Austin, TX // Austin Tech Alliance (ATA), a nonpartisan nonprofit building a culture of civic engagement in Austin’s tech sector, is pleased to welcome six new advisory board members. We are grateful for the knowledge and unique background that each individual will bring to their role. “The new advisory board members will help further ATA’s vision of forging productive relationships between the tech community and policymakers,” said Sarah Ortiz Shields, executive director of ATA.
We are pleased to welcome:
Erin Burget: Erin is a Director of External & Legislative Affairs at AT&T where she manages Government and Community Relations in Austin on behalf of the company. In her role, Erin works to ensure that the right public policies are in place so that AT&T can provide the best service possible in telecommunications and entertainment. Additionally, Erin works to continue the company’s commitment to philanthropy by engaging in local efforts that give back to the Austin community.
Liz Coufal: Liz is passionate about social impact, beginning her career at a climate justice nonprofit before entering Austin’s tech industry in 2015. After helping build Capital Factory’s startup community, Liz left to join a Data Science & Strategy Firm, Valkyrie Intelligence, in 2018. When she’s not connecting businesses to cutting edge machine learning, she’s throwing parties for people to meet their political candidates under her civic activation nonprofit, GoodPolitics. She is an active board member of Legacy Collective, a donor-advised giving fund dedicated to funding sustainable solutions to systematic problems.
Matt Glazer: Matt is a native Texan with fifteen years of experience in the nonprofit community and another ten in consulting and startups. Matt started his career in political campaigns. He worked across the country, working at every level of government from the courthouse to White House in over 20 cities. Matt spent seven years as a nonprofit Executive Director and launched Progress Texas, the Texas affiliate of ProgressNow, and served as the ED of the Austin Young Chamber of Commerce. Most recently, he was the Regional General Manager for WeWork in Central Texas and launched Blue Sky Partners. He also serves as a Senior Consultant Mission Capital to support regional nonprofits and increase their capacity.
Heather Lewis: Heather’s career is focused at the intersection of technology, entrepreneurship, and policy, most recently at Austin-based legal tech firm DISCO and Rover.com. Outside of work, she serves on the Marketplace Risk Advisory Board, providing strategic guidance to the US and UK-based gig economy companies and as an Advisor to the Chancellor of Western Governors University Advisory Board. She is also the past Chair of the City of Seattle’s Community Technology Advisory Board (CTAB), which advises the Seattle Mayor and City Council on technology-related matters of public interest.
Tori Moreland: Tori is an award-winning political consultant who designs tech solutions for political problems through her firm, Moreland Consulting. Tori has worked on campaigns large and small — from city council to president — and with big-name clients such as TX Senator Ted Cruz and “Shark Tank” investor, Kevin O’Leary. She leads the Austin chapter of America’s Future Foundation and serves as the VP of Events for the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Liberty Leadership Council.
Elisa Sepulveda: Elisa believes that investing in people is the best way to build strong communities. She is an award-winning diversity champion who empowers women and people of color to improve their economic outcomes through entrepreneurship and technology. Elisa combines her passion for people and technology as the Director of Strategy for Alliance Abroad, bringing talented people to work in the US. She is also a local Director of Founder Institute Austin, where she helps entrepreneurs build companies from the ground up. Elisa has worked at the intersection of technology, education, policy, and community for the last ten years with IBM, CognitiveScale, Galvanize, and the Riveter. Elisa is a social innovation fellow with Notley Ventures who spends her free time with her horse Watson and miniature schnauzer, Lola Potato.
Learn about ATA’s larger advisory board and more at austintech.org. ATA focuses on helping every tech employee cast an informed vote and using tech as a tool to tackle our community’s most pressing challenges.
As a member-based nonprofit, ATA has membership options for both individuals as well as companies. ATA includes over 70 civically engaged companies that are up a cross-section of leading tech organizations, including AT&T, Capital Factory, Dell, Facebook, Google, Lyft, RetailMeNot, Silicon Labs, SXSW, Uber, WP Engine, and others.
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