Hope Stone, Inc.

Jane Weiner – Executive Director

Jane Weiner graduated from Bowling Green State University with a degree in deaf and elementary education, and a dance minor. She has been a professional dancer for the past 15 years, and has performed extensively with the Doug Elkins Dance Company as well as appeared with Mark Dendy, Deborah Tell, Jennifer Monson, Michael Foley, Jody Oberfelder, Joe Chavala, Sandra Organ and Amy Rosen/Derek Bernstein. The past five summers she has directed the Youth Arts Program for high-risk children at the Bates Dance Festival. She is the co-founder of the Pink Ribbons Project, Dancers in Motion Against Breast Cancer and directs the Houston Project.

Michael Bartha – Board Vice President

Michael Bartha, originally from Buffalo, NY, is a 19 year resident of Houston. He received his Ph.D. in Psychology from Rice University in 1997. Dr. Bartha has served in research positions at Baylor College of Medicine and TIRR’s Brain Injury Research Center and is currently the strategic research manager for the Ergonomics R&D Program at Hewlett-Packard. Over the past 6 years, Michael has come to know the Hope Stone family and appreciate the contributions Hope Stone Dance, Hope Center, and Kid’s Play Ensemble have made to providing quality art and art education experiences for both adults and children.

Jana Fant

Jana has lived in Houston since the age of 2. She attended the University of St. Thomas and worked in the Real Estate Banking Industry before marrying her husband Richard of 12 years. She is very involved in the operation of the Fant Foundation, started by Richard’s late parents. Jana is also on the Development Board of Casa de Esperanza and the board of the Houston Ballet as well as volunteering for numerous projects in the Houston area. Jana chaired the Society for the Performing Arts gala in March of 2008 and is set to co-chair the Big Brothers/Big Sisters fundraiser in March of 2009.

Julie Fette – Board Secretary

Julie Fette is a professor of French Studies at Rice University. She earned her PhD at New York University. Her research on France focuses on xenophobia and immigration, women and work, and the role of public apology in coming to terms with the past. In her youth, Julie danced professionally with the Garden State Ballet in New Jersey. Julie and her daughter Talia love to take dance classes at Hope Center.

Georgia Gatoura Foulard

Georgia Gatoura Foulard is a native of Houston, and a graduate of Rice University, where she received her B.A. in Foreign Languages. She then attended Baylor College of Medicine and is currently a Family Practice Physician. Dr. Foulard has been active in the Society for the Performing Arts, serving as a member of the board and the executive board as well as serving on the education and outreach committees. She co-chaired the SPA Ball in April, 2003. In September, 2002, she co-chaired the Planned Parenthood Gala. She is married to Mike Foulard, and they have two children, George, 22 and Lilly, 15.

Matt Harris – Board Treasurer

Matt Harris currently works at MH Contractors, LLC, a residential remodeling and roofing corporation, where he is President. Previously, he was a principal at Noble Executive Search, a boutique executive recruiting firm specializing in accounting/finance. Active in both the cultural and not for profit communities, Matt serves on several boards and founded the young professional program, PULSE, under the St. Joseph’s Foundation Board and previously served as Chair of the Emerging Leaders program under Houston Downtown Alliance. He also volunteers at Bering Omega House, an AIDS hospice in Houston. Matt did his undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin, receiving his BA in Philosophy.

Kathy Harrison

Kathy Harrison is a wife, mother, and community volunteer. In addition to serving on the Board of Hope Stone she is a board member of Express Soccer and actively involved in fundraising for Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas and in various capacities at her children’s school. She graduated from Barnard College and the Northwestern University School of Law. She practiced law in New York City and Houston, Texas, retiring in 1996 as General Counsel of Mellon Mortgage Company in 1996.

Charles Mansour

Charles Mansour is a practicing attorney with a primary emphasis in real estate and tax. He provides expert guidance in the areas of residential and commercial real estate, 1031 exchanges, and tax and title curative work necessary to close your deal. Charles holds a B.S. in Business Administration, a Juris Docrate and an L.L.M. in Taxation from Georgetown University. He trained in Washington, D.C. and is licensed to practice law in three states, Texas, Louisiana and the District of Columbia. He is married and a father of five fantastic children.

Kristen McKeever

Kristen McKeever is a partner at the law firm of Smyser, Kaplan & Veselka. Selected as a Texas Rising Star by her fellow attorneys each year since 2004, Kristen has a general civil trial and appellate practice. Kristen has extensive experience handling complex commercial matters and has represented corporations as well as individual officers and directors in securities fraud class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Before joining Smyser, Kaplan & Veselka, Kristen clerked for the Honorable Karen Nelson Moore of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and she practiced as an associate in the trial and appellate sections of Baker Botts. Kristen received her J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1999, where she was the primary editor of the Harvard Law Review. She received her B.A. in English, with the highest honors, from the University of Florida in 1995. When not at the office, Kristen can be often be found pointing her toes at the ballet barre at Hope Center, taking class from the wonderfully talented Jeanne Doornbos, Rose Taylor, and Lindsey McGill.

Alan Morlan – Board President

Alan Morlan has been a Houston resident for the last 13 yrs. and has adopted this great city as his hometown. As a Realtor with the Keller Williams Metropolitan he is privileged to experience many of Houston’s diverse neighborhoods on a daily basis. Alan’s proud association with Hope Stone & Jane Weiner reflects his desire to be a part of a community that creates opportunity. A member of Unity Church of Christianity, Alan believes in living a life that is progressive, practical and positive.
In addition Alan is a supporter of Saving Animals Across Borders and various AIDS organizations. Alan and his partner of 13 yrs. Ben Whittle live in the Rice Military neighborhood with their dog Oscar.

