The Board of Directors directs and manages the affairs of the Foundation and controls the disposition of its funds, primarily through grants to local non-profit organizations that protect the legal rights of women and children in Central Texas. The Board is composed of up to 17 directors. Four of these directors are permanent directors: Past President, President, and President Elect of the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association and Past Chair of the Foundation. The remaining directors are non-permanent and each serve two-year terms. The officers of the Foundation are the Chair, the Chair-Elect, the Secretary, and the Treasurer. The current Board is:
Chair
Sarah T. Glaser
Sarah Glaser is an employment lawyer at Lloyd Gosselink Rochelle & Townsend, P.C., providing proactive and cost-effective representation to employers. In addition to preventative counseling and conducting workplace investigations, Sarah is a litigator who represents employers in courts and in front of administrative agencies. She also enjoys assisting executives in negotiating employment agreements.
Sarah received her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law and a B.A. in Psychology and French from Washington University in Saint Louis. Oliver (3) and Ada (1), two dogs, and her husband fill most of her time outside the office, but she still finds a way to get outside and enjoy the Greenbelt and the rest of Austin’s parks and trails.
Past Chair
Tracy McCreight
Tracy McCreight is a litigation partner at Duane Morris LLP. Her primary practice is commercial construction litigation for owners, and she also handles a myriad of other types of commercial disputes, including partnership disputes and business divorces. She is a 2002 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law (with honors) and has a B.A. from the University of Maryland at College Park. Tracy has a 14-year old son and a 5-year old daughter.
TCWLA President
Shelby O’Brien
Shelby O’Brien is a partner at Enoch Kever PLLC where her practice focuses on civil litigation and appeals. Before joining Enoch Kever, Shelby served as a staff attorney at the Texas Supreme Court. In addition to serving on the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association Board of Directors, Shelby serves on the Austin Bar Association Civil Appellate Section’s Governing Council and the Austin Court of Appeals’ Pro Bono Committee. Shelby received her J.D. with Honors from the University of Texas School of Law and a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Maryland. She is board certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
TCWLA President-Elect
Jennifer Hopgood
Jennifer Hopgood is an assistant county attorney at the Travis County Attorney’s Office in the Land Use Division. She also worked at the Texas Attorney General’s Office as an assistant attorney general in public financing and Medicaid fraud litigation and served as a staff attorney for the Honorable Bob Pemberton at the Third Court of Appeals. Prior to her legal career, Jennifer taught for eleven years in the Eanes school district, primarily teaching sixth grade English.
Jennifer received her B.A. in Japanese studies from the University of California, Berkeley and her J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center. She also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Austin Bar’s monthly magazine Austin Lawyer.
Secretary
Shannon H. 
Hutcheson
BIO.
Treasurer
Tracy Kasparek
Tracy Kasparek’s focus at Kasparek law centers on Wills, Probate, Estate Planning, Elder Law, Guardianships, Friendly Family Law, and Business Formation and Succession. Tracy also accepts ad litem appointment from the Travis County Probate Court.
Tracy received her J.D. from St. Mary’s in San Antonio and B.A. in Business from Southwestern University in Georgetown. While attending St. Mary’s, she became a published staff writer on The Scholar: St. Mary’s Law Review on Minority issues.
Tracy currently serves as the Travis County Women Lawyer’s Foundation Treasurer, and is the Co-Secretary for the Solo/Small Firm Section of the Austin Bar Association. Tracy’s past board positions include Treasurer and President of the Travis County Women Lawyer’s Association, and board positions on the AGLCC, AGLPF and Vice President of her homeowner’s association. In addition, Tracy helped found the Austin Pride Foundation, and co-chairs the UT LGBT OUTlaw Wills Clinic.
Fellows Liaison
Victoria Seybold
Tori Seybold is the Court Investigator and a staff attorney for Judge Guy Herman at the Travis County Probate Court, where her practice focuses on investigating and prosecuting court initiated guardianship cases of incapacitated adults. Prior to her position at the Probate Court, Tori worked with Lone Star Legal Aid as a staff attorney in the Crime Victims Unit. While with Lone Star Legal Aid she served low income Texans who were survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking.
Tori received her J.D. from Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane, Washington and her Bachelor of Social Work summa cum laude from Texas State University – San Marcos. While attending Gonzaga University she competed in and won the ABA Client Counseling Competition, and received the Pro Bono Distinction Award.
Website Liaison
Danica L. Milios
Danica Milios is a litigator with Jackson Walker’s appellate practice group. Danica came to Jackson Walker after serving nine years as an Assistant Solicitor General and three years as Deputy Solicitor General in the Texas Attorney General’s Office. In her state practice, Danica handled or substantially participated in several important and high profile appeals, including the 2011 challenge to the State’s franchise tax system and the 2005 school finance case. Danica also served four years as an Assistant Attorney General in the Tort Litigation Division, where she defended state agencies in medical malpractice and other personal injury cases.
