Get to know the amazing Austin Bat Cave team!
Xóchitl Gonzalez (she/her)
Program Director
Xóchitl is the first gen oldest daughter of a Mexican family, an Austin native, a make-up artist, a dog mom, and overall dreamer. In high school she manifested working for an organization like Austin Bat Cave after publishing a love letter to a pop star, a story about being a platypus, an anonymous roller coaster poem in the anthology, and completing their college essay program. She joined as a Program Intern five years ago, and since then has assisted with grants, developed and taught ABC workshops, and managed regional programs before becoming Program Director. She continues to dream about how ABC can keep encouraging students to celebrate their unique voices and share their stories the way she was able to.
Heather Jones (she/her)
Intergenerational Program Director
Heather holds a degree in comparative literature from Oberlin College and a master’s in social work from UT Austin and is passionate about developing programs that teach writing as a tool for connection, healing, and social change. At ABC, Heather leads therapeutic journaling and LGBTQIA2+ Intergenerational Storytelling groups for teens and adults. Prior to joining ABC, she worked in the areas of publishing, youth mental health, and restorative practices.
Gustavo Martinez (they/them)
Mobile Literacy Specialist
Gustavo has been involved in literacy advocacy from an early age – an accelerated reader and mentor for youth, they have used puppeteering, theater, and song to engender a love of stories in children and the young at heart alike. You may see him gracing stages across Austin or in far-flung theaters, or perhaps rambling through a park near you cataloguing the animals and plants that cross his path. Wherever a story is waiting to be written or told, you will find this bright-eyed adventurer seeking out the tale to tell.
Tammy Beard (she/her)
Grant Writer
Tammy believes that grant writing is the perfect professional role for her because it beautifully balances working with staff to understand programs and the solitary time needed to write proposals. Because she sees programming as driving the funding, she approaches grant writing collaboratively and finds her work particularly rewarding when she sees funding transform organizations’ and programs’ capacity to grow and thrive. Tammy earned her BBA in Business Analysis from Texas A&M University and MS in Psychology from Texas Tech University. Her professional work is rooted in the nonprofit youth and adult literacy sector in Chicago and has taken her to Austin, Washington, D.C., and back to Texas.
Emily Chammah (she/her)
Grant Writer
Emily Chammah is a writer and editor. She began volunteering with Austin Bat Cave in 2012, has served as Development Associate, Adult Program Manager, and Grant Writer. She is the recipient of a 2018-2019 Fulbright Grant in Creative Writing to Jordan and the winner of the 2017 PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers.
Board of Directors
- Mary Zuniga Johnson, President
- Lillian Brown, Secretary
- Dalia Azim
- Mindy Morgan Avitia
- Susie Gidseg
- Chris Kerns
- Amanda Nyren
- Cecily Parks
- Shanteka Sigers
- Kat Craft
- Matt Vance
Advisory Council
- Wendy Carnegie
- Claudia Chidester
- Deborah de Freitas
- Doug Dorst
- Spike Gillespie
- Tom Grimes
- Katie Angermeier Haab
- Syed Ali Haider
- Michael Hall
- Shaun Jordan
- Keith Kreeger
- Richard Linklater
- James Magnuson
- Naomi Shihab Nye
- James Pennebaker
- Ruth Pennebaker
- Lara Prescott
- June Rodil
- Evan Smith
- Ana Stapleton
- S. Kirk Walsh
- Simone Wicha
Volunteer with Austin Bat Cave
Every year, Austin Bat Cave is fortunate to work with an amazing team of volunteers who provide one-on-one and small-group writing support. They inspire students to undertake and complete writing projects which they proudly share. Students emerge from our programs with edited and polished written projects, greater confidence in their voices, sharpened writing skills, and a lifelong appreciation for writing.
If you’re interested in learning more about volunteering, please contact our Program Director or join our volunteer list.
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