Community Advisory Council

Kellie Sauls serves as the Director of Outreach, Culture, and Engagement for the Teacher Retirement System of Texas where she is responsible for the direction and oversight of organizational culture strategy, planning, program development and management as it relates to the employee experience. Prior to TRS, Kellie spent over 20 ...

Sarah Ruttan has worked in the field of education since 2002, serving as a bilingual & ESL teacher in grades 2-6 and a bilingual librarian. She currently works in Austin ISD serving a dual language campus, where she delights in sharing stories with her students and helping them find books ...

I am Texas State University graduate and was hired at People’s Community Clinic out of my internship with the Early Childhood (EC) team and have been the EC Coordinator since graduating in 2022. I was introduced to the work in EC by faculty and staff in the Applied Sociology program ...

Bio coming soon ...

Hello! My name is Dulce Torres. I live in Edinburgh. My first language is Spanish, but I’m trying to perfect my English. I studied Communications in Mexico. I’m the mother of Leonel and Max. We love reading, and since we were little, we’ve participated in activities at the local library ...

Sherita Calhoun is a dedicated mental health professional and consultant with expertise in the behavioral health and medical fields. As a mother of four, she understands the importance of mental health in shaping strong families and communities. With a passion for literacy, she believes that access to knowledge opens doors ...

Rhiannon Cordero is a remote Logistics Coordinator and a mother of two. She holds a Master's in Business Administration and was previously a High School Teacher as well as an Afterschool Program Coordinator for a local elementary school. Being born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley and overcoming hardships ...

Ruthie Walker, Ed.D., has dedicated 22 years to education, making a significant impact in the Pine Tree Independent School District in Longview, Texas. Since joining in 2016, she has served as Assistant Principal and currently leads as Principal at Pine Tree Primary School. A doctoral graduate in Curriculum and Instruction ...

Bio coming soon! ...

As the Partner Manager at BookSpring, Karen helps build early literacy and cultivates family engagement in reading through our Early Books for Me and Books Beginning at Birth programs. She also serves as the staff liason of the Community Advisory Council. In her professional life before BookSpring, Karen worked 18 ...

Thania Gonzalez grew up in Brownsville – located at the southernmost tip of Texas. Thania has been an infant, toddler and preschool teacher in Head Start so she understands the importance of introducing books and reading to children at an early age. She has also worked as an early childhood ...

Rachel West is a former Texas educator who spent five years teaching upper elementary math and science in the Dallas area. Here, she found her passion for educational equity and ignited a love for science in young learners. Rachel has since transitioned into working in Educational Technology. As a University ...

I grew up in Austin, have a Masters in Social Work and a Doctorate in Psychology. I was in private practice for over thirty years in College Station and during that time I taught Adjunct at Texas A&M, volunteered with the Battered Women's Shelter and Planned Parenthood, and was a ...

My name is Alana Dias and I am the Director of Education at Hillside early Childhood Center in Austin, TX. I grew up in New Jersey but have lived in Austin, Texas for almost 10 years. I received my bachelor's in early childhood education from the University of Arizona and ...