Our Team
The Texas Botanical Gardens and Native American Interpretive Center has assembled a gifted project team and a diverse group of advisors to guide the creation of a community cultural and educational facility that serves as a model for green construction and presents an array of interactive exhibits offering visitors an authentic and unparalleled museum experience.
Board of Directors
President
Tommy Head, Goldthwaite — Retired CEO, Mills County State Bank
Vice President
Ramona Flores, Goldthwaite — Retired Officer in Charge, U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service, American Consulate General, Cuidad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico
Secretary
Melissa Sturdivant, Goldthwaite — Soil Conservationist for Mills County Soil and Water Conservation District, American Indian/Alaskan Native Special Emphasis Program Manager for Texas – USDA-NRCS, Enrolled Tribal Member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Treasurer
Elita Witty, EA, Goldthwaite — Witty Business Services, LLC
Executive Director
Janice K. Fischer, Mills County — Retired Elementary and Special Education Educator
Julio Aguilar, Goldthwaite — McMahan Pharmacy; Owner, Local Power-Flite Steam Cleaning Company
Del Barnett, Goldthwaite — Financial Intermediary & Facilitator, GoldCom Holdings and Ventures LLC; Founder & Past Executive Director, New Horizons Ranch and Center, Inc.; Archeology Steward, Texas Archeological Stewardship Network, Texas Historical Commission
Joy Barnett, Goldthwaite — Retired Elementary Education Teacher; Consultant, Creative Memories Company
Thresa Black — Retired Teacher
Phil Duren — Retired Banker
Carol Graves — Owner & Office Manager, Graves Dental Clinic
Margaret Madeley, Conroe — Retired Secondary Education Teacher
Hazel McCoy, Goldthwaite — Retired Chemist; Rancher
Suzanne Doggett Smith, Goldthwaite — Retired Nutritionist and Dietician, Brownwood Hospital
Dean Thorpe — Retired Owner Video Business, Lions Club
Earl Wall, Star — Retired Secondary Education Teacher
Haverde Warner, R.Ph., Goldthwaite — Pharmacist, McMahan Pharmacy
Grayson Wetzel, Goldthwaite — Retired Superintendent, Goldthwaite Independent School District; Realtor
Project Team
Robert Jackson — Jackson and McElhaney Architects, Inc.
Drew Patterson — Exhibit Designer, Drew Patterson Studios
Scooter Cheatham — Landscape Designer and Ethnobotanist, Useful Wild Plants
Tab Ledbetter — Landscaper, Looking Out Design, LLC
Robert Gaeke — Gaeke Construction Company
Architectural Engineers Collaborative — Structural Engineers
Love and Briley Engineering, Inc. — MEP Engineers
Project Advisors
Karen Fort — Senior Exhibit Coordinator, National Museum of the American Indian
Emil Her Many Horses — Curator, National Museum of the American Indian
Dan Potter — Regional Archaeologist, Texas Historical Commission
Dr. Grant Hall — Consulting Archeologist