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Sally Alvis retired as Senior Director of Marketing and Community Relations for Brookshire Brothers, a regional grocer based in Lufkin, Texas. Prior work experience includes co-owner of AinsworthAlvis, LLC, a marketing and non-profit development firm, Director of Development and Community Relations for St. Cyprian’s Episcopal School, Executive Director of the Nacogdoches Convention and Visitors Bureau and Jasper Chamber of Commerce, and Anchor, Reporter and Producer for KFDM-TV in Beaumont.

Ms. Alvis currently serves as chair of the Brookshire Brothers Charitable Foundation and co-chair of Lufkin Creative, an arts non-profit seeking a state Cultural District designation for Lufkin. Other non-profit leadership roles include Angelina Arts Alliance (Past Chair), Kurth Memorial Library (Past Chair), Lufkin Education Foundation (Founding Board member), Lufkin Convention and Visitors Bureau, St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church Vestry, United Way of Angelina County, Deep East Texas Development Association (now Texas Forest Country Partnership), Junior League of Beaumont (Executive Committee and Board), Hospice of Southeast Texas, and Symphony of Southeast Texas.

A graduate of The University of Texas at Austin and a lifelong storyteller, Sally has taken classes in non-profit leadership at the James Baker Institute at Rice University. She is an adjunct instructor at Angelina College's non-profit Leadership Center and co-teaches Leading Edge for emerging community leaders with her husband Max.  They are the parents of two grown daughters and a son-in-law who bring great joy and constant inspiration.

Joe Ceasar is founder and CEO of Legacy Institute for Financial Education (LIFE), where he is responsible for the development of the organization’s curriculum, fundraising, and instructing the organization’s student body and client base. LIFE is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, non-profit organization, whose mission is to teach financial literacy, create economic stability, and build generational wealth. LIFE operates LIFE Tech, LIFE Build, LIFE Empowerment Fund, Lufkin Urban Garden & Market, Wazo Project, and Legacy Institute’s Financial Opportunity. Within LIFE, Joe and his wife, Allanah, provide financial empowerment to the most vulnerable members of our community with knowledge, experience and resources. Joe and Allanah moved to Lufkin in 2014 for Joe to serve as the Minister of the Lubbock Street Church of Christ.

Previously, Mr. Ceasar served as Small Business Advisor for the Small Business Development Center at Angelina College, where he consulted with start-ups and growing businesses in the North Lufkin community. His past experience includes investment work as Portfolio Manager for Semita Asset Management in Houston, where he managed a $100 million portfolio, COO for CAZ Investments, where he was instrumental in the development and implementation of the equity-based strategies and options overlays, Off-Site Construction Manager for Lennar Corp, and Financial Advisor and Wealth Management Consultant for several large financial institutions.

Mr. Ceasar earned a B.S. in Political Science (American Politics) from the United States Military Academy at West Point and his MBA from the University of Houston’s Bauer College of Business with a concentration in Finance. His military experience includes First Lieutenant, Air Defense Artillery, US Army where he served as Battery Executive Officer, supervising 50 personnel. He was second in command of a 195 soldier PATRIOT Missile Battery with a worldwide contingency mission. He was deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom and awarded the Bronze Star Medal for distinguished service while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Mr. Ceasar has served on the boards of Habitat for Humanity – Angelina County, Angelina County Citizens Chamber of Commerce, Lufkin Adult Learning Center, Angelina Arts Alliance, the Planning and Zoning Committee for the City of Lufkin and was recently elected to the Lufkin ISD School Board. He is also a member of the Concerned Black Men of Lufkin, Inc.

