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, Co-Chair
Leigh Smith, Co-Chair
Darryl Gaines, Board Liaison

Chinhui and Edward Allen
Valentina and Alan Atkinson
Sanjay Bapat
Joni Baird
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
Karen Farber
Vernique Hutchinson Francis
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
Carla Lane
Ashley and Curt Langley
Monica R. Lee
Maria and Graham Lowrey
Lester Marks
Marc Melcher
Daisy Mendoza
Desrye Morgan
Hance and Debbie Myers
Betty and Stephen D. Newton
Duyen and Marc Nguyen
Josh Pazda and Chris Goins
Suresh Raghavan
Nilufar Ramji
Syan Rhodes
Jim Salners
Gregory Shannon
Kelly and Nicholas Silvers
Rachel and Sebastien Solar
Shawn Stephens
Monique Smith
Nick and Zsavon Stuart
Cynthia Toles
Ileana and Michael Treviño
Phoebe and Bobby Tudor
Lisa and Saul Valentin
Whitmire Vo
Kheli Willetts
Crystal C. Wright