Judy Nyquist

Judy Nyquist received a B.A. in Art History from the University of Michigan and a M.A. in Art History from Northeastern University. As a museum professional, she worked as a curator for the American Architectural Foundation in Washington, D.C. (the non-profit arm of The American Institute of Architects) for a decade. She has also worked as a consulting curator for several institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom. Judy’s volunteer activities include serving on the board of the C.O.R.E. sub-committee of the Glassell School of Art (Museums of Fine Arts/Houston) and as a board member of the Contemporary Arts Museum/Houston. She has taken on many fundraising and developmental roles for River Oaks Baptist School, the Contemporary Arts Museum/Houston, Casa d’Esperanza, and the Girl Scouts of America. Judy is particularly committed to education and bringing all disciplines of the visual and performing arts to a wide public audience.

M. Louise Partello

Louise Partello has had her own business as a computer consultant who has spent the last 13 years working with various for profit companies and non-profit organizations in the Houston area. Some of the organizations include the Houston Zoo, Inc, University of Houston Foundation, Pink Ribbons Project, and Hope Stone where she has donated both her time and expertise. Louise has lived in a variety of places including Saudi Arabia, where she installed a system for the International School in Dhahran working with a large variety of nationalities, and more recently, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Heather Pray

Heather Pray is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin where she received her BA in English and currently is Director of Communications of the Houston Downtown Alliance. After working as a paralegal for several years, Heather joined the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston as Marketing Manager. She left the MFAH to become Promotions Manager at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Heather is active in the community and also co-founded Houston Young People for the Arts to promote the arts to young professionals after seeing a need to get a younger crowd into the theaters. She is also active on the Houston Grand Opera O.N. Advisory Committee, Trey McIntyre Project Resource Council (Boise, Idaho), Business Development Committee for EaDo, Houston Arts Alliance Business Volunteers for the Arts, Membership Chair for Dress for Success Houston’s Women of Wardrobe, provisional member of Junior League of Houston and a supporter of other organizations promoting a vibrant Houston. She is a recipient of the 2009 inaugural year of Houston Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 & is also a 2008 Ovation Awards Winner presented by Houston Grand Opera. Whenever she has a spare moment, Heather loves to attend the theater and art openings to see what Houston is creating. She would also like to continue playing classical piano, practice ballet and excel at cooking…and many other things.

Joy Posoli

Joy Posoli moved to Houston, Texas in 1995. From 1996-2000, she was employed at the Tarnow Center for Self-Management as a Licensed Professional Counselor working with children, teenagers and women with a specialty in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. She is currently active in Child Advocates Inc. acting as Secretary for the Governance Council, His Grace Foundation volunteering at Texas Children’s Hospital on the bone marrow transplant unit and most recently has joined the board of Hope Stone Inc. She received a Master of Education in Elementary Education and a Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling in 1994 from Nova Southeastern University after receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education and Psychology in 1992 from the University of Miami. She is the mother of 3 children and has been married for 14 years. She currently lives in Bellaire, Texas.

Roland Sledge

A native Houstonian, Roland brings his legal expertise to the Hope Stone Board. Roland is with VAALCO Energy, Inc. as Vice President of the Legal Department.

Camille Stovall

Camille Stovall is a Principal in Deloitte & Touche LLP’s Financial Advisory Services practice. She is responsible for the mid-America Reorganization Services Group. She has nineteen years of experience in financial and operational restructuring, crisis management, bankruptcy, commercial lending, dispute consulting and corporate development. Her experience includes seven years providing reorganization advisory, crisis management and bankruptcy consulting services with PricewaterhouseCoopers; three years in the global corporate development group of PricewaterhouseCoopers, where her responsibilities included the acquisition of technology companies and consulting practices, investments in alliances and joint ventures, and the divestiture of non-core business/practices; and over eight years in commercial lending and restructuring of troubled transactions for Bank One Corporation.

Emily Weinstein

Emily Weinstein is a full-time mom for six-year-old Zoey and 1-year-old Jules. A former communications consultant, Emily freelanced in Houston for seven years in public relations, marketing, event planning, and writing with various local restaurants, PR firms, and several non-profits. From October 1998 until 2000, she worked with Spiralgroup, a virtual high-tech public relations firm based in San Francisco. Prior to that, she spent five years in sales and event planning with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company at the Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel and Spa in Pasadena, CA and The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead in Atlanta. Clients included Sony, Fortune Magazine, Amgen and movie press junkets. Prior to her career with the Ritz-Carlton, Emily was with a catering company in Atlanta, handling preparation and planning for the 1996 Olympics. She has a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from The University of Texas at Austin. Emily now spends time with her husband Adam, two kids, and new puppy Rocco, focusing on family and involvement in her daughter’s school.

Bess Baker Wilson

Bess Baker Wilson is a native Houstonian, and a graduate of The University of Texas, where she received her B.A. She has been active in the Houston community for over thirty years, in volunteer leadership positions for organizations including the Junior League of Houston, River Oaks Baptist School, founding Board Member of Victory, River Oaks Baptist Church, Good Samaritan Foundation, The Quality of Life Coalition, Houston Area Parkinson Society, and Episcopal High School. Bess is married to Robert C. Wilson III.

Election and Nomination Process: Hope Stone Inc.’s board nominations are made by the Executive Director and Board of Directors on an ongoing basis. Nominated board members are elected by a majority vote of the current Board of Directors.