Board of Directors

Per the organization’s bylaws, the WLT is governed by a Board of Directors. The current Board of Directors consists of twelve (12) members, listed here. The Board of Directors meets on the third Wednesday of every month, excluding December, at 6:30 PM Central Time. All members are welcome to attend these meetings.

For information on board service, on attending a board meeting, or to connect directly with one of our board members, feel free to contact us at wlt@writersleague.org.

Executive Committee

Mia Zozobrado (they/them/theirs) is a full-time and freelance writer. They were introduced to the League as an intern, joined as a member in 2017, and was nominated for the board in 2018. Mia received their B.A. in English literature from Southwestern University. In their spare time, Mia enjoys reading (fiction, queer literature, and fantasy tend to be their favorites), working on their Dungeons and Dragons campaign, and hanging out with their dog Baxter. Current second term expires December 31, 2023.

Dreux Carpenter was born in Washington, DC, grew up in Maryland, and lived in Virginia, Colorado and California before arriving Austin in 2009. He holds a BA in Art, and an MA and MFA in Writing and Consciousness. He has over 25 years experience as a Graphic Designer/Art Director. Current second term expires December 31, 2024.

Richard Cunningham is a freelance science writer based in Houston, Texas. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Oklahoma State University and a master’s degree in Science and Technology Journalism from Texas A&M University. Richard has been writing magazine articles and books for industrial clients for more than thirty years. For fun he writes historical fiction. His first two novels, Maude Brown’s Baby and the sequel, Three Good Leads, are set in Houston and Galveston in 1918. Current second term expires December 31, 2023.

Gina E. Springer Shirley is an avid reader and passionate writer. She is a graduate of the University of Washington and the University of Texas at Austin. After a career in educational publishing, she is now a romance and women’s fiction writer. She was a finalist in the 2015 Writers’ League of Texas Manuscript Contest in the Romance category. You can read her short fiction at writtenGESStures.com or follow her on Twitter at @GESSwrites. She is a member of the Writers’ League of Texas, Romance Writers of America (local and national), Editorial Freelancers Association, and Capital City Scribes. She grew up in Panamá and Seattle, and now makes her home in Austin, Texas, with her husband, children, and pups. Current second term expires December 31, 2024.

Board Members

Jane Anderson is a wildlife biologist and a bit of a wanderer, with Texas being the ninth state she has called home. She holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from North Carolina State University and a Ph.D. from University of Florida. Her professional specialty is invasive species – critters that have been introduced places they don’t naturally occur and are causing trouble – with a particular expertise in invasive monkeys and parrots. Jane has published her academic works widely in scientific journals. In her free time, she writes essays and memoir about her work as a scientist. She lives in Round Rock, Texas, with her husband, son, and two dogs. Current first term expires December 31, 2024.

Katie Gerber is a Counsel in the Tax Group at Thompson & Knight LLP, who focuses her practice on corporate, partnership, and cross-border tax matters. Katie also advises nonprofit clients, including public charities, family and company foundations, social welfare organizations, Section 527 organizations, and social clubs. Her areas of expertise in the nonprofit sector include formation and corporate governance matters, applying for and maintaining tax-exemption, minimizing unrelated business taxable income, avoiding excess benefit transactions, supporting organizations, domestic and international grant-making, program-related investments, fiscal sponsorship arrangements, structuring joint-ventures with for-profit entities, and the federal tax rules governing private foundations. Katie lives in Fort Worth, Texas. Current first term expires December 31, 2022.

Heather Holland is the creator of the non fiction story project Hunting For Chocolate, and has blogged for Austin non profit The Amala Foundation, and Sanctuary Yoga. She is a 2019 War Horse Fellow. Her West Texas Wonders story pitch was featured on Marfa Public Radio in collaboration with their program Nature Notes in episodes, The Roadrunner: Icon of the Southwest, and Ultimate Desert Survivor. Currently she is working on a children’s picture book. Current second term expires December 31, 2024.

John A. McDermott completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, his MA at Marquette University, and his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He’s been teaching at Stephen F. Austin State University since 2004. In 2006, SFA created the sole BFA program in creative writing in the state of Texas. Since then, he has directed dozens of BFA and MA theses, primarily in fiction, and taught workshops in fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction. His own writing has appeared in a variety of literary journals, including Alaska Quarterly Review, Brevity, Florida Review, and Southeast Review, and he’s the author of the poetry collections “The Idea of God in Tennessee” and “Writhe.Waltz.” His scholarly writing has appeared in journals such as the Raymond Carver Review and the Journal of Popular Culture. John lives in Nacogdoches, Texas. Current first term expires December 31, 2022.

Amanda Moore graduated with the highest honors from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor with a B.A. in English and Spanish. She earned a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law. Amanda is the General Counsel and Director of Legal Services at the Texas State Teachers Association where she represents public school employees. She is a member of the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association and the Executive Committee for the School Law Section of the State Bar of Texas. In 2015, Amanda won first place in the Texas Bar Journal Short Story Contest for her story, “The Corner Man.” Amanda is an avid reader and has written several member book reviews for the Writers’ League of Texas where she has been a member since 2014. Amanda lives in Austin, Texas. Current first term expires December 31, 2022.

Gina Panza Woodruff graduated cum laude from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in Communications Art and Design and has 20+ years experience in web design and technical marketing communications. She was an active and contributing Director on the WLT’s Board for three years, stepping down at the end of 2018. In the interim, she has launched a creativity coaching business and has been a gallery teacher at the Blanton Museum of Art. She currently works part-time for Art Spark Texas (formerly VSA Texas), a nonprofit whose mission is to “challenge perceptions of how people contribute by creating an arts-inspired inclusive community of individuals with diverse abilities.” Gina lives in Austin, Texas. Current first term expires December 31, 2022.

In 2020, the Board of Directors established the standing DEIA Committee comprised of directors, staff, and WLT members. The DEIA Committee meets every month on the first Thursday of the month. To get involved, contact the current Committee Chair, Mia Zozobrado, at wlt@writersleague.org. The committee’s mission statement is as follows:

The Writers’ League of Texas is dedicated to fostering diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the organization’s programs and services. In addition, WLT recognizes the historical and systemic obstacles that prevent specific groups of people from accessing and engaging with the writing and publishing community. With this in mind, the organization’s DEIA initiatives will be led by a committee – the DEIA Committee – that will function to support the staff and Board of Directors in: Setting and achieving attainable goals related to DEIA values; Providing transparent and timely updates to WLT membership on DEIA goal progress in accessible format; Ensuring that WLT continues to engage in conversations concerning DEIA to take positive steps toward a more inclusive and equitable writing community.