Speakers

A native of Beaumont, TX and graduate of Texas A&M University and the French Culinary Institute, Barclay trained formally at Ristorante Degli Archi in San Quirico d’ Orcia, Tuscany and Blue Hill in NYC.  After returning to Austin, he worked under acclaimed chefs Todd Duplechan and Jessica Maher at Lenoir followed by time in Nashville as Chef de cuisine at Merchant's with Strategic Hospitality.  Barclay moved to Birmingham, Alabama to open OvenBird, where he helped realize JBF Award Winning Chef, Chris Hastings’ vision for southern food, inspired by the Americas and Spain using live fire cooking techniques.  Upon Barclay’s return to Austin, he has consulted on numerous projects in Texas and Nashville, including "Greenery Co" "The Switch" and "Texas Keeper Cider".  He now owns Golden Hour Cafe & Wine Bar in South Austin, TX, where they specialize in natural wines, european style cuisine, and specialty coffee.

Theresa is a native Texan who brings 27 years of corporate, non-profit and community board leadership experience to the Austin EDC. She joined the Austin EDC in February 2002 as the CEO and President.

One of her proudest accomplishments at Wells Fargo includes working with the Mexican Consulate office and the Austin Police Department to secure bank accounts for undocumented people, becoming the first bank in the country to open accounts using the Mexican Consulate card as a primary form of identification. This unique experience shaped Theresa’s understanding of the various ways her professional contributions could impact individuals, families, and communities. She then went on to win a global fellowship with the Grameen Foundation and spent three months working on an economic development project for rural farmers in Medellin, Colombia.

To connect her professional involvement more directly with local efforts in community development, Theresa has served on 20 local non-profit boards, committees and task forces. She chaired the board of the Ann Richards School Foundation, Foundation Communities and an art education organization known as “Believe in Me.” She was selected to serve on the Mayor’s Task Force for Institutional Racism and Systemic Inequities. Theresa is the co-founder of an Austin housing non-profit organization, the East Austin Conservancy, working to support East Austin families at risk of displacement. She currently serves on the board of the Waterloo Greenway Conservancy, as Treasurer of the East Austin Conservancy and the Advisory Board of the Ann Richards School Foundation.

Theresa graduated from the University of Texas (UT) business school with a degree in Finance. While attending UT, she served as the President of the UT Ballet Folklorico team and as an officer in the Hispanic Business Student Association. She studied abroad at El Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico, one of Latin America’s top tier universities. Theresa has won several awards recognizing her commitment and work in the Austin community from The Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Austin Area Urban League, Ballet Austin, Girls Scouts, Seedling, Inroads, PODER and Avance. Having been a former performing artist, dancing with the Aztlan Dance Company, she served on the Aztlan board as well as the Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC) Bond Committee.

Kaavya Venkat serves as the coordinator for the Texas Public Health Coalition (TPHC). She is also a Public Health Policy Analyst for the Texas Medical Association (TMA). As part of her role in TPHC, she works with multiple stakeholders around the state to develop educational one-pagers and talks titled "Distinguished Speaker Series" on public health priority topics. 

Kaavya grew up in the suburbs of Dallas, TX and now resides in downtown Austin. She spent a few years in California completing her undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley and then went to Dartmouth for her Masters in Public Health. She is passionate about working towards creating an equitable and just world. For fun, Kaavya loves to create graphic design artwork!

TPHC meets once a month to discuss organizational/legislative updates and plans for future public health advocacy and awareness. To learn more, feel free to contact Kaavya at kaavya.venkat@texmed.org. Thank you!

Welcome Kaavya!