Martha Hernandez is Director of Health Equity & Special Programs at Angelina County & Cities Health District. She has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Stephen F. Austin State University and 31 years’ experience in banking as a consumer banker and mortgage lender. She has served on the boards of the Boys & Girls Clubs of East Texas, the United Way of Angelina County, the Housing Authority of Diboll, Angelina Beautiful/Clean, the Advisory Board of St. Patrick Catholic School, finance board of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, the Katherine Sage Temple Child Care Center, the Family Crisis Center, Woodland Heights Medical Center, Booster President of the LHS Soccer Program, Treasurer of the Angelina Arts Alliance, and Commissioner of the Texas Conduct Commission. She is the 2013 recipient of the Athena Leadership Award from the Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce. Each year the Athena Leadership Award is presented to a woman who embraces professional excellence, community service and for actively assisting women in their attainment of professional excellence and leadership skills.

Chris Johnson is a graduate of Lufkin High School and Texas A&M University, where he received his degree in Business Administration. His company, GVCS Inc., is a Whataburger franchisee, operating 13 units that surround Lufkin in East Texas, as well as 7 units (and growing) in Louisiana.

Chris considers it an honor to give back to the community that has been such a huge part of his life. He is a graduate of Leadership Lufkin and has served on the Executive Board of the Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce, the LISD Education Foundation board, and is a past President of the Whataburger Franchise Association.

He and his wife, Micki – a fellow Lufkin High graduate – have three children and are thrilled to be working and raising a family in their hometown.

Heather Kartye joined the Angelina College Nonprofit Leadership Center in April 2023 and assumed the role of Director in September of the same year. She has over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector.

Heather is a former Executive Director of the Janelle Grum Family Crisis Center of East Texas, which is a nonprofit organization that assists survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. During her ten-year tenure, the Family Crisis Center experienced tremendous growth and expansion through its programs, financial sustainability, and infrastructure. While at the agency, Heather provided oversight to over 60 employees and managed a $3.5 million budget funded by state and federal grants, thrift store sales, and community support.

Before her time with the Family Crisis Center, Heather worked three years for YGM, a consulting firm that specializes in membership and sponsorship campaigns for Chambers of Commerce throughout the country. Prior to that, she was employed with the Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce in several capacities during her seven-year tenure.

Heather received her Bachelor of Science degree from Stephen F. Austin State University. She holds a Certificate in Nonprofit Organization Management from the Institute for Organization Management. This is a four-year, 96-hour, professional development program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Heather is also the 2021 recipient of the Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce’s Athena Leadership Award.

Heather currently volunteers locally with her church (Carpenter’s Way), Deep East Texas Crime Stoppers, Harold’s House, Angelina County United Way, DETCOG Criminal Justice Advisory Committee, CPS Regional Child Death Review Team, and the State Bar of Texas Grievance Committee. She has been married to her husband, Brent, for 24 years and together they have two children, Creed and Carsyn. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, cooking, reading, working out, and gardening.

Ghazala Khan is a true student of the world, having completed high school in Ontario, Canada. After being awarded the Governor's Ontario Scholarship and Bachelor of Science Scholarship awards during her undergraduate years, Dr. Khan graduated from Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan with a bachelor of medicine and surgery and received additional medical training in both Pakistan and the United Kingdom. She then completed a pediatric residency at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, followed by a three year pediatric critical care fellowship at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, Texas. She is a US citizen.

Since 1997, Dr. Khan has worked as a pediatrician in medically underserved areas in East Texas. She joined the staff of The Children’s Clinic in 2003, where she works primarily in Lufkin, but also provides coverage to their peripheral clinics in Woodville, Rusk, Trinity and Jasper.

She has volunteered with the Angelina County Adoption Agency, the Lufkin Education Foundation board, and the Deerfield sub-section of Crown Colony.

Kevin Langston currently serves as the President and CEO of Langston Construction, Inc. a second generation family owned commercial construction company. Kevin joined his father in 1994 after graduating from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. In 2010, Mr Langston assumed the role of President and CEO, taking over for his father. Mr. Langston leads a team of 20 professionals working throughout Texas and Louisiana providing, design/build, construction management, and general contracting services to a wide array of clientele building churches, grocery stores, schools, apartment complexes, hotels, and more.

In addition to serving as President and CEO of Langston Construction, Mr. Langston also serves as President of Langston Industrial Group, LLC, (LIG) a highly specialized concrete company serving the needs of industrial clients throughout Texas and Louisiana.

