For over two decades, Tracy Wolff has been a community volunteer and fundraiser focusing primarily on child and family issues. In 1994, Tracy served as the co-founder and advisor of “SMART START,” – a $3 million San Antonio Area Foundation trust fund focused on improving the quality of childcare programs throughout the community.
SMART START awards grants to childcare programs and home care providers who seek to become nationally accredited. As First Lady of San Antonio, Tracy launched a SMART START multi-media educational campaign to provide early childcare information for families.
SMART START operates a full-time bilingual hotline 65 SMART. Above and beyond SMART START, Tracy has chaired numerous fundraisers and raised thousands of dollars for community needs: A “Book Telethon” for the Library Foundation; “Sticky Wickets” a croquet tournament at Blessed Sacrament Academy, now an official Fiesta event; the “International Gala” which raised the initial funds needed to start the CASA program with sister cities in Mexico on behalf of the City of San Antonio; “Speaking of Women’s Health” with KLRN; and, “The Heart Gallery of San Antonio” a unique photo exhibit of children in foster care waiting to be adopted.
In 2001, Tracy founded the Hidalgo Foundation of Bexar County, on which Erin is a Board member, and has served as its President ever since. She was originally charged with raising private, philanthropic funds toward the restoration and renovation of the Bexar County Courthouse, the oldest and largest historic courthouse in continuous operation in Texas. Because of her personal commitment to children, she included in the fundraising goal the construction of two child abuse and neglect courts as well as additional support areas – all of which were completed in January of 2005.
Because of her efforts, the Bexar County Children’s Courts are the first of its kind in Texas, second of its kind in the country, and were named the model for the nation by the William & Mary Law School’s Courtroom 21 Project. These courts include evidence-based programming such as a Family Drug Treatment Court, the Early Intervention Program, and the College-Bound Docket. As the First Lady of Bexar County, Tracy recently joined her husband, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, in the creation of the first digital public library in the nation, BiblioTech. The mission of BiblioTech is to “provide all Bexar County residents with the opportunity to access technology for the purpose of enhancing education and literacy, promoting reading and equipping the citizens of Bexar County with the necessary tools to thrive as citizens of the 21st century.”
The Youth Center of Texas and the children it serves are extremely honored and blessed to have Tracy help guide our program towards future success.
A retired Director of Initiatives and Partnerships with Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, Ingrid Petty worked closely with community leaders, social assistance and human services officials, nonprofit agencies, and funders to determine the greatest needs for which the Foundation could make a profound difference in the region it serves. A strong proponent of collaboration, Ingrid’s work with the community helped inspire successful
collective action and create customized systems change. Those initiatives have served as a key element of Kronkosky Charitable Foundation’s current leadership in effective cross-sector collaboration efforts in Bexar County and beyond.
Ingrid recently authored The Kronkosky Foundation Story: Creating Profound Good through Community Philanthropy, a 25- year history of the Foundation, published by Trinity University Press and Maverick Books.
Before joining the philanthropic world, Ingrid spent most of her career in administrative capacities in the legal field, including ten years with the Honorary Consul of Canada in San Antonio. She is a graduate of the Leadership Texas and Leadership America programs of Leadership Women.
Ingrid has served on the board of directors for Stop Trafficking US, a Maine-based nonprofit focused on education and prevention efforts addressing the trafficking and sexual exploitation of minor children. She is also a member of the board of The MaripoSA Difference, Inc., a local 501(c)(3) serving as a fundraising grantor to the network of San Antonio’s nonprofit organizations serving those at-risk of or affected by human trafficking.
Eliot Garza has been in the business of shaking hands since he was a toddler. Sharpening his business and people skills while his father Elmo Garza took him on sales calls in the small town of Alice, the foundation was set for what has become an expansive and rewarding career in media. Eliot now leads the way for Texas MD Monthly, Media Digital Source and MDMonthly.com — the only statewide, retail medical publication in Texas and a nationwide, all-digital medical publication, respectively. Eliot’s company, Media Digital Source, will be providing the Youth Center with in-kind website, social media, email management, and online fundraising services.
Leslie is currently the Director of Marketing and Social Media for Morgan’s Wonderland Inclusion Foundation. For 21 years, Leslie was the co-anchor of Good Morning San Antonio at KSAT-TV news, the ABC affiliate in San Antonio, Texas. She has been a broadcast journalist since 1988 and has worked at KSAT since 1999.
In October 2000, at the age of 35, Leslie was discovered with a very aggressive form of breast cancer. To bring awareness to the disease and offer encouragement and support to other women suffering from it, Leslie anchored a newscast without her wig on in order to reveal the hair loss that had resulted from the treatment process.
The resulting attention landed Leslie on Good Morning America, Weekend Today, and Oprah. Newspapers worldwide as well as television programs Inside Edition and Primetime featured stories about her battle.
Leslie continues to speak publicly about her disease in an effort to educate women about the importance of self-exams and early detection. Leslie’s connections to the news and media world will support Youth Center’s efforts to educate the community about CSEY and raise funds for our program.
Leslie spent more than 15 years as an award-winning television news reporter and anchor, and public relations consultant before launching Komet Marketing Communications in 2004.
Leslie has developed natural intuitiveness to communicating with the press and crafting stories that are informative, timely, and that generate measurable results.
Leslie’s strong reputation as a trusted and reliable advisor for clients in need of reputation management and crisis communication will undoubtedly provide Youth Center leadership with valuable skills and guidance.
Barbara Schafer is the current court administrator for Bexar County Children’s Court Division & Programs. Barbara has worked in the field of child welfare her entire career, first as a caseworker and supervisor at Child Protective Services, Family Drug Court Director and now Court Administrator.
Barbara has a Bachelor’s in Psychology and Sociology; certification in criminal justice; certification in domestic and family violence and a Master’s in Social Work. Barbara works with community and government officials to develop and initiate innovative programs for youth and families in the foster care system. She developed and implemented the Infant and Toddler Court, Family Preservation Docket, PMC Project, PEARLS Court, College-Bound Docket and Guardianship Docket.
Additionally, Barbara has fulfilled the standards of best practices to the existing Family Drug Court and Children’s Court which has a docket of more than 10,000 court hearings a year. Many of Youth Center’s clients are, or have been, involved in the Family Court system, therefore, having Barbara on our Advisory Board will provide much needed advocacy and results for our victim clients.
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