Chair

Claire Hempel

Design Workshop

Claire Hempel is a Principal with the Austin studio of Design Workshop. She has practiced landscape architecture, planning and urban design for the past two decades and oversees projects ranging from community visioning, park planning and design, to urban development at multiple scales and locations across the country. Claire is grateful to lead the Zilker Park Vision Plan, which will be completed in 2022. In addition to her daily work, Claire volunteers with the City of Austin Planning Commission, the Red Line Parkway Initiative, the Friends of Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge, the Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association and the Urban Land Institute Public Development and Infrastructure Council.

Some of Claire’s best memories of Austin involve the Trail – from long walks with friends to getting out of the house with an infant and escaping to this amazing destination. The Trail is one of the city’s best assets and it takes a village to cultivate, maintain, and preserve this open space for generations to come.

Chair Elect

Michael Marin

Boulette Golden & Marin LLP

Michael Marin is a partner in Boulette Golden & Marin, LLP, a boutique law firm specializing in business litigation, labor and employment, and immigration matters. He represents a broad range of clients in litigation matters involving contracts, technology, trade secrets, non-competes, and employment matters. A graduate of Harvard Law School and a well-respected leader in the Texas bar, Michael is listed in Best Lawyers in America in Commercial Litigation (2009-present), and recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer (2007-present) in Business Litigation. Hee is a past recipient of the Austin Young Lawyer’s Association’s Outstanding Young Lawyer Award and the American Bar Association’s prestigious Spirit of Excellence Award. Michael has served numerous civic and community organizations in Austin, and he is passionate about serving the mission of The Trail Foundation to protect, enhance, and connect the trail for the benefit of all. When not practicing law, you can find Michael training for triathlons or walking on the trail with his kids and his Rhodesian Ridgeback.

Past Chair

Andy Austin

Andy Austin has been a frequent user of the Trail for forty years, beginning shortly after he moved to Austin in 1982. Andy is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Texas Law School, and was a United States Magistrate Judge for 21 years before he retired in June 2021. He was a founding board member of Bike Share of Austin, and worked for many years with the Republic Square Partners throughout the redevelopment of Republic Square Park. He has also been involved in many capacities with Austin’s oldest bike club, the Violet Crown Sports Association. Currently, Andy is on the adjunct faculty at the University of Texas Law School and St. Mary’s University Law School, and serves on the board of the Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation.

Secretary

Tara Shaikh

Barnes Lipscomb & Stewart PLLC 

Tara started Tara Shaikh Law, PLLC in 2019 where she practices mainly contract and business law. Tara sits as a Member at Large on the TTC Executive Committee as well as on the Marketing Committee.

Treasurer

Mike Shaw

R Bank

Mike was born and raised in Abilene, Texas, and has lived mostly in Austin since 1984.  He has a BBA from The University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Baylor University.  He has spent most of his 35-year career in community banking and has been with R Bank for almost 15 years, currently serving as EVP and Senior Lender.

In addition to his banking duties, Mike has been very active with other professional and community service organizations.  He is most recently the former chair of the Austin Community College Foundation board and Central Texas board of the Risk Management Association.

Both of his kids are out of college and self-supportive!  Ben and his wife live in Denver, and Anna and her husband live in Durham, NC.  He also has six step kids with the lovely Stacy Thomas, giving new meaning to the motto: never say never!  

Outside of his work and volunteer duties, Mike is an avid runner, golfer, mediocre guitar player, and Texas Longhorn sports fan.

Leah M. Bojo

Drenner Group

Leah M. Bojo is the Director of Land Use & Entitlements for Drenner Group, working with property owners and developers throughout the development process. She has a particular interest in placemaking as an integral component of the development process and is dedicated to helping clients create active, inspiring places through the built environment. Outside of the office, she can be found biking around Austin’s vibrant public spaces, running on the trail, and enjoying the local music scene.

Kenny Carothers

HEADWAY Environmental 

Kenny is president of Headway Environmental, a national consulting practice focused on environmental assessment, compliance, and ecological restoration. Kenny is an ecologist and environmental consultant with 34+ years of experience. His work has focused on the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and National Environmental Policy Act. He has acquired particular expertise in ecological restoration and Conservation/ Mitigation Banking. Kenny serves on the Ecological Restoration Business Association (ERBA) Board of Directors and is an active Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner (CERP) with the Society for Ecological Restoration.

Taylor Davis

TBG Partners

Taylor Davis is an independent curator and landscape designer living in Austin, TX. After receiving her master’s in Landscape Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin, she worked for a local Austin design firm, TBG Partners, where she worked on projects such as parks, multifamily amenity courtyards, hospitals, and trails.  Her curatorial practice is interested in the nuance of artistic practice as it relates to unique life experiences. Working with different galleries, she has curated San Francisco and Austin group art shows. She was a selected artist for the Trail Conservancy’s Common Waters public art installation and has worked with local Austin arts and culture groups such as AIPP and Future Front Texas.

Ashley Fisher

Rob Gandy

The Town Lake Company

Sandra Gonzalez

HID Global

Sandra is a native Texan who moved to Austin in 2006 for law school.  As the Chief Compliance Officer at HID Global, Sandra loves to build meaningful business relationships as a tool for implementing compliance mitigation measures.  The Trail (especially the Boardwalk!) has enhanced the beauty of our city and creates opportunities to meet others, make friends, and plug into social networks.  A known connection between a city’s beauty and key growth indicators exists.  So, let’s keep beautifying!