Like his father, Kevin has a passion for real estate development. In his career, Mr. Langston has co-developed approximately 780 hotel rooms, over 250 multi-family units, 30 or more single family homes, and numerous standalone buildings all totaling a little more than 1,150,000 square feet.

Kevin has a Bachelor of Arts from Baylor University. In 2011, Mr. Langston earned his Master of Business Administration from Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business, graduating with honors in less than two years while maintaining his full time job responsibilities.

He has served on numerous boards, including the Salvation Army Advisory Board, United Way of Angelina County, St. Cyprian's Episcopal School Board of Trustees, Past President of the Lufkin Host Lions Club, Chairman of Z&OO Railroad, President of the Rodeo Association, and Lion’s Club Board, Chairman of the Small Business Development Council, and Chairman of the Lufkin Economic Development Partnership.

Mr. Langston has been married to Allyson Langston for 27 years and they have three children, Luke, Lilly Grace, and Lucy. Kevin enjoys spending time with his family, especially in the outdoors. He also enjoys hunting, fishing, traveling, and plays golf on rare occasions. He and his family are members of First Baptist Church, Lufkin, where he is active in the youth program and serves on numerous committees.

Betsy Mijares is a Lufkin native and graduated from Lufkin High School in 2001. She attended Sam Houston State University, graduating in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice with minors in English and Spanish. She then entered the Post Baccalaureate Initial Certification (PBIC) program at Stephen F. Austin State University, obtaining her teaching certification. Dr. Mijares continued her education at SFASU to receive her Master in Secondary Education and principal certification in 2009. Years later, she pursued her Doctorate in Educational Leadership and received her superintendent certification in 2017.

Dr. Mijares is a homegrown educator with 18 years of experience in education. She began her career as an 8th grade Reading/Language Arts teacher in 2005 at Lufkin Middle School and worked there for 7 years. She served as an assistant principal at Burley Primary for almost two years and then served as principal of Burley Primary for 7 years. Dr. Mijares is also an adjunct professor for the Educational Leadership Department at Sam Houston State University. She is currently the Director of Bilingual/ESL programs for Lufkin ISD.

She is actively involved in the community as a board member of the Communities Cinco de Mayo, East Texas Cancer Alliance of Hope, and Boys and Girls Club of East Texas. Dr. Mijares is committed to be an advocate for students and to assist others in our local community. She is married to Andres Mijares and they share two children.

Sid Roberts is an Eagle Scout, a graduate of Rice University and received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas where he also did his internship and radiation oncology residency. He is board-certified in both Radiation Oncology and Hospice & Palliative Medicine. He has been in practice as a radiation oncologist in Lufkin at the Temple Cancer Center at CHI St. Luke’s Health Memorial since 1992. He is also a long time medical director for Hospice in the Pines.

Dr. Roberts has served on numerous boards throughout the community, including Memorial Health System of East Texas, where he also served as President of the Medical Staff; the Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce, Angelina Arts Alliance, St. Cyprian’s School, the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas (chairing the Theological Education Council), and the High Plains Division board of the American Cancer Society. He serves on the Angelina College Board of Trustees. He is active in Lufkin's First Baptist Church, where he is a deacon and can often be found playing piano or keyboards. He has written a monthly column for the Lufkin News since 2013, using that sounding board to address many diverse healthcare-related topics.

Dr. Roberts has received numerous other awards, including Leadership Lufkin’s Butch McMullen Silver Spike Award for distinguished community service, the American Cancer Society St. George National Award, the American Cancer Society Lifetime Achievement Award, the Lufkin/Angelina County Chamber of Commerce Healthcare Professional of the Year award, the KSWP/KAVX Philanthropist of the Year Community Impact Award, and the Texas Medical Association’s Anson Jones Award for Physician Excellence in Reporting. He has been selected by his peers to the Texas SuperDoctors® list every year since 2015. Dr. Roberts has been president of the Texas Radiological Society and received their Gold Medal in 2018.

