Evan SpauldingBoard of Directors
Jonny Rodgers – President & Founder
Jonny Rodgers is an Austin native, who attended Westlake High School. Mr. Rodgers earned his B.A. Degree in Communications at Texas Christian University with honors in 2001. He was member of both Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Sigma Pi Chi (the communications honor society).
Mr. Rodgers is a member of the Real Estate Council of Austin, where he was appointed to the Leadership Development Class in 2007 and served on the Steering Committee in 2008. Mr. Rodgers also serves on the Board of the Young Mens Business League and The Texas Christian University Austin Alumni Association. An active philanthropist, Jonny is also involved with The Young Texans Against Cancer, The Alzheimer’s Association of Central Texas, Emerging Professionals In Conservation, as well as a volunteer coach for the Westlake High School 7 on 7 Football program for the past 5 years.
Ben DeLeon
Ben De Leon is a shareholder and member of the Board of Directors at De Leon & Washburn, P.C. Born and raised in Austin, Mr. De Leon joined the firm as an associate attorney in 2005. He practices in the areas of general civil litigation, appellate law, insurance law, transactional law and administrative law. Mr. De Leon is fluent in Spanish, and he represents Spanish-speaking clients pro bono through Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas.
Mr. De Leon earned his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in May, 2004, where he was elected as a permanent class officer by his classmates. While at UT Law, Mr. De Leon received a Texas Law Fellowship for work in public interest law during the summer of 2002; he served as Chairman of the Student-Alumni Relations Committee from 2003-2004; he was a Staff Member on Vol. 22 and an Articles Editor on Vol. 23 of The Review of Litigation; and he worked as a student attorney in the Juvenile Justice Clinic in the spring of 2004. His student note, “Rendering a Taxing New Tide on I.R.C. § 501(c)(3): The Constitutional Implications of H.R. 2357 and Alternatives for Increased Political Freedom in Houses of Worship,” was published in Vol. 23, Issue No. 3 of the Review of Litigation. Mr. De Leon received his B.S. and B.A. degrees, both with highest honors, in Corporate Communication and Spanish from the University of Texas in 2001. He also graduated Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Beta Kappa.
Mr. De Leon is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Austin Young Lawyers Association and the Texas Exes Council. Mr. De Leon has served as a Big Brother in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program of Central Texas since June of 2006; as an agency spokesperson since September of 2007; and on the inaugural board of directors of the Big Society, the agency’s alumni networking group, since January of 2009. Mr. De Leon is a Deacon at the First Baptist Church of Austin, and he also serves on: the UT 1883 Council, the Texas Exes Scholarship Selection Committee, the Elizabeth Shatto Massey Award for Excellence in Teacher Education Selection Committee, the Texas Exes Hispanic Alumni Steering Committee, the UT Law Diversity Weekend Planning Committee, the UT Law Reunion Weekend Planning Committee and the Christian Life Commission Board of Consultants.
Katelin Fore
Katie graduated from Texas State University in San Marcos, TX in 2007 with a BBA in marketing. During her time at Texas State, Katie was involved in several student organizations including the American Marketing Association and was one of six students selected by her peers to represent Texas State University in the National Collegiate Sales Competition in Atlanta, GA in 2007. She also served as an officer in Students In Free Enterprise (S.I.F.E.) where she helped pioneer a web-based learning program for ethical responsibility to be used in elementary schools around the world.
Currently, Katie is a professional clothier with the Tom James Company, where she advises and assists executives, small business owners, and other business men and women with their personal and professional wardrobe needs. In her first 18 months with Tom James, Katie achieved President’s Club (which represents clothing sales of $475,000 in one calendar year). She continues to cultivate her relationship with her clients and other members in the business community by actively participating in networking and charity events in the Austin area.
Neil Goldman
Neil Goldman is the owner and founder of Austin Hospitality and Hotels for Hope. A graduate of Penn State University, Neil holds a degree in Hotel Restaurant & Institutional Management with a minor in Business. Prior to forming his two companies, Neil managed various Marriott and Four Seasons in their operations, reservations, accounting, sales, spa and F&B departments.
In 2007, Neil moved from San Diego to Austin to begin his ventures. Austin Hospitality represents its customers in generating successful contracts, site-selection and negotiations for group blocks of hotel rooms. Focusing on large conferences, city-wide conventions, sports travel, weddings, etc… Austin Hospitality has aided over 1,000 groups within it’s first two years of business. In late 2009, Neil created Hotels for Hope, a non-profit focused on enriching the lives of children across the world through every room night booked.
Neil Goldman is also a member of the Austin Chamber, Austin Hospitality Association and the Austin Business Travel Association.
Nathan B Green - Founder
Nathan B Green is an experienced business operator, management consultant, and entrepreneur. Over the past ten years he has held executive positions at Pearson, The Everest Group, Bloomberg, and Accenture and worked with clients such as Blockbuster, Sharp Electronics, Verizon, Bank of America, and the New York City Department of Education.
Currently, Nathan is co-founder and President of campus2careers.com, an online community where college students and small and medium-sized businesses connect for internships, entry level jobs, and more. Running the business as a bootstrap, Nathan is responsible for all sales, marketing, and channel activities.
Prior to campus2careers, Nathan was General Manager of Pearson’s Talent Assessment business and a $17M global P&L. As GM, Nathan was responsible for the worldwide development and delivery of career, selection, development, and personality assessments. Under Nathan's leadership, the Talent Assessment business grew double digits each year and moved to an online delivery model. Nathan was one of the youngest executives while at Pearson, the largest Education and Publishing company in the world.
Nathan holds a bachelor of sciences degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, where he graduated with honors early. Nathan is a founding Board Member of the Austin Young Chamber of Commerce and an Advisory Board member for ContractSpot.com, OpenSesa.me and Transform, LLC. He recently moved from NYC to Austin, TX to run campus2careers.com.
