Staff Members

Jennifer Edwards has been leading Central Texas nonprofits for over 20 years, including as Chief Executive Officer or Executive Director at United Way of Williamson County, Literacy Texas (the statewide organization advocating for adult literacy), HeartGift Austin, Down Syndrome Association of Central Texas, and the Christi Center. Her most recent role prior to joining Seedling was as Philanthropy Officer at Austin Wildlife Rescue, where she leaned in on all aspects of fundraising, particularly grassroots giving.  

Jennifer began her career in nonprofits by serving as United Way Greater Austin’s first Community Education Director, where she taught and consulted on a wide variety of nonprofit management topics. Her primary role was to recruit, train, and place citizens on nonprofit boards, with an aim to increase board diversity in all aspects. Her consulting focused on strategic planning, board governance, and fundraising. 

Jennifer’s broad history of serving a diverse group of Central Texas nonprofits has been led by her strong belief in compelling missions…none more than Seedling.  Jennifer was inspired early in her career by the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville in the 1830s and his observations that our American democratic society is strengthened through local engagement, volunteerism, and philanthropy. 

Like many, Jennifer came to Austin to attend the University of Texas and never left.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre & Dance along with various certifications in nonprofit and strategic management. Jennifer has lived many years in South Austin, where she tries to keep up with her gardening and her South Austin Little Free Library.  She is always dreaming about her next travel adventure.  Jennifer is also an award-winning artist and has exhibited nationally: www.jenniferedwardsart.com.  Jennifer is proud of her adult son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren, who bring her joy.

Dan Leal has served in non-profit executive leadership at youth-serving organizations since 2002. Dan became Seedling Foundation’s Executive Director in August 2017 and was named Chief Executive Officer in July 2023. Over the past 7 years, Dan has helped to grow the number of mentors for school-aged children impacted by parental incarceration while increasing the resources available to high school and college mentees. Dan is a proud Seedling mentor to a high school senior who he has been mentoring since his mentee was in 5th grade.

In 2020, Dan served as the Chair of One Voice Central Texas, a membership organization of more than 90 non-profit Executive Directors that seeks to support nonprofit leaders and increase resources for nonprofit health and human services. He currently serves on the Board of the OneStar Foundation, an organization supporting volunteerism, disaster preparedness and nonprofits in Texas.

Prior to Seedling, Dan served as the Executive Director of the Children’s Advocacy Center in Denton County for 15 years. Dan led an organization of 29 staff members and 37 partner agencies to provide justice, safety, and healing for abused children. Dan collaborated with Jenna Quinn and State Representative Tan Parker on the passing of “Jenna’s Law”, which served as the catalyst for Children’s Advocacy Centers in Texas to add education to their service delivery.

Prior to leading the Children’s Advocacy Center, Dan served as the Human Services Coordinator for the City of Denton and was named Public Health Advocate of the Year by the Denton County Health Department. He is also a recipient of the David Fitch Humanitarian Award from the University of North Texas.

Dan and his wife Kirstin live in Bastrop, have two adult sons, and two grandchildren. Dan’s youngest son serves in the United States Air Force.

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Connie joined Seedling with over 20 years of experience working with children and families in the non-profit sector. She worked as a pre-school teacher before spending five years in the Caribbean and Central America as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic and later as CFO and acting Country Director for Global Education Partnership in Guatemala.

She then found her way to Austin where she worked at People’s Community Clinic before spending 12 years honing her skills and expertise in the field of youth mentoring at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas.  Connie has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University and is bilingual in English/Spanish.

At Seedling, Connie enjoys using her years of experience and expertise working with children and youth, and her passion for social justice to support agency growth and continued programmatic excellence. She has been volunteering as a mentor for more than 20 years.  Connie spends her free time with her treasured dog, Harlow.

Ana joined the Seedling team in 2022 as a Mentor Director, following 18 years working as a school social worker. Ana has over 26 years of Social Worker experience and has been employed in a variety of social service settings, including Texas child welfare systems, hospitals, home health agencies, community courts and secondary schools. Ana has a wide range of clinical skills and attended the Texas Christian University Karyn Purvis Institute to become a TBRI practitioner (Trust Based Relational Intervention). TBRI is an attachment-based, trauma-informed intervention designed to meet the complex needs of vulnerable children. Ana is able to disarm the fear-based behaviors in children and is able to conciliate the child.

Over the last 15 years, Ana was employed with the Pflugerville ISD, in Pflugerville, TX. As a school social worker, Ana clinically supported challenging students’ issues, such as, mental health conditions, homelessness, early pregnancy, substance abuse, childhood traumas. She assisted families to navigate through the educational system and access educational supports such as Section 504 and other federal programs for disabled students. Ana has developed programs and resources designed to train educational staff on the integration of LGBTQ initiatives in secondary schools.

Ana is native of the Rio Grande Valley with strong bonds to her Mexican family heritage. She attended Texas State University as a track and field athlete. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from Texas State University and her Master’s Degree in Social Work with a focus on Administration and Supervision. Ana met her husband in San Marcos and together raised three children in Pflugerville, TX. Ana enjoys spending time with her family traveling to the beach and camping. She also enjoys watching movies and continues to engage in sports.

Ana looks forward to making a difference each year, with the youth and adult mentors in the Seedling Mentoring program, offering her expertise around building connections and empowering students.

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Karinna joined Seedling in 2022 after working with Central Texas schools and nonprofits for the past 18 years. As a school social worker, Karinna worked with students and families in crisis and helped advocate for their needs within the school system. Karinna provided short term therapy and group therapy for middle and high school students. In particular, Karinna led a group for middle school students who have an incarcerated parent and grew to understand some of the unique challenges these students face.

