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SMART
Family Literacy
Board of Directors

SMART FAMILY LITERACY 

2025 Board of Directors 

Approved 11/15/24 

 

A Coalition of Education, Medical, and Business Professionals

​

Board President 

Suzanne La Forte, MD, FAAP 

Pediatrician, UTMB

Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Interim Division Director of Complex Care

2015 

President 2016, 2019, 2025

2024 Children’s Literacy Champion Award, September 14th 

 

Immediate Past Board President

Dawn McCarty, Ph.D., LMSW

The University of Houston-Downtown, Professor of Social Work; BSW Program Director

2021

President 2024

​

President-Elect (2025 President)

Steve Mataro, Senior VP of Community Relations

Grant Works, Inc.  

2014

President 2018, 2026

 

Vice President

Dominic Etienne, QPA, QKA

American National Insurance Company

Life Products - Development Manager

2017

President 2020, 2023

​

Secretary and Co-Founder 

Ginger Turner

Head Operational Excellence & Data Management; Director Life & Health Business Management, Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd, Zurich, Switzerland

2004

 

Treasurer

Julio Rodriguez, CPA

Retired Auditor, Exxon Mobil Corporation 

2024

 

Director and Co-Founder, Check Signer 

Mark Greenwalt  

Professor of Art, College of the Mainland; Artist, Hooks-Epstein Gallery; Past President Texas Association of Schools of Art

2004

​​

Directors

Veronica Hugger, Check Signer 

Accounting Assistant, Edward J. Walsh & Associates, CPA

2011

President - 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

2024 Founders’ Award, 20th Anniversary, Exemplary Volunteer, May 4th  

​

Abe DeAnda Jr., MD, FACS, FAHA

Professor and Chief, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Vice-Chairman Faculty Development, UTMB

2017

President 2021

​

Elizabeth Beavers, Ph.D. 

Associate Professor of Special Education, University of Houston - Clear Lake 

2020

President 2022

​

​Laura Hughes 

Associate Legal Counsel, American National Insurance Co.

2013

​​

Elizabeth Lien-Rodriguez, MD 

Pediatrician, UTMB 

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Associate Program Director, Pediatrics Residency Program

2023

​

Samuel E. Mathis, MD, MBA, CPE, FAAFP

Assistant Professor

Fellowship Director, UTMB Integrative & Behavioral Medicine Fellowship

WD & Laura Nell Nicholson Family Professorship in Integrative Medicine

Department of Family Medicine

2024

​

EMERITUS LEVEL - Non-voting

In recognition of a decade of service and dedication to literacy. Participation in meetings and other activities of the organization is optional. 

 

Christal G. Burnett Sánchez, Ed.D. 

Adjunct Professor of Education, Director of Rice Education

2011

President 2017

 

Kathy Machol, LCDR, MSC, U.S. Navy (Ret)

Retired Social Worker, U.S. Navy and UTMB

2013

 

STAFF - Nonvoting 

Liz Turner, Founder, CFO, Co-ED

2004

 

Amy Musick, Co-ED 

2025

2024  Board of Directors

Updated 5/15/2024

​​

Board President

Dawn McCarty, Ph.D., LMSW, ACUE

The University of Houston-Downtown, Professor of Social Work

 

Immediate Past Board President

Dominic Etienne, QPA, QKA

Pension Sales Division, American National Insurance Company; 2019 President of United Way Galveston 

 

President-Elect (2025 President)

Suzanne La Forte, MD, FAAP 

Pediatrician, UTMB

Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

 

Vice President

Abe DeAnda Jr., MD, FACS, FAHA

Professor and Chief, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Vice-Chairman Faculty Development, UTMB

 

Secretary and Co-Founder

Ginger Turner

Head Operational Excellence & Data Management; Director Life & Health Business Management, Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd, Zurich, Switzerland

 

Treasurer

Christal G. Burnett Sánchez, Ed.D

Associate Professor of Bilingual Education and Chair, Department of Urban Education, University of Houston-Downtown

 

Director and Co-Founder 

Mark Greenwalt  

Professor of Art, College of the Mainland; Artist, Hooks-Epstein Gallery; Past President Texas Association of Schools of Art

​

Directors

Elizabeth Beavers, Ph.D. 

Associate Professor of Special Education, University of Houston - Clear Lake 

 

Veronica Hugger (served as President 2011 through 2015, VP 2021) 

Accounting Assistant, Edward J. Walsh & Associates, CPA

​

Laura Hughes 

Associate Legal Counsel, American National Insurance Co.

​

Elizabeth Lien-Rodriguez, MD

Pediatrician, UTMB

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Associate Program Director, Pediatrics Residency Program

 

Kathy Machol, LCDR, MSC, U.S. Navy (Ret)

Retired Social Worker, U.S. Navy and UTMB

 

Steve Mataro   

Grant Works, Inc.  

 

Samuel Mathis, M.D.

