Defending the honor of Texas students and educators since 2004.
Founders
Leslie & Scott Milder
The Milders founded Friends of Texas Public Schools in 2004 with a commitment to educating Texans about the strengths and achievements of Texas public schools...and there are plenty! Scott has invested the last 20+ years in the educational architecture industry and is the K-12 Market Leader at VLK Architects where he leads the firm’s education advocacy efforts.
Board of Directors
Shelby McIntosh
President
Shelby is Senior Vice President of K12 Sales at Scholarus Learning, a portfolio of education companies united in their belief that education has the power to transform lives and committed to harnessing their collective solutions to help cultivate and sustain that transformation.
Dalane Bouillion
Vice President
Dalane is Chief Development Officer at VLK Architects where she works to bridge experiences in education to the school design process as a thought leader and partner for clients.
Charlie Davis
Past President
Charlie is an Energy Solutions Business Development Manager with Schneider Electric. Schneider Electric's purpose is to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability for all.
Leslie Milder
Co-Founder, Board Member
Leslie is a co-founder of Friends of Texas Public Schools, professional educator, and partner in a consulting firm called Common Sense Communications. She provides professional training for educators in the area of strengthening public confidence in the awesome work they do through our public schools.
John Costilla
Board Member
John is the Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer for Capstone and founder of JoCo Launch. He currently helps customers work to solve the literacy gap while embracing a servant leadership philosophy that focuses on breaking down barriers to allow teams to perform at their best and expand their capabilities.
John Blackburn
Board Member
John is a Managing Director at Live Oak Public Finance where he specializes in the financing needs of public school districts by conducting and successfully passing bond elections and bond sales.
Dan Carter
Board Member
Dan is the Director of Education Partnerships with Lightspeed, A Learning Company. Dan works with companies in the education space to bring school districts together to help every student hear every word.
Blake Powell
Board Member
Blake is the managing partner of Powell Law Group, serving hundreds of school districts in Texas. The firm handles a broad range of general school law and litigation issues.
Laura Milne
Board Member
Laura is the Director of New Partnerships at ThoughtExchange, building strategic partnerships in the education, non-profit, and social change sectors.
David Webb
Board Member
David has 19 years combined experience in public education as a high school teacher, educational account executive, and most recently as state partnership director. He is passionate about helping districts find the right solutions to achieve desired outcomes for students, educators, and the community.
Odell Taylor
Board Member
Odell serves as the Intervention Segment Director for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, helping school districts secure math and literacy intervention solutions to help students achieve their best possible academic outcomes.
Ron Jones
Board Member
Ron Jones is an advocate for public education, serving on the Dripping Springs Education Foundation Board, Trustee for the Dripping Springs ISD and volunteer for Burke Foundation, and board advisory for KDRP (Sun Radio) in Dripping Springs. He has been involved in business development in the education technology sector for the past 20 years.
Staff
Jennifer Storm
Executive Consultant
Jennifer has served Friends of Texas Public Schools in leading the association to facilitate respectful conversations about Texas public schools through honest communication, productive dialogue, and relentless encouragement. Jennifer works closely with our Corporate Partners to serve as Ambassadors to school districts across the great state of Texas.
Leigh Anne Pearson
Director of Operations
Leigh Anne serves Friends of Texas Public Schools as the Director of Operations, helping to share the great things happening in Texas Public Schools through a variety of communication channels, public relations, marketing, outreach, and association operations.