical School at Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA in 2006, followed by her Internal Medicine Residency at Tufts Medical Center in 2009. She then pursued a Nephrology Fellowship at the University of California San Francisco, CA, completing it in 2011. Her education includes a B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with a minor in Religion from Boston, MA in 2000.

She has lived through the expansive health and tech growth in Austin, TX since 2012. Outside of medicine, she stays active with her husband and three young children.