YWA Speaks: Speaker Series - A Game Plan for Good: Stories & Lessons from Austin FC’s Senior Director of Community Impact

Description

The Young Women’s Alliance (YWA) is a nonprofit organization devoted to the professional and personal development of women leaders in Central Texas. For more than 30 years, YWA has been a staple in the Austin community, driven by our four pillars: lead, educate, network, and serve. 

Join us as Gissela shares about her career, Austin FC and their community impact initiatives, as well as how to convey impactful stories.

Gissela Santa Cruz was a journalist for almost 20 years at the Austin American-Statesman where she took on multiple roles during her tenure, including her last as member of the editorial board and columnist. In that last role, Gissela was 1 of only 17 Latinos – and only 1 of 8 Latinas – in the country serving on the editorial board of a major newspaper or TV outlet. 

In 2018, she was contracted as a Community Engagement & Projects Specialist to support the MLS2ATX movement in Austin where she helped lobby the City of Austin for the future site of a Major League Soccer stadium. After Council approval, Gissela joined Austin FC, MLS’ 27th Club, to help build its Community Impact team. 

She previously served on the executive board of Latinitas, and was a member of the advisory boards of KLRU and Settlement Home for Children. She currently serves on the I Live Here, I Give Here Board of Directors. While she is a native of Dallas, she has called Austin home for more than 25 years. Gissela is married to Juan Parra and is the mother of two talented sons and two spoiled dogs. 

Please reach out to Margot Sweeney or Jillian French on Slack or via email for any questions.

*** In-Person Programming No-Show Policy***

In order to allow for better planning and to provide our members with higher quality programming, we are implementing a no-show policy. All events have limited capacity, so if you registered and are unable to attend we ask that you please unregister within 48h. All no-shows or late cancellations will be charged an automatic $15 no-show fee. Thank you for your understanding and collaboration as we work to provide you with the quality of programming you deserve!