2012-2013 Board

IABC/Austin Board of Directors 2012-2013

Bonnie Caver, President
Bonnie Caver, a 20-year communication veteran, leads Caver Public Relations, a virtual strategic communication and reputation management firm in Austin, Texas. Caver Public Relations has a diverse client base, focused primarily on mid-level companies who are experiencing rapid growth. Her firm fuses social communication with traditional communication to provide storytelling at every touchpoint, while activating brands to guide reputations. She is a Certified Crisis Manager from the Institute of Crisis Management and is one of 25 communicators in the world to hold an advanced certified in reputation management through the Reputation Institute. She is an award-winner communicator, who has also served IABC at the regional level as a Chapter Services Director for Texas. Caver enjoys the role of mentor for young communication professionals and is a frequent speaker on both traditional and social communication topics.

Bonnie Anderson, President Elect
Bonnie has over 20 years of experience with corporate and government communications and operations. Currently she works on initiatives and communications for a vice-chairman at Deloitte in Markets & Offerings. Prior to her current position, she led Merger & Acquisition Services communications for the Managing Partner of M&A and the CEO of the Tax function. Before joining Deloitte, Bonnie spent over 18 years with Accenture working in communications, PR, branding, and marketing, where she led marketing and communications efforts for Accenture HR Services, as well as communications for Technology Consulting, Global Alliances, and a joint venture between Accenture and Cisco. During her tenure at Accenture, Bonnie also spent over 12 years in client service, working on M&A and outsourcing deals for some of Accenture’s biggest clients including AT&T, State of Texas, Sithe Energies, Inc., Visteon, and ETS. While she concentrated on human capital and communications during these client assignments, a sample of her additional responsibilities includes transition readiness (Day 1 go-live) and transformation services, set up help desks internationally, negotiated service level agreements, organized complex client events, and developed outsourcing methodologies. She started her career with Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting, developing classroom and computer-based training at Andersen’s former training facility in St. Charles, Illinois. Bonnie has expertise in strategic communications, stakeholder analyses, crisis communications, and in human capital efforts as they relate to people transfers as a result of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, or outsourcing. She holds a Master of Arts in Communications and a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Northern Illinois University.

Ellen Terry, Vice President of Administration
Ellen Terry is a marketing communications manager at the Texas Medical Association, a position she has held for more than 10 years. Prior to that, she was communication director for the Texas Propane Gas Association for 10 years. Ellen has been an IABC member since 1987 and has served on the board in several capacities. She also handled finances for the IABC District 5 Conference in 2003 and for the Southern Region Silver Quill competition in 2006. Ellen received an IABC/Austin President’s Award in 2005 and 2007. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Texas State University.

Debra Danziger, Co-Vice President of Communications
Debra Danziger has 14 years of experience in integrated marketing communications and currently serves as the director of marketing for OnRamp Access. Prior to OnRamp, Debra was the regional marketing director for ESPN Radio and marketing director for Goodwill Industries of Central Texas. During the course of her career, she has been recognized for her work by PRINT and HOW magazines, the American Advertising Federation (ADDY), IABC (Gold Quill), the International Academy of Visual Arts (Communicator Awards) and the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (Marcom Awards).  An IABC/Austin member since 1998, Debra previously served as the chapter’s brand champion. Debra earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Ellen Vander Linden, Co-Vice President of Communications
Ellen Vander Linden has more than 12 years of experience in corporate communications and marketing communications. Prior to founding Spark, her communications consulting business, Ellen spent nine years with consumer-electronics retailer Best Buy where she focused on internal communications for the company’s 150,000 employees. Recent efforts to develop a High Reliability Campaign and Culture Shift with Seton Healthcare Family earned her a 2011 Bronze Quill Award in Communication Management. Specializing in strategic communication planning and key message development, Ellen works with medium to large businesses who want to increase employee engagement and speed adoption of desired behaviors. Ellen served as Vice President of Finance for the Austin chapter of IABC in 2010-2011 and has been a member of the organization since 2009. She is also an active member of the marketing committee for Jeremiah Program, a non-profit bringing their framework for economic empowerment to single mothers in Austin.

