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Rich Gottbrath

PRESIDENT

Rich Gottbrath is Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Value Creation Strategies Holdings, an Austin-based private equity investment fund.  He is also the Chief Financial Officer of Ballotin Chocolate Whiskey.  Prior to joining VCSH, Rich spent time in private equity both in an investment capacity and in an operating capacity.  He began his career in investment banking at Lincoln International, a Chicago-based middl market investment banking advisory firm, working across the firm’s offices in the US and Europe.  Rich joined the AFTS board in 2019 after years as an avid patron of the program’s artists.  He sits on the program’s Finance and Development Committees.

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Kimberly Terry

VICE PRESIDENT

Kimberly Terry joined the AFTS board in April of 2020 and she has been a longtime friend of the program, working with the fundraising team to create and organize the Give Art a Home Gala for 9 years. In her personal life she enjoys singing with Women of Heartsong and gardening. She is married to Steve, her husband of 38 years, and has two adult children. They love traveling, watching movies, playing games and cooking together.

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Libby Brennan

SECRETARY

Brennan was raised in San Francisco but has lived in Austin since 2005. From a young age she has been involved in working with nonprofits as a volunteer, promoter or third party fundraiser. Most recently she served on the board of the Central Texas Bluegrass Association. Her love of art, music and hospitality has taken her through many worlds; as an after school art and poetry teacher, event coordinator for a local brewery and most recently, a case manager. The pandemic inspired a desire to explore the nonprofit world in greater depth. In 2021 she started serving as an AmeriCorps at the Trinity Center, a day resource center for the homeless in downtown Austin. In July of 2022 she was promoted to a full time Case Manager. Libby has found great inspiration in those she serves and hopes to help build a bigger bridge to critical outlets and resources that AFTS provides.

In her free time, Libby makes jewelry paired with haiku, adventures with her 8 year old daughter, Paloma, and enjoys going to live music.

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Darjan Moralic

TREASURER

Darjan has lived in Austin since 2010 and is an alum of Michigan State University where he graduated with both his BA and MS in Accounting. Professionally, Darjan is a CPA and Director of Assurance at BDO, a national public accounting firm. In his personal life Darjan is passionate about helping his local community through involvement with not-for-profit organizations around the city. He is also a huge dog lover who enjoys the outdoors and loves spending his free time with his wife and daughter. Darjan joined AFTS’s board in 2023 and currently serves as Treasurer and on the Finance Committee.

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Troy Campa

Born and raised in Houston Texas, Troy moved to Austin in 2013 after selling his architecture firm of 16 years.  In Austin, he honed in on his passion for the arts and established Camiba Gallery.  In 2016 he and his husband René founded Camiba Cultural Tours, leading small group art centered travel to North, Central and South American destinations. Troy’s philanthropic focus is around issues of education, the environment, equality, and the visual arts.  He believes passionately in the positive impact that the arts and education can have on people’s lives.

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Keli Hogsett

Born and raised in Austin, Keli first came across AFTS when she bought a painting almost 8 years ago just before leaving Austin to work in San Francisco and Boulder. Keli has worked in advertising for 10+ years and is currently a Creative Director at R/GA. A huge supporter of the homeless wherever she's lived, Keli joins the board in 2019 bringing strategic thinking, creativity and design leadership to the Communications Committee.

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Kenny Trice

Kenny has been involved in the arts  since discovering photography while an undergrad at The University of Texas. After further study and work as an advertising and editorial photographer in both San Francisco and New York, he and his family moved back to Austin in 2008. Kenny began volunteering with AFTS in early 2014 and was part of the team that launched the first website dedicated to selling the wonderful artwork of the AFTS artists.  He officially joined the board in late 2015 and currently serves on the AFTS Communications Committee.

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Carlos Martin

Carlos Martin is the CEO of macami.ai, a company focused in bringing efficiency to the enterprise by leveraging Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and AI. Formerly Director of Strategic Alliances for Brazil for the company Blue Prism, which pioneered the RPA market, and where he worked for 6 years. Carlos began his career in 1998 as a senior software developer for Dell Technologies where he worked for 13 years. Carlos has a degree in Computer Science from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO) in Guadalajara and a Master’s in Technology Commercialization from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. He has more than 20 years in IT with a solid experience in technology, systems, problem solving, research and business strategy. Carlos is the author of the upcoming book “The Efficient Enterprise”, which will discuss topics on how to leverage these technologies for bring exponential benefits to business.

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E.J. Zain

E.J. Zain is a local entrepreneur with a passion for art, business, and non-profit work. With a background in Fine Art, education and retail, she has founded two startup companies that have made a positive impact in their respective industries. Currently she is cofounder of Austin’s largest hemp dispensary Greenbelt Botanicals.  While working at Greenbelt, E.J. realized she could do better for the unhoused population she saw daily.

E.J.’s deep appreciation for the transformative power of art stems first from her love of film. Equipped with her BFA and as a single parent she sold art in a prestigious sculpture gallery and brokered an emerging artist's work to sell at the Guggenheim Hermitage museum store during its’ residency at the Venetian Las Vegas. She was a docent at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art and sold display advertising for Nevada’s largest paper as a sales assistant and worked her way up to outside sales at an alternative newsweekly to writing a pseudonymous weekly column. She also helped expand a REIT, QSR Gaming enterprise from a handful of people to a company of hundreds in Las Vegas.

