The YWA Advisory Council is composed of dedicated YWA alumni and community leaders who invest their valuable time and resources into the growth of the organization. Through their vast experiences and expertise, the Advisory Council plays an integral role in advising our Board of Directors and empowering YWA to reach our full potential as a top organization in Austin.
Austin Kaplan is the founder of & managing attorney at Kaplan Law Firm, PLLC. He received national recognition for a successful lawsuit against a Texas County Clerk who refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses. He was the 2016 Austin under 40 “Austinite of the Year”, 2017-18 President of the Austin Young Lawyers Association, a Super Lawyer Rising Star, Texas Bar Foundation Fellow, Austin Bar Foundation Fellow, and past Chairperson of the City of Austin’s Ethics Commission.
Austin Kaplan
As a Registered Senior Client Associate for The Heidmann/Jefferson Group, one of the largest Private Wealth Management teams in Central Texas, she is the team lead for event planning, marketing, client communications and cash management. Deanna served 5 years on the board of directors for the Young Women’s Alliance, including serving as President (2007-2008).
Deanna Rankin
As Chief Marketing Officer at Trinity Episcopal School, Kerri leads the marketing team to build strategic marketing, branding, and communications campaigns in support of recruitment, retention, and development efforts to further the mission of the school. Kerri is a Leadership Austin graduate and past board member, and a founding board member and past president of Young Women’s Alliance (YWA).
Kerri Qunell
Christopher Kennedy is Chief Executive Officer of Leadership Austin and had a long executive career at LCRA and held various positions with Chase Bank. Christopher currently serves as the Board Chair of the Association of Leadership Programs (ALP), the national association of community based leadership programs. In addition to his ALP service, he serves on the board at Central Texas Collective for Racial Equity, Advisory Board of the Junior League of Austin, St. Austin’s Catholic Church, and is a member of the Austin Research Organization. His passion for community based leadership is based on a belief that change is most successful when it is personal, local and immediate.
Christopher Kennedy
Ashley Alaniz-Moyer is a non-profit executive with a decade of experience in fundraising and program development. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Hispanic Scholarship Consortium awarding scholarships & emergency grants to hundreds of first-generation college students every year. Ashley is a strong believer in the power of collaboration and is giving of her time to several boards & committees including Austin Mayor Adler’s Taskforce on Institutional Racism and Central Texas Signing Day. Her favorite collaboration is co-hosting the I Do, We Do podcast with her husband, Billy.
Ashley Alaniz-Moyer
Lorelei Gonzalez, MPA, has an appetite for communications excellence, which led her to create her small communications consulting firm, Siren’s Song Consulting. However, her heart truly lies in the nonprofit arena, where she is a Certified Nonprofit Manager and the Program Director for HERdacity, dedicated to inspiring confidence in women to achieve their professional goals. From coordinating and facilitating their programs, being the face of the organization in the community, to mentoring women through their career journeys, Lorelei’s work exemplifies her greatest passion: women’s issues advocacy.
Lorelei Gonzalez, MPA
Founder of YWA, Carol Thompson remains an active civic catalyst by staying curious and supporting the best that Austin and its people have to offer. Thompson is an entrepreneur, economic development strategist, mentor, and business advisor, and has been recognized as “one of Austin’s 5 most powerful women” by Austin Business Journal.