Founding Members

Members

Tom Meredith
  Chairman
Melba Whatley
  President
Melanie Barnes
  Secretary 
  

Charles Attal
Bobbie Barker
Julie Blakeslee
Marie Crane
Suzanne Deal Booth
Russell Douglass
Sue Edwards
Gary Farmer
Jesus Garza
Sandy Gottesman
Rudolph H. Green
Joe Holt
Jeanne Klein

Virginia Lebermann
Teresa Long
Eduardo Margain
Chris Mattsson
Eva Munoz
Erin Nelson
Bettye Nowlin
Eddie Safady
Ted Siff
Pete Winstead
John Wotowicz

Tom Meredith

Chairman, Waller Creek Conservancy 
Tom Meredith is known for his pivotal role in helping to guide Dell, Inc.’s business development and financial strategies from 1992 to 2001. Today, his name is just as synonymous with philanthropic efforts. Mr. Meredith and his wife have received numerous accolades and awards for their generous support throughout the years including the 2010 Austin Community Foundation Philanthropy Award.

Mr. Meredith is presently the general partner and co-founder of Meritage Capital, L.P., an investment management firm, and CEO of MFI Capital, the Meredith family’s private investment arm. He also presently serves on the board of directors of Motorola Mobility,Bazaarvoice and Brightstar Corp. Prior professional roles include serving as CFO for Motorola, Inc., and vice president and treasurer for Sun Microsystems, Inc.

He is an adjunct professor at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin and serves on the advisory board of the LBJ School at The University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Meredith received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from St. Francis University, a Juris Doctor degree from Duquesne University and a Master of Laws degree in taxation from Georgetown University. He has received an Honorary Ph.D. from both St. Francis College and Duquesne University.

Melba Whatley
President, Waller Creek Conservancy 
Melba Whatley, an Austin businesswoman, has served on Harvard and University of Texas visiting committees and the boards of St. Mark’s School of Texas, The Hockaday School for Girls and The Dallas Museum of Art, The Detroit Museum of Art, and Arthouse at the Jones Center where she is currently president.  She also serves on the Austin Advisory Board of the Texas Nature Conservancy. 

A local advocate of education, the arts and quality design, Ms. Whatley currently chairs the facilities committee at St. Edward’s University where she is a trustee.  She has been instrumental in the transformation of the campus for which she received the rarely-bestowed Edwin Waller Award in Public Architecture by AIA Austin for “achievements in public architecture.” Ms. Whatley is also chairwoman of the Marcus Foundation, a private foundation benefitting the visual arts. In partnership with the New Media Consortium, the foundation has created the first international website for visual arts museums devoted to emerging media and educational issues. It has also funded the recently published Horizon Report: Museum Edition which has quickly become a crucial and unique resource to the museum field.  

Ms. Whatley holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Tulane University and a Juris Doctor degree from Lewis and Clark School of Law.

Melanie Barnes
Secretary, Waller Creek Conservancy 
Ms. Barnes is an ardent nature advocate, education supporter and lawyer. Her initial career ambition was to be an environmental attorney, but the field was not well developed locally, so she focused on business transactions and commercial reorganizations. She returned to law school in 2010 for an advanced law degree in international energy and environment. She also sits on the board of Schopoff Properties Trust, a California real estate investment trust.

Ms. Barnes’ affiliations include: serving two years as board president of the Wildflower Center, a board member of Ballet Austin, trustee for the United Methodist Church in Austin, board member for St. Francis School, founder of the Center for Women in Law at the University of Texas Law School, and active volunteer at Austin High School during the tenures of her daughters and four exchange students.

Ms. Barnes has a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas Tech University as well as Juris Doctor and Master of Laws degree from The University of Texas School of Law.