Leadership.

Board of Directors

Houston Arts Alliance is committed to maintaining a board that is diverse by culture, geography, ethnicity, gender, industry, and other criteria. Members of the Board serve three-year terms and are eligible for reappointment to a second term. Of the 31 members, six Board members are appointed by the mayor of Houston and approved by City Council. There are four board meetings per year, and they are open to the public, per the Texas Open Meetings Act.

Michele Leal Farah, Chair Sergio Selvera, Vice Chair
Jacqueline Phillips, Secretary
John Paul Capistran, Treasurer
Alim Adatia  
Juan Alanis 
Lauren Anderson* 
Jerry Barnett* 
Beryl Basham 
Eric Blackwell* 
Shani Burnett  
Christopher Cardenas 
C.C. Conner 
Paola Creixell 
June Deadrick
Darryl Gaines 
Justin Goodman* 
Rosi Hernandez
Vernique Hutchinson Francis 
Necole Irvin** 
Garfield Johnson 
Jackie Maldonado 
Rosalinda Martinez 
Judy Nyquist 
Brenda Peters-Chase* 
Shaheen Rahman* 
Eryn Roberts 
Lena Silva
Louise Upshaw-McClenny
Whitmire Vo 

*Mayoral Appointee 
**Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs Director, Mayor's Designee 

Committees

Detailed Information
(updated 02/07/2024)

Advancement Committee
Audit Committee
Civic Art Committee
Communications Committee
Executive Committee
Finance Committee
Grants Committee
HR Committee
Nominating Committee
Special Events Committee

Advisory Council

The HAA Advisory Council is composed of active civic leaders as well as members who have achieved outstanding recognition in their particular artistic endeavors on a local, regional, or national level. Advisory Council members are called upon to assist with key organizational priorities.

Jereann Chaney, Chair 
Darryl Gaines, Board Liaison  
Chinhui and Edward Allen 
Valentina and Alan Atkinson 
Sanjay Bapat 
Katharine Barthelme and Shane Frank 
Laura D. Bellows 
Leslie and Jack Blanton 
Sam Boles 
John Cangelosi and Natasha Minor 
Madyson Chavez 
Tammy Dowe 
George Farah 
Jo and Jim Furr 
Jorge Garza and Alex de Aguiar Reuter 
Lainie Gordon 
John Guess and Melanie Lawson 
Karen Hartnett 
Grace Ho 
Will Isbell 
Jakeen Johnson 
Anne Lamkin Kinder 
Tim Kollatschny 
Sheryl Kolasinski 
George Lancaster 
Ashley and Curt Langley 
Monica R. Lee 
Maria and Graham Lowrey 
Lester Marks 
Daisy Mendoza 
Desrye Morgan 
Hance and Debbie Myers  
Betty and Stephen D. Newton 
Duyen and Marc Nguyen 
Josh Pazda and Chris Goins 
Nilufar Ramji 
Jim Salners 
Kelly and Nicholas Silvers 
Rachel and Sebastien Solar 
Monique Smith 
Shawn Stephens 
Nick and Zsavon Stuart  
Cynthia Toles 
Ileana and Michael Treviño 
Phoebe and Bobby Tudor 
Lisa and Saul Valentin 
Kheli Willetts 
Crystal C. Wright