Speaker Date Topic
Rep Donna Howard Apr 04, 2024
Maternal Healthcare
Maternal Healthcare

Representative Donna Howard has served in the Texas House of Representatives since 2006. She currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Select Committee on Health Care Reform, is a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Vice Chair of the subcommittee on Fiscal Review, and is member of the Higher Education Committee. Rep. Howard also serves as the Chairwoman of the Texas Women’s Health Caucus which is the largest caucus in the country solely focused on advancing women’s health policy. During her time in the Legislature, Chair Howard has advocated to increase funding and access to women’s health services and has fought against anti-abortion misinformation. Over the last year, she has worked to increase national awareness of the current state of women’s health policy in Texas and the effect anti-abortion legislation has had in our communities. A native of Austin, Donna earned a Bachelor’s degree in nursing and a Master’s degree in health education from the University of Texas. She worked as a critical care nurse at Brackenridge and Seton hospitals and served as Austin’s first hospital-based Patient Education Coordinator. Donna is a past president of the Texas Nurses Association (District 5) and was a health education instructor at UT. Donna was elected to the Eanes ISD board in West Austin for the 1996-1999 term. She has served on the boards of Austin Area Interreligious Ministries, Common Cause Texas, Texas Freedom Network, and the Texas Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. She now serves as a board member of the Expanding Horizons Foundation, supporting low-income housing and education. Representative Howard was married to attorney Derek Howard for 40 wonderful years and they proudly raised three children together. Rep. Howard is also a grandmother to seven perfect grandchildren

Jack Gabig Apr 11, 2024
Club Rosarito Update
Tom Goodman May 09, 2024
Author, The Last Man
Author, The Last Man

Tom Goodman is the author of a new novel called The Last Man. It is closely based on a true crime from 1927 that the press called “The Santa Claus Bank Robbery.” Tom first ran across the story when he lived in the small Texas county where it all took place. He currently lives in Austin, where he has been able to conduct extensive research on the true crime at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Tom is the author of several nonfiction books as well.

 

Tom has been married to Diane, his high school sweetheart, since 1980. They have two adult sons. Tom enjoys fly fishing, scuba diving, and puttering around his woodworking shop.