Danica has represented clients before the United States Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Ninth Circuits, the Texas Supreme Court, and many of the State’s intermediate courts of appeals.
Danica often begins her involvement in cases at the trial stage of proceedings to ensure proper error preservation and presentation of legal issues. Since moving into private practice, she has handled appeals in a diverse range of areas, including arbitration awards, bill of review procedure, business disparagement, tortious interference with contracts, oil and gas matters, free exercise of speech and religion, and the Texas Citizen’s Participation Act.
Raffle Chair
Alyson Falk
Alyson Falk has exclusively practiced family law litigation in the Austin area since becoming licensed in 2011. She maintains her law practice with Jodi Lazar of LAZAR LAW, PLLC, a boutique firm located in Westlake, focusing exclusively on representation in family law matters in Central Texas, including divorce, custody, marital agreements, termination/adoptions, and enforcement proceedings. Lazar Law represents clients in both traditional litigation and collaborative law models, depending on the client’s needs.
Alyson is a fourth-generation Austinite who has enjoyed serving her community over the years by volunteering her time with Rodeo Austin, a 501(c)3 promoting western heritage and youth education throughout the entire State of Texas, and The Junior League of Austin. As a member of the Board of Directors of TCWLF, Alyson chairs the Raffle, which has raised more than $9,000.00 each year at the Annual Grants & Awards Luncheon, held each Spring. The money raised goes directly to TCWLF grant funding.
Grant Coordinator
Amber Vazquez
Amber Vazquez is a Board Certified criminal defense attorney, and fifth generation Texan who has won trials for Murder, Attempted Capital Murder, Aggravated Assault, Sexual Assault of a Child, Burglary of a Habitation, Thefts, and many Driving While Intoxicated, Assault Family Violence and Drug Possession cases. Her success rate across the board makes her one of the most sought after defense attorneys in the state. Amber has been named a Super Lawyer in Texas Lawyer, was named Criminal Defense Attorney 2019 by the Austin Bar Association, she won the Criminal Justice Award from Travis County Women’s Bar and been named one of the top 20 “Winning Women” in Texas. She teaches criminal defense attorneys as well as serving on the Police Oversight and Judicial Committee for the City of Austin. Amber was recently referred to as the “Queen of Acquittals” in Texas Monthly.
Grant Coordinator
Barbara Balliette
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Raffle Technology
Mallory Beck
Mallory Beck is a Legal Counsel in Litigation at Dell Inc. where her practice focuses on general commercial litigation, products liability, consumer litigation, and pre-litigation advice and negotiation. Mallory obtained her JD and LLM from Duke University School of Law in 2010. After completing a 2-year term clerkship for the Honorable Hilda G. Tagle in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Mallory continued her career at Jackson Walker, LLP in Austin, Texas.
Venue Coordinator
Karen Oprea
Karen focuses her practice on appellate litigation. Since starting the Law Office of Oprea & Weber, Karen has worked on a number of fascinating issues in federal and state courts, including the right to record on-duty police officers, the right against self-incrimination, and the permissible scope of traffic stops and vehicle searches.
Karen graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School in 2012. During law school she interned for the ACLU of Michigan, the Detroit Center for Family Advocacy, White & Case, LLP, and the National Registry of Exonerations. She spent the first part of her career fighting for the rights of indigent defendants at the Criminal Appeals Bureau of the New York Legal Aid Society.
Karen is licensed to practice law in New York and Texas. She is also admitted into the Federal District Courts in the Southern District of New York and the Western District of Texas. She is a member of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Austin Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, and the Texas and Williamson County Bar Associations. She is also a member of the Texas Bar College, which is an honorary society of lawyers who are interested in high ethical and professional standards.
Video Coordinator
Cassie Baron
Catherine “Cassie” Baron
Catherine Baron is a trial attorney with a practice dedicated to family law. Before opening her firm in 2016, she worked as an associate family law attorney at the firms of Weinman & Associates and Rivers McNamara. Catherine provides straightforward, results-based advice regarding family issues such as property division, child custody, modifications, and prenuptial agreements.
Catherine obtained her law degree from American University. She believes in the importance of volunteer work and political advocacy. Catherine loves stories and travel. Locally, she enjoys the Austin food scene and reading outside.
Ashley Nwonuma
Ashley Nwonuma is a litigation associate at Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney where her practice focuses on civil litigation. Before joining her current firm, she served as assistant general counsel to the Texas Water Development Board. Prior to that, she was a litigation attorney in the Texas Public Utility Commission’s legal division, where she litigated utilities cases before SOAH. In addition to serving on the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association Board of Directors, Ashley serves as legal counsel to the Women’s Symphony League. She is also an active member of the Austin Black Lawyers Association and the Junior League of Austin. Ashley received her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law and a B.A. in History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies from the University of Texas at Austin.
Lesley Varghese
BIO.