AFTER HELLO - Key Persons
Isabella Zou is a senior at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. Her passion for homeless ministry spans the last decade of her life, driving her volunteer activity with homeless organizations in Austin and Houston. Believing that writing bridges the intrinsic distances between diverse people, fostering empathy in place of sympathy, she founded Austin Street Humans in the summer of 2016. Throughout the project, she focused on bringing real stories from Austin's homeless population to the public by approaching homeless individuals and seeking genuine conversations, then writing and publishing their stories. In the summer of 2017, she founded After Hello to expand on Austin Street Human's potential not only to increase awareness of homelessness, but also to offer service-learning experiences to other youth. Outside of After Hello and Austin Street Humans, Isabella has been active in developing her skills in journalism. She has interned with The Westlake Picayune, a branch of The Austin-American Statesman, and Texas-focused nonprofit news organization The Texas Tribune. Her creative and journalistic writing has been recognized by the National Council of Teachers of English, the University Interscholastic League, and the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers. She's grateful for the resources she's been given, and grateful for the opportunities she's had to use them to serve others.
Job Titles:
- Operations Manager at the Texas Tribune
John Jordan is the Operations Manager at The Texas Tribune. In addition to overseeing the daily operations of a busy and dynamic workplace, John also serves as photo editor, email answerer, editorial administrator and Friday guacamole maker. John has been working at the Tribune for five of the acclaimed nonprofit news organization's eight years. Before that, he worked for four years at the Austin Bureau of the Dallas Morning News, his first experience in the world of journalism. His almost-10 years in the news business follows three decades as an Austin-based professional musician, appearing on many recordings and traveling all over the nation and the world. His transition to journalism involved a whirlwind stint as director of operations (and later field director) of Kinky Friedman's quixotic 2006 campaign for governor of Texas.
Jolene Chao is a freshman journalism major at the University of Texas at Austin.
Marika Murphy is a senior at Westlake high school. This is her fourth year studying computer science. She has also worked on the school's Senior Career and Senior Services Day websites.
Michelle Crocker currently teaches the AP English Literature and Composition and AP Capstone Seminar courses at Westlake High School in Austin, TX. Her career in education spans 13 years, and she has presented several times at the state and national conferences for teachers of English and Language Arts. Most recently, Ms. Crocker spent two weeks in China training Chinese middle school English teachers.
Mike Featherstone is the Street Liaison at Mission: Possible! Austin, a nonprofit based in East Austin that provides services for the homeless and cares for children and families living in under-resourced areas. Mike's role at MP includes operating Church Under the Bridge, a weekly gathering under the I-35 bridge at 7th Street that provides free breakfast, clothing, groceries, and personal services to the homeless community, also running a church service open to all Austinites. Mike also oversees the day-to-day operations of the Mission Possible Community Center, which provides free breakfast and a safe space to all visitors during weekday mornings. Mike has been serving with Mission: Possible! since 2014, fueled by his heart to serve the disadvantaged.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless
Mitchell Gibbs is the Executive Director of the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH), an organization that provides social services and day/night shelter to adults experiencing homelessness in Austin. His work there ranges from coordinating the various branches of the organization to directly interacting and building relationships with homeless clients. He has over 30 years of experience in nonprofit work, including a period working as the Development and Communications Director for the Austin branch of Habitat for Humanity, an organization for affordable housing. Gibbs holds a degree in journalism as well as a strategic planning and leadership certification from Harvard Business School.
Nick Wong is a freshman Turing Scholar at the University of Texas at Austin.
Sidney is a junior at St. Michael's Catholic Academy.
Job Titles:
- Graphic Design and Branding Lead
Valerie Taylor currently serves as the Instructional Partner for Humanities and co-teaches the AP Capstone Seminar and Research classes at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas. From 1990-2015, she taught English classes at Westlake as well. In addition, she is currently the Secondary Representative-at-Large for the National Council of Teachers of English, a Co-Director of the Central Texas Writing Project (a National Writing Project site) at the Texas State University of Texas in San Marcos, and 2nd Vice-President for her chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, an International Society of Women Educators. Valerie has taught for 32 years, four years in Katy ISD, one year in Round Rock ISD and 27 years in Eanes, and she is a Past-President of the Texas Council of English Language Arts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities and a Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Language and Literacy from the University of Texas at Austin. Valerie lives with her husband Kerry in Austin and two sons, Brian and Sean who live in Dallas.