She has worked with CASA of Travis County, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas and facilitated a middle school mentoring program while she was a school social worker. She has seen, first hand, how a mentor can impact a student and is incredibly grateful to work with mentors and mentees across Central Texas as a Mentor Director with Seedling.

Karinna earned a BS in Communication Studies, MS in Social Work and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Texas at Austin. She enjoys watching Austin FC, seeing live theater, hiking (when it’s not too hot or too cold), and spending time with her family. You may see her on stage or in a local commercial, as she has not given up on her dream of being a movie star.

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Becky Cardenas-Salinas is honored to have been chosen to be a part of Seedling as an Interviewer. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education from The University of Texas, and a Masters of Education in Counseling from Texas State University. She was employed with Austin ISD as an elementary educator for 17 years and transitioned to an elementary school counselor for 18 additional years. Most of those years, she worked at Dorothy Linder Elementary. During those years, she implemented No Place for Hate which is a bully-free program. It was so successful that the entire district decided to adopt it as well! She earned several honors during her time as a counselor such as Austin Partners in Education Volunteer of the Year, Elementary Counselor of the Year finalist and the CREST award from the Texas Counseling Association for having an exemplary counseling program in 2022. Becoming an educator and a counselor were the best decisions of her life. Becky retired from Austin ISD after 35 years of service. Currently, Becky is a Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor and a Licensed Professional Counselor. 

Becky has lived all her adult life in Austin, Texas. She is a proud wife and mother of 2 adult children and hopes to be with Seedling until she is ready to retire, again.  

Lori joined Seedling after 32 years in Austin ISD.  She began her career teaching in a Special Education Social Behavioral Skills unit working with students with emotional challenges.  The crisis and trauma her students had experienced prompted her to go back to college and earn her Masters degree in Guidance and Counseling.  She spent the last 25 years of her career as a school counselor.  During that time, she provided individual and group counseling to students.  She worked with teachers to help identify students’ emotional struggles, triggers, and needs.  She also worked closely with parents and staff to put systems in place to support students both within and outside of the school setting.

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After working in public education for nearly 20 years, Andrea joined the Seedling team in 2022. She ea her BS degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and her M.Ed in School Counseling from Texas State University. Andrea taught elementary school for five years and worked as a school counselor for 13 years. For two consecutive years, Andrea’s school counseling program was awarded the CREST award (Counselors Reinforcing Excellence for Students in Texas) from the Texas School Counselor Association. Additionally, she has provided mental health support in a variety of capacities including hospice support groups, schools, and private family therapy. She is passionate about fostering belonging and connection and advocates for inclusive, compassionate support for individuals and families from all backgrounds. She is also a Certified Grief Educator, having completed training under grief expert David Kessler.

For the year prior to joining Seedling, Andrea embarked on a solo trip around the globe with nothing more than a backpack and a burning desire to learn about the beautiful world we live in. Through this journey she visited 5 continents, 20 countries, and 86 cities and was gifted an endless amount of self-discovery. This unique opportunity reminded Andrea that she is never done learning. She believes that by leading with an open heart and an open mind we can heal through connection. 

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Sabra joined the Seedling family in 2012 as Trainer and Mentor Director. Her previous work includes over 20 years of experience in Austin non-profits, providing case management and social services to students and their families at all school levels in Austin ISD and Del Valle ISD. She has had the privilege of assisting youth in developing their leadership skills through combatting racism, enhancing empathy, and using their voice for change. Sabra also planned dropout prevention strategies for students, recruited, trained, and supported mentors; and developed her reputation as a skilled trainer for staff and volunteers alike.

Christina Harvey is a fundraising and communications professional with a background in education and nonprofit management. Christina has dedicated her entire professional career to empowering individuals through education and mentoring. She finds immense joy in sharing stories that inspire action and change. Over the course of her career, she has raised more than $7,000,000 for local and national charities as well as Public School Districts.

Prior to focusing on grant writing and non-profit consulting, Christina managed all institutional giving at KIPP Austin Public Schools as Corporate and Foundation Giving Manager, and previously served in a variety of leadership capacities at Breakthrough Silicon Valley, an organization preparing low-income students for the rigors of higher education. At Breakthrough Silicon Valley, Christina successfully established and implemented the infrastructure needed to advance donor relationships through the cultivation and stewardship process while representing the organization publicly to major donors, corporate partners, and foundation leaders. She began her non-profit career at Reading Partners, an early literacy non-profit organization.

Christina graduated from Villanova University with a M.A. in Hispanic Studies, a B.A. in Political Science, and a B.A. in Spanish Language and Literature. As a life-long learner and explorer, you can be sure to find Christina and her two young children getting lost in a book or the streets of Austin!

Before taking on her current role as Donor Relations & Communications Coordinator, Celeste joined the Seedling team as a Social Media Intern in June 2021. Celeste received her B.A. in Journalism and Minor in Sports Media from the University of Texas at Austin. Throughout college, she worked as a Social Media Intern for SB Nation’s Pounding the Rock and BettorOff Sports, a Senior Writer for Stella & Violette Boutique and the Editor-In-Chief of her university’s satirical paper. Celeste continues to do sports coverage with SB Nation’s Pounding the Rock, as well as contract work with a number of companies to develop her marketing and communications skills.

Her passion for youth development is heavily influenced by her parents, her childhood dance instructors and her own work as a part-time dance instructor. Her various experiences have provided her with a diverse skill set, while allowing her to explore her passions. When she’s not working, Celeste loves to dance, root for her favorite sports teams (the San Antonio Spurs and the Texas Longhorns) and spend time with her friends and family.