He is married to Catherine and has three grown daughters: Liz and Nick Horsmon, Hannah Roberts, and Phoebe Roberts.

Daniel Spikes was born and raised in Lufkin, Texas, where his parents Pastor Willie Spikes, Sr. and Charlotte Spikes still reside. After graduating from Lufkin High School in 1996, he attended The University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin) and earned a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English. He returned to Lufkin, Texas and taught 7th grade English/Language Arts at Lufkin Middle School and served as an assistant principal at Lufkin High School after earning his Masters of Educational Leadership at Stephen F. Austin State University.

After seven years at LISD, he decided to return to UT-Austin to pursue his doctorate. While pursuing his degree, he served as a Graduate Assistant in various departments throughout the university and later worked full time as the Assistant Director for Pre-College Academic Readiness Programs, and as the District Site Coordinator for the federally funded Principalship Program at UT-Austin. He graduated from UT-Austin in August of 2014, with a Ph.D. in Educational Administration, focusing on Educational Policy and Planning.

After graduation, he served as a tenure-track faculty member in the Department of Educational Leadership, Organizations and Policy at Iowa State University (ISU) for four years. In this role, he helped prepare future P-12 principals, superintendents, university education faculty and P-12 educational policy makers. His research interests focused on racial disparities in educational outcomes and the policies and practices of school districts, schools, and school leaders that serve to perpetuate and/or ameliorate these disparities. He also focused on the professional development of adult learners on critical consciousness and how this development contributes to the improvement of educational experiences and outcomes for all students. After his four years at ISU, he was extended an opportunity to serve in the same capacity at the University of South Carolina (UofSC) and served there for two years before returning home to Lufkin, Texas in the spring of 2020.

He is now in his third year as the Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services for the Lufkin Independent School District and is also an adjunct professor for Baylor University.

Daniel Spikes is the proud husband of Garisa Spikes and the proud father of three beautiful daughters: Madeline, Hannah, and Gabriella.

Nancy Windham is President & CEO of the Texas Forest Country Partnership (TFCP), a 12-county economic development organization whose mission is to enrich the economic and well-being of rural East Texas through marketing, business development and advocacy. She is responsible for leading the organization’s economic development efforts by managing the relationships with alliances and partners serving the Texas Forest Region for new and expanding business opportunities, infrastructure projects, site selection, incentive negotiations, workforce development and available land sites. The focus of the TFCP is in the areas of Advanced Manufacturing, Forest & Wood Products, Healthcare and Tourism.

Nancy has worked in the economic development profession for more than 37 years and has held several leadership positions throughout Texas and the United States. She managed the Texas Economic Development Council and was the Executive Director for the Southern Economic Development Council, a 17-state economic development organization in the Southeast US.  Before joining the TFCP, she led the Nacogdoches and Lufkin EDCs and was the Vice President of the Frisco EDC for 10 years. She traveled in the US and abroad promoting Texas with the Governor’s Office TexasOne Program. Earlier in her career, she led special projects for the East Texas Regional Chamber, the Texas Department of Commerce in Austin and the US Southwest Intelligence Division for Lockwood Greene.

Governor Greg Abbott appointed Nancy to the Texas Economic Development Corporation where she served as Secretary, to the Podiatric Medical Examiners Advisory Board and recently, to the Board of Regents for the Stephen F. Austin State University. Nancy serves on the Executive Committee of the Texas Rural Practitioners, a statewide team of regional organizations promoting and supporting rural Texas and is a Board member of the Texas Forest Trail Region.  She attended Stephen F. Austin State University and graduated from the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma. Her studies also include Basic Industrial Development at Texas A&M University. Nancy lives in Nacogdoches, Texas and is a lifetime member of the Nacogdoches County Chamber of Commerce and the Texas Economic Development Council. She is a “Fellow” with the Industrial Asset Management Council. She is highlighted in a book, “Texas Women, Trailblazers, Shining Stars and Cowgirls”, a publication of portraits of Lone Star Ladies.