Camille Kimbro, Vice President of Finance
Camille Kimbro is Technical Writer at national frozen food company, Michael Angelo’s Gourmet Foods, Inc., in Austin. She specializes in process descriptions, standard operating procedures, custom manuals for manufacturing equipment, and custom software user’s guides for the company’s ERP system and other applications. Before moving to Austin, Camille was a technical writer at Mission Pharmacal Company in San Antonio. She has a B.A. in English from Texas Tech University.

Kristin Abraham, Co-Vice President of Membership
Kristin is a senior communications professional with broad experience that includes corporate and employee communications. In recent roles, she has been commended for strengthening executive management communications, creating innovative employee communication programs, and garnering positive PR. She is an Accredited Business Communicator (ABC) and has won multiple industry awards for annual report writing and design. Kristin recently relocated to Austin from Vancouver, BC, where she was active in the British Columbia chapter, one of the North America’s largest. She has been a Bronze Quill and Gold Quill judge, presented at the Western Canada regional conference in 2011, and was eager to get involved with IABC Austin in order to meet other enthusiastic members and to help strengthen the chapter. She has a B.A. in English and Political Science from the University of Washington.

Lynne Lightsey, Co-Vice President of Membership
Lynne Lightsey is the Public Information Manager for the City of Austin, Watershed Protection Department. She has been active in the public information field with the City of Austin since 1982 and has managed the media relations and marketing for several other departments. She is a Past President of IABC/Austin and has been on the Board of Directors off and on for several years. She has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Georgia and a Master of Arts from the University of Texas.

Joe Gimenez, VP of Programming
Joseph Gimenez III formed g3 Public Relations in August 2007 to assist quasi-governmental organizations with his experience in public affairs and software and consulting companies with his expertise in the energy vertical. Gimenez accomplishes his clients’ goals through media relations execution and the development of Web sites, blogs, press releases, solution data sheets, whitepapers, surveys, published article thought leadership, product and project announcements. Current and previous software and consultancy companies include Capgemini, Sapient, RiskAdvisory, SAS and Microsoft. Current and previous quasi-governmental clients include the Texas Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems, Texans for Secure Retirement, the Montgomery County Hospital District, the Cities Aggregation Power Project, Bajagua, and the Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund. Before forming g3, Gimenez worked for the international public relations agency GCI Group as its Director of Texas Public Affairs. In that capacity Gimenez helped his client Capgemini launch the University of Houston’s Global Energy Management Institute in 2002. He structured a complete public affairs campaign for the Cities Aggregation Power Project to secure lower electricity prices for towns across Texas. He assisted the Montgomery County Hospital District secure county funding for additional medical facilities in the fastest growing county in the U.S. Gimenez is active in community activities as Board president for the Lake Hills Community Association in his neighborhood. 

Joel Nihlean, VP Technology & Social Media
 Joel Nihlean is the Marketing & Communications Manager for the Texas Apartment Association. He develops, implements and maintains the association’s communications, marketing programs, e-communication vehicles and social media messaging. He also has done freelance work for BookPeople, Chaos In Tejas, Austin Public Library Friends Foundation, Austin Teen Book Festival, Meeting Planners International (MPI) Texas Hill Country Chapter, International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) Central Texas Chapter, and many others. Prior to TAA, Joel worked on healthcare reform for the American Cancer Society, gathering stories from patients who “fell through the cracks” for use in reform advocacy efforts. He has also worked in the marketing department of local independent bookstore, BookPeople, where he was the liaison between traveling authors and the public during book signings. He has put in time as the literary editor for local entertainment website Austinist and helps moderate two monthly book groups. Joel earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.