Kareem Hajjar
Kareem Hajjar (Partner, Hajjar Sutherland & Kelly LLP), born Austin, Texas, January 2, 1979; admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 2003. Licensed to practice before the Courts of the State of Texas. Preparatory education: University of Notre Dame (B.B.A. Finance, 2000; B.A. Computer Applications, 2000). Legal education: The University of Texas School of Law (J.D. 2003). Member: State Bar of Texas; Travis County Bar Association.
Mr. Hajjar’s areas of practice include matters and transactions in the areas of: real estate, bar and restaurant law, land use law, construction, municipal law, and commercial loan documentation. In addition he is experienced in commercial transactions including the representation of corporate or individual clients in: (a) hospitality law, bar and restaurant creation, acquisition, operation; (b) acquisition, divestiture, and leasing of commercial property; (c) real estate development law including zoning, permitting, land use planning; development application processing and representation before local City councils, zoning boards of adjustment, planning commissions, local governing bodies, and state and local agencies; and (d) commercial and residential real estate loan document preparation, particularly for institutional lenders, certified development companies, individuals and private developers.
Mr. Hajjar’s work thus far includes representation of clients in complex real estate transactions, drafting purchase and sale agreements for raw land and income-producing properties, negotiating and drafting commercial lease agreements and escrow agreements, drafting restrictive covenants and other development documents, drafting commercial loan packages, and the planning and formation of business entities, including corporations, special purpose entities, partnerships and limited liability companies.
Edward Kargbo
Edward (Ed) Kargbo is the General Manager of Greater Austin Transportation Company dba Yellow Cab. He is a 2002 graduate of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. A two-sport star as an undergraduate, he captained the Demon Deacon football team and also played on the basketball team. Ed represented the athletics department on the University’s Student Advisory Council and represented the University at the 2001 NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference in Florida. He volunteered in the local community through the Athletes Care Team (ACT), tutoring and mentoring students in local schools, while maintaining a solid standing in the class room as demonstrated by consistent appearances on the deans’ list and Atlantic Coast Conference Honor roll.
Ed pursued and was employed in professional athletics in his first few years post- graduation. He has since moved on to work in sales, politics and business management. Ed has been employed in the transportation business for the last 5 years, beginning his career in Houston and relocating in November 2006 to take his current position with Yellow Cab here in Austin. Outside of work, Ed volunteers in the community at large through various roles as a member of The Young Men’s Business League (YMBL), Habitat Young Professionals (HYP), The Wake Forest University Alumni Association and is a 2008 graduate of Leadership Austin’s Emerge Program.
Ed volunteers as a coach for youth athletics and created a program which “adopted” a middle school in Houston’s Independent School District; providing tutoring, mentoring, educational equipment and exposure to the world at large to at risk youth. Ed has run the Austin-Half Marathon is an ardent supporter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and participates each year in the JDRF charity races. Ed is engaged to be wed and excited about starting a family in the great city of Austin.
Colin Pope
Colin, at 33, is the youngest editor in the 42-paper chain of business journals across the country. As editor he steers the publication’s content and newsroom to produce world-class news that is consumed by tens of thousands of readers every day -- most of which are C-level executives, civic and political leader who demand very much.
His mixture of work as a journalist, business and public relations expert -- underscored by a passion to sustain and build upon everything that makes Austin so great -- has allowed him to excel in his field. During the past 10 years Colin has strayed from an award-winning career in journalism twice -- once to help start the debit card company NetSpend, which today is valued at about $700 million -- and once more to manage the communications and public relations arm of political consulting company Strategic Partnerships Inc.
After both excursions he eventually found himself drawn back to the Austin Business Journal. As Colin puts it, “there are few communication jobs as noble and impactful as those found at a respectable media outlet. His publisher, Lyn Chasteen, credits Colin with almost single-handedly organizing the content for the paper’s three annual growth summits, each of which presents current affairs and unmasks important issues to a crowd of about 1,000 decision-makers.
Colin has lived in Austin for 22 years, and that time and his fondness of the city has made him one of its greatest advocates. He has a rare and refreshing knowledge of everything that is Austin and he is often tapped by radio and television talk/news shows as a result. Colin never turns down a speaking engagement, and often entertains rooms filled with hundreds of professionals eager to hear his free advice on how to deal with the media. He is a founding member of the annual RISE event, and he donates time to UT’s School of Journalism, ACC, and the United Way.
As a business news reporter, and now Editor, Colin’s reputation as a trustworthy, accurate and devoted journalist beholden only to readers has allowed him to rise to the top of the newsroom in under a decade. He has produced award-winning articles and OpEds that have reversed City Council decisions and prompted follow ups by national shows such as NBC’s Dateline and The Today Show and even the BBC on one occasion. A decidedly humble single father who proudly puts his son above all else, Colin is amazed that he has a job that allows him at such a relatively young age to sit face to face with people from George Bush to Willie Nelson to Dan Rather.
Erick Smart - Founder
Erick Smart is the Account Executive for the benefits advisory firm Ball-Peoples. He specializes in group sales, and advises his clients on the ever-changing landscape of insurance trends, laws and regulations. A native Austinite, Mr. Smart is very familiar with the needs of Central Texas businesses. His clients make up a wide variety of industries, from environmental, technology, and business services to professional and medical offices.
Mr. Smart began his collegiate career playing football at Texas Tech University and later transferred to St. Edwards University majoring in Organizational Communications. He has also worked as a Stunt Double in movies, commercials and TV shows for the past five years.
Mr. Smart is a member of the Young Men’s Business League, Choose Austin First and The Westlake Chamber of Commerce. Erick has also served as a volunteer coach for the Western Hills Little League.
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