Get to know the amazing Austin Bat Cave team!
Emily Chammah (she/her)
Interim Executive Director
Emily Chammah began volunteering with Austin Bat Cave in 2012, and has since served as Development Associate, Adult Program Manager, and Grant Writer. A writer, editor, and storyteller, Emily has a passion for helping others tell their stories. In her spare time, Emily works as a family history/memoir ghostwriter, and leads a writing workshop for Austin elders. 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. She speaks Arabic.
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.
M Ramirez (they/ she)
Intergenerational Program Manager
M. Ramirez (they/she) is an advocate in practice and creative at heart. After earning their bachelors and masters degree in social work at UT Austin, M has served young adults and teens as a social worker in the Austin Community over the last 10 years. M arrives to this role with enthusiasm for centering arts as a modality for wellness and developing a sense of self and sense of belonging through writing. M has previously served young people in clinical settings for behavioral health, afterschool programs, and in higher education where they have sown a common thread of empowering young people to find and use their voice to ignite self-determination. As an El Paso, TX native, middle-child, adventurer, and lifelong foodie, M has passion for questioning everything and finding like-minded people of difference to expand curiosity with. M has a mission to ignite joy by creating community around culture, shared values, and dialogue to build meaningful connection for collective liberation.
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 approaches grant writing collaboratively and finds her work particularly rewarding when she sees funding transform an organization’s capacity to grow and thrive. She believes that authentic and relevant programming can drive funding. Tammy earned her BBA in Business Analysis from Texas A&M University and MS in Psychology from Texas Tech University.
Mirari Porras (she/her)
Grants Intern
Mirari Porras is in the middle of getting a BA in Writing & Rhetoric, and Theater Arts at St. Edward’s University. She has been involved in many forms of advocacy in both theater and writing. She has previously worked with Barrio Writers as a youth consultant, and enjoys working on experimental theater.
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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