Family Medicine, UTMB

Medical Director, Employee Health

Clerkship Co-Director, Family Medicine Clerkship

Fellowship Director, Integrative and Behavioral Health

 

Julio Rodriguez, CPA

Retired Auditor, Exxon Mobil Corporation

2023  Board of Directors

Approved November 12, 2022

​

Board President

Dominic Etienne, QPA, QKA

Pension Sales Division, American National Insurance Company; 2019 President of United Way Galveston 

 

President-Elect (2024 President)

Dawn McCarty, Ph.D., LMSW, ACUE

The University of Houston-Downtown, Professor of Social Work

 

Vice President

Abe DeAnda Jr., MD, FACS, FAHA

Professor and Chief, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Vice-Chairman Faculty Development, UTMB

 

Secretary and Co-Founder

Ginger Turner

Head Operational Excellence & Data Management; Director Life & Health Business Management, Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd, Zurich, Switzerland

 

Treasurer

Christal G. Burnett Sánchez, Ed.D

Associate Professor of Bilingual Education and Chair, Department of Urban Education, University of Houston-Downtown

 

Immediate Past Board President

Elizabeth Beavers, Ph.D. 

Associate Professor of Special Education, University of Houston - Clear Lake 

 

Director and Co-Founder 

Mark Greenwalt  

Professor of Art, College of the Mainland; Artist, Hooks-Epstein Gallery; Past President Texas Association of Schools of Art

​

Directors

Veronica Hugger (served as President 2011 through 2015, VP 2021) 

Accounting Assistant, Edward J. Walsh & Associates, CPA

​

Laura Hughes 

Associate Legal Counsel, American National Insurance Co.

​

Christina Koch

NASA Astronaut, Physics and Engineering

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

 

Suzanne La Forte, MD, FAAP 

Pediatrician, UTMB

Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

​

Elizbeth Lien-Rodriguez, MD

Pediatrician, UTMB

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

Associate Program Director, Pediatrics Residency Program

 

Kathy Machol, LCDR, MSC, U.S. Navy (Ret)

Retired Social Worker, U.S. Navy and UTMB

 

Steve Mataro, Disaster Recovery Specialist  

DSW Synergy, Systems, Solutions 

 

Martha Montenegro Norris 

Physicians’ Assistant, UTMB Teen Health Clinic at Ball High

​

​

​2022 Board of Directors

 

Board President

Elizabeth Beavers, Ph.D. 

Associate Professor of Special Education, University of Houston - Clear Lake 

 

 

Vice President 

Suzanne La Forte, MD, FAAP 

Pediatrician, UTMB

Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

 

Secretary and Co-Founder

Ginger Turner

Head Operational Excellence & Data Management; Director Life & Health Business Management, Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd, Zurich, Switzerland

 

Treasurer

Heidi Coggeshall, MBA

Managing Director (Retired), BNP Paribas; Board President for Benign Essential Blepharospasm Research Foundation

  

Co-Founder 

Mark Greenwalt  

Professor of Art, College of the Mainland; Artist, Hooks-Epstein Gallery; Past President Texas Association of Schools of Art

​

Christal G. Burnett Sánchez, Ed.D

Associate Professor of Bilingual Education and Chair, Department of Urban Education, University of Houston-Downtown

​

Veronica Hugger

Accounting Assistant, Edward J. Walsh & Associates, CPA

​

Laura Hughes 

Associate Legal Counsel, American National Insurance Co.

​

Christina Koch

NASA Astronaut, Physics and Engineering

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

​

Kathy Machol, LCDR, MSC, U.S. Navy (Ret)

Retired Social Worker, U.S. Navy and UTMB

 

Steve Mataro, Disaster Recovery Specialist  

DSW Synergy, Systems, Solutions

 

Dawn McCarty, Ph.D., LMSW, ACUE

University of Houston-Downtown, Professor of Social Work

 

Martha Montenegro Norris 

Physicians’ Assistant, UTMB Teen Health Clinic at Ball High

​

Dominic Etienne, QPA, QKA

Pension Sales Division, American National Insurance Company; 2019 President of United Way Galveston 

​

Abe DeAnda Jr., MD, FACS, FAHA

Professor and Chief, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Vice-Chairman Faculty Development, UTMB

​

Main office:

2728 Ave Q Ste 1A

Galveston, TX 77550

​

Satellite Office,Texas City ISD: 1727 Bayou Road

LaMarque, TX

​

SMART Family Garden:

6901 Ave. P

Galveston, TX

​

smartfamilyliteracy@gmail.com

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SMART Family Literacy, Inc. is a tax-exempt nonprofit charitable organization, IRS 501(c)(3) . 

EIN #27-0098569. 

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The Carmage & Martha Ann Walls Foundation

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Foundation
Ippolito Charitable Foundation
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Sasser Family
Foundation Inc.

Copyright © 2022 by SMART Family Literacy, Inc. and E.A. Turner.  All photos and text, including curriculum are property of SMART Family Literacy or the individual artists, photographers, and authors. 

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