After marrying a native San Antonian and relocating, she has been raising her family of four while actively involved in the Junior League of Austin, AISD sanctioned committees and the Greater Austin Asian Chamber's collaboration with the City of Austin to bring more art into retail spaces, helping to bring beauty and culture to her community. Through Maker Kid’s Lab, a mobile makerspace created for children to feel empowered in using tools and building things, E.J. was able to bring her cohort of students to the Capital Factory to learn how to create a startup. She has also dedicated countless hours to volunteering for women and children's causes, using her entrepreneurial skills to make a difference in her community.

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Molly Batschelet

Molly Batschelet (she/her) is a Social Worker with twenty years of experience working in homeless services, including direct practice, program coordination and consulting. She is currently a Senior Associate on the housing team at the Technical Assistance Collaborative, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the nation’s human services, health care, homelessness, and affordable housing systems implement policies and practices that empower people to live healthy, independent lives in the communities they choose. Molly has been an avid supporter of AFTS for the last two decades and has seen first-hand the powerful impact this program has made on so many by offering a place of peace, fostering community, and providing opportunity for individuals to explore and share their art. Molly was thrilled to join the AFTS Board in 2023.

Jefferson Bright

Jodie King

Jodie King is an artist, instructor, author & speaker whose mission is to help others excavate their own authentic power, freedom and joy through the use of art and creativity. She possesses a combination of playful irreverence and spirituality with over 20 years of art experience that resonates with her audience from around the world. Jodie’s “no one is the boss of you” attitude about painting, life, and creativity have garnered her collectors from around the world who resonate with the rebelliousness and passion in her art.

 

 

Staff

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Kelley Worden

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Kelley obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts from East Tennessee State University. Kelley worked for 5 years as a graphic artist post graduation, and then shifted her focus to volunteer work while raising her children. From 1997 to 2010 she held leadership roles supporting Canyon Creek Elementary School as the PTA Fundraising Coordinator, Fun Run Coordinator, and Green Team leader. She also co-founded a local non-profit organization, Chicktime Austin (now Hope Austin), which works with children in need in the Austin community.  In 2010, Kelley began volunteering with AFTS, became a board member in 2013 and in 2016 she was selected to fill the Executive Director position.

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Teresa Colaluca

PROGRAM CATALYST

Teresa is a local stained-glass artist. She grew up in a military family and lived all over the world having moved over 21 times before the age of 22. In 1989 she landed in Austin where she built a career in the educational publishing industry. She retired after 25+ years in 2019 to pursue her glass art full time and discovered ‘Art from the Streets’ while researching the local “competition”. She appreciated what AFTS provided to homeless and at-risk individuals transcended imagination and offered real solutions to an ongoing problem. Teresa started volunteering at open studio that fall (2019). In addition to her role as Program Catalyst, Teresa leads the “Women’s Wednesdays” open studio.
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Marla Johnson

DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Marla attended her first AFTS annual show in 2016, in support of new friends who had moved from the streets into permanent supportive housing at Community First! Village. Marla served on the Mobile Loaves and Fishes Stewardship team at CF!V, where she helped inspire others to discover ways to engage in innovative solutions to address chronic homelessness. Prior to AFTS, Marla served as Director of Development and Operations at Central Texas Table of Grace, where she helped create a Supervised Independent Living program for vulnerable young adults who have aged out of foster care. She received her MBA with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship at Texas Tech University.

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Kayla Schroeder

ACCOUNTANT

Born and raised in Austin, Texas, Kayla graduated from The University of Texas with a Bachelor's degree in Accounting. She joined the AFTS staff as the accountant in 2017. Beyond the numbers, she loves to connect with the artists at the shows as well as in the studio as they are creating their artwork. In her free time, Kayla loves to bake, travel and spend time with her family and friends.

Artist Liaison

Jefferson Bright

Jefferson Bright

AFTS Artist

Jefferson Bright is a native West African, hailing from Liberia, but grew up predominately in New Jersey. He’s always had a sketchbook in hand, so he could take it everywhere with him and draw anything that inspires him. He loves the color purple and painting floral pieces.

Synethia Kelly

Synethia Kelly

AFTS Artist

Creating makes me light as a feather. Stress free. I enjoy the complete silence of creating even when people are around. Just me and my brush. Touching the canvas, the image comes to me, like magic.

Founders

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Heloise Gold

CO-FOUNDER / BOARD MEMBER AT LARGE

Heloise is a performing artist, dancer, T’ai Chi instructor and co-founder of Art From The Streets.  In 1990, co-founders began offering open studio art sessions for folks who were homeless. In 1991 they created the first Annual Show & Sale. Heloise has been involved with the program ever since taking on a variety of roles. Her love of the artists, making art in the community and seeing that AFTS flourishes is at the heart of her commitment.

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Bill Jeffers

CO-FOUNDER / BOARD MEMBER AT LARGE

Bill Jeffers is a poet and sculptor and one of the co-founders of Art From the Streets. He helped produce the first public show and the 25 Annual Shows that followed. He produced marketing materials and graphic design for the project for many years, and has written the City of Austin Cultural Contract application since the 2nd annual show in 1992. He served as the organization's first paid staff. He is motivated by the wonderful people who make their art in the open studio and by the efforts of AFTS to address the inexcusable hardships faced by people who are homeless in such a prosperous society. 

Art From the Streets relies on the generous support of people like you. Purchasing artwork supports the artists directly and donating to our program helps us to offer our free. Open Studio, outreach, supplies, and the sale and promotion of artwork on behalf of our homeless and at-risk artists.

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