Matt Harriss

Butler Family Interests

William M. “Matt” Harriss is the Chief Financial Officer for the Butler Family Interests, which handles the business and personal affairs for the family of Roy A. Butler, former Mayor of Austin. In that capacity, Matt oversees the financial and administrative team for Capitol Wright Distributing, the 17th largest wholesale beverage distributorship in the United States, with over 600 employees and 5,000 customers. In addition, he handles a number of real estate investments across Central Texas on behalf of the family. Previously, Matt has served as administrator for a large law firm in Austin, as Assistant Dean for Business Affairs at the University of Texas School of Law, and as a controller with the Belton K. Johnson Interests in San Antonio. In addition to the Trail Foundation, Matt serves as a board member for Capital Metro and Austin Pets Alive, and devotes time to the Waterloo Greenway Conservancy.. Both he and his wife of 40 years, June, are avid UT Baseball fans and have lived in Austin for over 45 years.

Zach Hunter

Artis

As President of Artis, an award-winning landscape architecture and planning firm, Zach is primarily noted for his thoughtful and imaginative designs that respond to unique project challenges with creative solutions.  Since moving to Austin nearly 20 years ago, he has watched the trail grow and evolve far beyond its physical edges.  He loves big ideas, big challenges and feels that what happens next with the trail is as important and critical as any project in Austin.

Ashley Jones

AQUILA

Ashley is the vice president of marketing, where she leads the firm’s premier property marketing campaigns, managing each project from initial strategy and vendor selection to project launch and promotion. At a corporate level, Ashley directs the firm’s marketing, branding, communication, and market research efforts. Before AQUILA, Ashley oversaw all marketing efforts for Brandywine Realty Trust’s Austin office assets and developments. When not at the office or serving on The Trail Conservancy’s Board, Ashley explores Austin’s ever-changing restaurants, parks, shops, and more with her husband, three kids, and dog.

Kevin Lanza

UTHealth School of Public Health

Kevin Lanza is an Assistant Professor at UTHealth School of Public Health in Austin. In his research, Kevin explores the relations between the environment, health behaviors, and health through the lens of climate equity, with a focus on extreme heat and physical activity of school-age children. His ultimate goal is to inform policies that eliminate race-, ethnicity-, and class-based health inequities and improve children’s connection to nature. Trained in Public Health and City & Regional Planning, Kevin brings a transdisciplinary perspective to improving access and ecological quality of the Trail—critical infrastructure for community health. 

Jim Matoushek

Jim Matoushek retired in July 2020 after 43 years in commercial real estate accounting and finance. Over 33 years of his career were spent with Trammell Crow Company (TCC), the Country’s largest commercial real estate developer. He was the Chief Financial Officer of TCC from 2012 until his retirement. In that capacity, he led the Company’s Accounting and Finance functions.  In addition to his accounting responsibilities, Jim assisted in the underwriting, financing, and development of hundreds of millions of dollars of new developments and acquisitions in the Central Texas region.

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, graduated with a BBA-Accounting degree, and was a CPA in Wisconsin and Texas.

Jim and Sally, his wife of 45 years, have two adult children and 4 grandchildren.  They moved to Austin in 1994 and enjoy biking on the Trail, watching their grandkids grow up way too fast, and cheering on the Green Bay Packers.

Muna Mitchell

Freese and Nichols

Muna Mitchell has been an avid user of the Butler Trail for most of her twenty plus years of marathon training and has participated in the Moonlight Margarita Run and The Trail Foundation since 2005. Muna has been working in structural engineering since 1996 and is currently the Bridge Team Lead Engineer for Freese and Nichols.

Chris Ragland

Ragland Capital

For over twenty years, Chris has served as a partner or principal in dozens of companies, providing various levels of leadership and support. He possesses a diverse set of strategic management skills and continues to sharpen and demonstrate his uncanny ability to successfully grow businesses by creating loyal teams, fanatic culture, and personal growth of those around him. Active in his local and global community, Chris has volunteered for dozens of mission-oriented and professional non-profit organizations. He has served as a Board member or Committee
member for many organizations such as Ballet Austin Guild, Seton Cove, Soccer Assist, American Association of Private Lenders, and many others. Chris is a two-time nominee for the Austin 40 Under 40 Award for his work in the community. In 2019, he was awarded the prestigious Member of the Year Award by the American Association of Private Lenders for his contribution to the association and the industry.

In 2020, Chris realized a lifelong dream and founded his “forever company,” an alternative investment management company known as “Ragland” where he works closely with family offices and their capital deployment strategy in various markets, foreign and domestic.

Evan Taniguchi

Taniguchi Architects

Scott Thomas

Cirrus Logic, Inc.

Scott is the Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of Cirrus Logic, Inc., a leading audio and high-performance mixed-signal solutions supplier.  At Cirrus Logic, Scott is an executive steering committee member supporting and guiding the company’s environmental strategy and overall ESG efforts.  As a long-time resident of Austin, Scott appreciates the importance of the Trail to the Austin community and can frequently be found running on the Trail with friends and family.

Chris Whitaker

Horizon Bank 

Chris is the Senior Vice President Real Estate & Mortgage Lending at Horizon Bank where he is responsible for developing, implementing, and administering all aspects of all direct and indirect mortgage programs. He is also responsible for lending compliance, pricing, production, and servicing secondary markets. Horizon Bank is a full service bank with a focus on ultimate customer satisfaction. We pride ourselves on being one of the largest privately held and community driven banks in Central Texas.