Blair Thompson is an ordained elder (1998) in the United Methodist Church (UMC) and currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Roy Maas Youth Alternatives (RMYA), a 47-year-old nonprofit organization in San Antonio and Boerne that serves abused, neglected, and exploited children and youth in crisis.  Prior to his installation as CEO at RMYA, Blair spent 9-years as the Managing Director of the Children’s Bereavement Center – a San Antonio nonprofit specializing in expressive art therapies to help children who are grieving the death of a loved one.  Blair has also held senior management and executive-level business development positions with Alpha Home and Family Service Association.  Before transitioning his career to the nonprofit sector, Blair served the United Methodist Church for 15 years following his graduation from Austin Theological Seminary.

Blair is a 1989 graduate of Texas Tech University, and a US Army veteran.  He is an avid baseball fan, and spends his free time traveling to Sewanee, TN to watch his son live out his childhood dream to play college baseball at the University of the South (Sewanee).

Blair believes that every child has a dream, and that those dreams contain the seeds of greatness. And he believes that it is every adults responsibility to nurture the dreams of children, and guide them to fulfillment.

Dr. Jennifer Oliver currently serves as the Executive Director of Student Services at Trinity Basin Preparatory overseeing a variety of programs and services including special education, 504, dyslexia, emergent bilingual education, RTI, MTSS, counseling, family engagement, health services, and Title I and III programming.  As Executive Director, she strives to provide equitable access and support to meet the needs of all students despite their academic or economic struggles, disabilities, emotional trauma, or language difficulties.  Prior to TBP, Dr. Oliver served as a principal at the elementary, middle school, and high school levels in Grand Prairie ISD.  Dr. Oliver received her Master of Education Leadership from the University of Texas at Arlington and Doctorate of Educational Administration from Texas A&M University at Commerce. In addition to her role at TBP, Dr. Oliver is mom to a special needs child, who is currently a sophomore in high school. 

Sammi Broussard is the Director of Special Education for UT Tyler University Academy located in Tyler, Longview, and Palestine, Texas.  Sammi is a graduate of Texas A&M University with an undergraduate degree in interdisciplinary studies (Elementary Education) with a concentration in special education.  She later earned her Master’s Degree from Texas State University in Special Education with a certification as an Educational Diagnostician.  Mrs. Broussard has taught in a variety of special education settings, served as an educational diagnostician, a special education coordinator, and special education director.  Her experiences range from serving small ISDs to very large ISDs and currently she is working in a University Charter School.  In her spare time, Mrs. Broussard enjoys traveling and kayaking with her husband and visiting her 3 children and their spouses. ck to edit this placeholder text.

Dr. Fischer has 23 years experience as a PBL Trainer, Educational Consultant, Instructional Coach, a teacher of Chemistry, Physics and Engineering and has lead teams in collaborations with National Instruments, Texas Instruments, the Texas STEM Coalition and Apple.  She has a B.S. in Oceanography from the University of Washington, an M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction from UT Tyler and an Ed.D. in School Improvement from UT Tyler. She also serves as a Director on the Board of the Big Bend Conservancy (the non-profit partner of Big Bend National Park), is a Hendon Mob rated poker player and was (almost) on the cast of this season’s Great American Baking Show (aka, she bakes a lot!).

Questions? 

Contact Kimberly Baumgardner 

kimberly.baumgardner2@esc20.net or 210-370-5431