We’re heading to honky-tonk heaven to celebrate another amazing year of preservation advocacy! Preservation Austin’s 2023 Annual Meeting takes place Tuesday, August 22, at the Broken Spoke. Recently dedicated as a City of Austin Landmark, this iconic venue – a bar, restaurant, dancehall, and memorabilia mecca – opened in 1964 and has been legendary ever since. Join us at this special membership event to connect with fellow supporters and vote in our 2023-2024 Board of Directors.
Bring a preservation-loving friend and we'll be happy to help them join. We’ll be raffling off great prizes to current members and new ones. Feeling lucky? You could win a gift card to the Paramount Theatre, Jo's Coffee, Lazarus Brewing, Olamaie, Waterloo Greenway’s Moody Amphitheater, Book People, Uchi, & more!
This event is FREE for Preservation Austin members. Not yet a member? Click HERE to join today! Non-members may attend this event for $25 or join Preservation Austin at the door and attend for free.
Space is limited! Please RSVP by August 21. Current, active members will receive a Paperless Post invitation––please check your email! New and renewing members during the month of August will receive a link to RSVP in their membership confirmation email. For event questions, email Programs Manager Rosa Fry at rosa@preservationaustin.org.
Not sure of your membership status? Email Development Coordinator Sarah Anderson, sarah@preservationaustin.org.
AFTER PARTY
Get ready to two-step! Stick around after our private event: the Broken Spoke dancehall will open to the public at 7:15 pm and country music artist Weldon Henson will be playing some boot-scootin’ tunes at 8:15 pm.
2023-2024 Board Slate
2023–2024 OFFICERS
Melissa Barry, President
Elisha Perez, President Elect
Miriam Conner, Vice President
Emily Reed, Vice President
Kelly Little, Secretary
Perry Lorenz, Treasurer
Linda Y. Jackson, Immediate Past President
2023-2024 EX OFFICIO
Charles Peveto
Bob Ward
2023-2024 ADVISOR
Cyndee Lake
2023-2026 New Directors: 1st Term
ERIKA BONFANTI
Erika Bonfanti has over thirteen years of experience in enclosure consulting. After graduating from Pennsylvania State University with a Master of Architectural Engineering, she relocated to Austin to start her career in forensic consulting. She has worked on hundreds of new, existing, and historic buildings beginning in the early stages of pre-design through construction, identifying issues and providing repair guidance to architects, contractors, and owners. She strives to improve the overall energy, air transfer, and moisture performance of every building enclosure project and is passionate about optimizing buildings of all ages. She is co-chair of ASHRAE Technical Committee 1.12 and enjoys downtime with her partner and pups.
CARA GUSTAFSON
Cara is an Austin native with a decade of experience in communications and government relations in the Texas Legislature. She graduated from Texas State University with her Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies and began her career at the Capitol in 2013 as a Laney Scholar at the Pete Laney Center for Public Service. She then went on to serve as the Communications Director for Representative Garnet Coleman in the 2017 and 2019 Legislative Sessions. Since 2020, Cara has been the Communications Specialist at Public Blueprint, a public affairs firm based in Austin that focuses on media and government relations, grassroots advocacy, digital marketing, and extensive branding and public relations for a variety of clients in both public and private sectors. As a lifelong Austinite, Cara has watched Austin grow and change and she aims to be part of meaningful conversations to preserve what makes this city that she calls home.
TRAVIS HOLLER
Travis Holler is the Director of Leasing and Operations for Commercial Retail Group, a national commercial real estate investment and development firm based in Austin, Texas. A native of Huntington Beach, California, Travis studied International Affairs and Political Science at The George Washington University and spent over a decade in Washington D.C. working in politics and public affairs supporting various organizations. A proud resident of Dawson in South Austin, he is actively involved in the LGBTQ+ community through The Equality Alliance and Hill Country Ride for AIDS and is looking forward to biking 90 miles in the spring in support of a dozen local LGBTQIA+ organizations. Travis is passionate about architecture, design, and history and has had the pleasure of helping lead the Friends of Watson Chateau working group, with its primary goal being the home’s preservation. He is excited to help shine a light on those overlooked Austin landmarks and needing preservation, while helping to reach marginalized communities on the importance of preserving Austin for future generations.
MARY KAHLE
Mary Kahle grew up in Houston before earning her bachelor’s in history at Stanford University. She returned to Texas and moved to Austin in 1986 to pursue her M.B.A. at UT. Mary recently earned her master’s in public history at Texas State University, where she focused on historic preservation and oral history. As part of her master’s degree, she completed an internship with Preservation Austin, and her master’s thesis was based on an oral history project she conducted on the Save Our Springs Movement, an early 1990s grassroots campaign to protect Barton Springs.
For as long as she can remember, Mary has loved old places and the stories they tell, and she’s interested in finding ways to preserve historic sites while addressing Austin’s needs for housing, livability, and sustainability. Mary currently serves on the board of the Texas Oral History Association, as the chair of the Austin History Center Association’s oral history committee, and on the City of Austin Ethics Review Commission. She has also worked on historic preservation at the Austin State Hospital, and she’s a long-time tutor for Foundation Communities. In her free time, Mary explores Austin on her e-bike and performs with an improv comedy troupe in theaters around town. Mary and her husband Jim have three grown children, a rotating cast of foster fails, and a baby blue ’72 Volkswagen Beetle, “Harvey,” they converted to electric as a pandemic project.
CYDNEY WASHINGTON-MOORE
As a lifelong lover of Austin, Cydney has felt fortunate to call this amazing city home for more than ten years now. She first came to Austin as a student, earning a Bachelor of the Arts degree in History and Government from the University of Texas at Austin. Soon after, she would go on to earn her Master's Degree in Philosophy and Social Policy from The George Washington University. But there really is no place like Texas, and it wouldn’t be long before Cydney came back — this time as a young professional.
Upon graduating from GW, Cydney had been serving as the Director of Marketing and Outreach for A+Lifestyle Medical Group. And after seven years of learning and growth, she sought out a new challenge and a new role as the Assistant Director of Events for The Texas Tribune. It was there she oversaw the organization’s year-round, virtual events and sharpened her skills in team building, marketing, event production and project management.
Next, with a passion for real estate, philanthropy and collaboration, Cydney went on to support and nurture the rich and distinct culture of Realty Austin as its Culture Program Manager.
Now, as the Innovation Project Manager for SXSW, Cydney and her team are developing unique, digital tools that creative people use each year to advance their work and achieve their goals.
When she’s not working or planning events, Cydney loves hiking with her goldendoodle, Rafi, volunteering, and exploring the city with her husband, Kannon, and their two children, Skylar and Rose Eshaelea.