March 02, 2015 - Member Spotlight
Barbara Ellis is a woman who revels in the connections she makes between people and it shows!
We caught up with Barbara recently and asked her who introduced her to Impact Austin, and what caused her to join.
“I met Glenda Holmstrom around 2005. We spoke briefly and then she had to run off to an Impact Austin (IA) meeting. I asked what IA was. She paused to give me a brief description, and then off she went! In 2006, a friend of Nancy Word’s invited me to a membership coffee at Nancy’s home. I walked in and Glenda was the first person I saw! I knew then I would join. I had just finalized my divorce and I knew it was time to start some new and different good things. I was taken by the way IA allowed me to pool my money with other women to really make a difference through the projects we funded.”
What kind of work have you done in your Impact Austin membership?
“I served on Focus Area Committees (FACs) for the first four years. I think that FAC work was very important in establishing my connection with IA. I saw how the process worked. I learned about different non-profits in our community. I met smart, funny, interesting and generous women and they became very important to me in those early years of renewed singlehood. I realized that I had a lot to contribute.”
“I briefly served as the Membership Chair, but prefer to help the organization grow through reaching out and informally telling the IA story to potential new members. I have hosted several coffees where many women joined. I spoke at member recruitment events and helped recruit Discovery Day speakers. I also worked with a group that focused on efforts to orient new members to IA so that they were not overwhelmed by the process. I hope to serve on an FAC this year to stay connected to the fundamentals of IA.”
In her professional life, Barbara is a trial lawyer. She went to law school when she was forty and graduated from Texas Tech law school in Lubbock. Barbara has practiced law in Austin for twenty years. She is presently Of Counsel with Locke Lord LLP, an International law firm, and is a member of the nine person Board of Law Examiners; the state board that oversees the licensing of new lawyers in Texas.
Barbara is very involved with many other nonprofits and pro bono work. Here are just a few highlights!
She was awarded the David H. Walter Community Excellence Award by the Austin Bar Foundation in January, 2015; the highest award given by the Board of Directors to an Austin Bar member who has made a significant impact in the community, while also raising the profile of the profession. Earlier last year, she was awarded the 2014 Pro Bono Award from the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association and the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Foundation in recognition of her efforts.
She has worked for nearly twenty years with Volunteer Legal Services (VLS) of Central Texas – a nonprofit providing legal services to abuse victims, the disabled and those living in poverty – serving on the board of directors in various capacities, including president. Barbara has represented many clients in pro bono family law cases and additionally, she played a key role in bringing the Jeremiah Program – a nonprofit that provides housing and educational support for low-income single mothers and their children – to Austin and has been involved with the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Program (Chair in 2011) and the Austin Heart Walk.
We asked Barbara to share a little about her family.
“In 2010, I met my significant other and love of my life, Alex McAlmon. My daughter, Lesley Ellis, age 33, lives in San Francisco and works in management for a west coast bakery chain, SusieCakes. My 26 year old son Geoff Ellis lives in Austin and is finishing a nutrition degree at Texas State University in San Marcos. With his girlfriend Matti, he runs Mum Foods, which caters and sells locally sourced products at our farmers’ markets. Two kids in the food business and a mom who does not cook!”
What is your favorite thing about Impact Austin?
“My favorite thing has been sharing the IA story with so many friends, many of whom went on to join and they have shared my enthusiasm! I have realized that not everyone shares my views about which projects we should support, but that the process works because we all respect each other and we respect the process. I make many individual smaller contributions to non-profits but none is as meaningful as the contribution I make to IA because I have a say-so in how the money gets used.”
What more would you like to share with fellow and future members of Impact Austin?
“One of my favorite books is “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference,” by Malcolm Gladwell. Gladwell talks about the "80/20 Principle” or the idea that in any situation roughly 80 percent of the 'work' will be done by 20 percent of the participants. He discusses the ideas of mavens, connectors and salesmen. I think I am one of the 20% and I am a little bit of those three types. I love introducing people to one another so that new ties are made and new possibilities can develop. I love sharing restaurant suggestions, doctors, friends, realtors, you name it. If I have had good luck with a service or a product, I want others to know it. I get a lot of joy in life by filling these roles.”
