TEXAS FOLKLIFE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jeff Jackson (Board Chair) | Austin, TX
Jeff Jackson has a Master's degree in nonprofit management and leadership from Texas State University. He has 30 years of experience using experiential education as a teaching method with at-risk teens. His passion is working with and promoting Texas underground music and art.
Linda Ho Peché (Vice Chair) | Houston, TX
Linda Ho Peché holds a doctorate in cultural anthropology from The University of Texas at Austin. She has over 20 years of community outreach experience involving traditional arts, culture, and heritage. She lives in Houston and is the director for a digital humanities project called the Vietnamese in the Diaspora Digital Archive.
Sean Hale (Treasurer) | Austin, TX
Sean Hale is a 2005 graduate of Texas A&M University with a BBA in Finance. He is currently a Finance Manager for an Austin-based company providing colocation services primarily in the Central Texas area. Additionally, Sean is a 7th generation Texan and an avid supporter of the native music and culture of the state.
Nydia Tapia – Gonzales (Secretary) | Harlingen, TX
Nydia Tapia-Gonzales lives in Harlingen, Texas where she achieved 30 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry. She began her journey as a tour guide, then tour company co-owner to director of Harlingen’s Convention & Visitors Bureau; experiences which taught her the value of folklore in economic development and tourism. She served on the board of directors of the Harlingen Arts & Heritage Museum, the CineSol Film Festival, and the Alliance for Hispanic Arts & Culture. She served on the statewide board of directors with the Center for Latino & Jewish Relations and Preservation Texas and worked with top tourism organizations of Texas as director of Texas Birding from 2012 to 2020. Tapia-Gonzales is a visual artist whose work has been exhibited at the Brownsville Historic Museum and the Brownsville Museum of Fine Arts. She is a journalist for local publications and publisher of two lifestyle blogs and a historic preservation website dedicated to promoting and preserving mid-20th-century modern architecture of the Rio Grande Valley. Tapia-Gonzales and her husband are fervent RVers who travel throughout Texas and the United States.
At-Large Members:
Lisa Marie Avendano | Houston, TX
Lisa Marie Avendano is a non-profit executive with 20 years of experience. She earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin, and a master's in cross-cultural studies at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Lisa Marie is a cultural arts enthusiast and an amateur accordion player. She currently resides in Houston, Texas.
Tom Ellis | Dallas, TX
Tom Ellis has been involved in music as a music critic, performer, promoter, biographer, and teacher since the late 1960s. He currently resides in Dallas, Texas.
