Who are we?
Leadership Plano – What we all share in common is that we met in a wonderful program called Leadership Plano, as Class 37. Their mission is dedicated to educating, developing, and empowering current and future leaders for the community and motivating them to serve civic, charitable, and business organizations.
Learn more by visiting the Plano Chamber of Commerce website
We would like to acknowledge our other Class Members: Greg Andrew, Corey Clark, Scott Cummins, Garry Evans, LaStarr Hollie, Bri Huedepohl, Marty James, Raj Kolhe, Kathy Meadows, Brian Schwall, John Stafford, Yama Thompson and Brandi Youngkin.
Abbie Alter– Abbie is our website builder and marketing extraordinaire. She is owner of PlanoMoms.com and has also offered her expertise with children and families to help ensure fun for all ages.
Tara Bidwell– Tara created and compiled content regarding our tour stops and worked closely with the Writing Team.
Betsy Colter– Betsy took charge of developing our tour questions and prompts. She has also assisted with video production work.
Katherine Goodwin– Katherine has been one of our lead writers, as well as an integral contributor on the Marketing Team.
Courtney Hitt– Courtney is passionate about the arts in Plano and saw a need for more arts and culture related Leadership Plano projects. She has also served on the Cultural Affairs Commission for the City of Plano for several years and was chairperson in 2019-2020. Courtney has been crucial in forging relationships with key members in various communities to ensure the success of this project.
Sarah Lassberg– Sarah has assisted us in almost every area of development, including appearing poised and professional as the face of our class in our videos.
Brandon Maxey– Brandon is head of our Writing Team, also providing needed comedic relief, as well as expertise with legal matters.
Emily Moore– Emily has done it all, from being a key player on the Marketing Team, serving as one of our lead writers and copywriters, and helping to create significant content for the website.
Don Proeschel– He is a jack-of-all-trades helping with everything from our press release to our copywriting work.
Irum Rashid-Jones– Irum is head of our Diversity and Inclusion Team, necessary in building our relationship with the Douglass Community, and has also assisted with marketing efforts.
Karen Rhodes-Whitley– Karen is head of our Marketing Team and has also been a key bridge between us and the City of Plano as an idea advocate. A champion all the way!
Pooja Singhania– Pooja has been a key member through her keen project management skills, as well as assisting with our social media efforts.
Laura Starr– Laura helped in several different areas and lent us her legal expertise to create our super fun disclaimer.
Additional Thanks
A project of this size also would not be possible without the help and collaboration of several other key organizations and individuals in Plano.
Anoushka Singhania– We are so happy to have a young adult contributing to our team! Anoushka did all of the editing and production work for our videos. She also contributed heavily to our social media accounts and material for children and families.
Plano Arts Coalition– The Plano Arts Coalition (PAC) has been partners with us all along the way. Their mission is to establish Plano as a diverse cultural destination through collaboration, promotion, and advocacy. Learn more about their work and get involved.
Neighborhood Arts Collective [of Collin County]- Without the Neighborhood Arts Collective, this idea would have never been born. On October 16, 2019, the first unofficial Plano Art Walk commenced. It was led by Courtney Hitt who, after receiving such a wonderful response, saw a need for an “art walk” in the community.
Mary Jacobs– Mary has written several books on Plano, Historic Downtown Plano, Plano’s Historic Cemeteries, and Hidden History of Plano. She is also the producer of planopodcast.com which features “tales of curiosity and character from inside our city and outside of what’s expected.” Mary was vital in compiling interesting facts to engage participants. She also authored many of the quiz questions on Kahoot.
Jeff Campbell – Jeff, in addition to co-authoring Hidden History of Plano, is also co-director for the Plano Conservancy for Historic Preservation. There he manages the Interurban Railway Museum, which preserves historic cemeteries and conducts oral histories. He along with Mary Jacobs ensured the historical accuracy of certain aspects of the tour.
Plano Magazine– Particularly editor-in-chief Jennifer Shertzer, has been essential in connecting us to key members throughout the community who are particularly knowledgeable about everything Plano. They also provided us with permission to use some of their fantastic photography.
AlleeOops Photography– AlleeOops Photography was generous enough to allow us the use of many wonderful photographs shot by Janelle Twyford-Silvas.
City of Plano- The City of Plano, along with The Cultural Affairs Commission, Raini Layne, and Michelle Hawkins, were always willing to ensure that our ideas made logistical sense and cleared certain city parameters.
Plano Conservancy– The Plano Conservancy has served as a wealth of knowledge and information regarding Plano history. They are dedicated to promoting civic pride in the past, increasing preservation awareness through education and public outreach, and providing financial assistance to protect and preserve our heritage resources for this and future generations.
Tina Cauller- Tina was gracious enough to complete our logo and all of our graphic design work.
The Collin Small Business Development Center There were many constraints we faced completing this project during COVID-19. The SBDC allowed us to use their facilities to have access to their production facilities.
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