Sue has been involved in literacy initiatives for decades, including starting & funding the Tarrant Literacy Coalition.  Before retirement, Sue was the Vice President for Information Services and Manager of the Income Council for the United Way of Tarrant County. She managed the Earn Well initiative which, among other things, improves the financial stability of low income working families. In addition to her 10 years at Literacy Connexus, her extensive board service has included Literacy Texas, KERA Community Advisory Board, North Texas Master Naturalists, Women’s Policy Forum, Tarrant County emergency Food and Shelter Program, North Texas Asset Funders, and Strong Families Coalition.

Brent has over 30 years in public education, where he has served as teacher, principal, and recently Director of Human Resources. As a principal, Brent served a bilingual campus in the Lake Worth ISD and assisted in the district’s organization of Adult ESL classes for the community. Brent also volunteered as the accompanist for Chapel Choir (youth) at Broadway Baptist Church and sponsored mission tours for 25 years across America, Canada, and the UK.

Jacob lives in Fort Worth, Texas, and is the Vice President/CFO of The Nelrod Company, a national affordable housing consulting firm.  Working in partnerships with thousands of housing agencies across the nation, he understands the importance of literacy and how it directly affects communities.  He brings over 28 years of management and financial experience to his Treasurer position on the board.  Jacob is honored to have served on the board of Literacy Connexus since 2022. 

Linda received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin in Sociology and her M E.D. at Texas Tech University with teaching certificates in Elementary, Early Childhood, and Early Childhood-Handicapped. She’s been teaching literacy ever since. Currently, Linda works with Joan Grigsby in our program LEARN for Life teaching adults to read.  She has four individual tutoring students and works on curriculum and tutor training in the program.At the same time, she still teaches in the Tarrant County Adult Education and Literacy Consortium. She has taught reading and English language arts at every level of education.

Gerald lives in Arlington, Texas, and is Branch Manager for Scholastic Books. Gerald Arredondo is new to DFW; he grew up in Lubbock, Texas. He is the Operations Manager for DFW area with Scholastic Book Fairs. Gerald is a former President of the Lubbock Boys and Girls Club, and past member of Literacy of Lubbock. He has been a member of youth sports Baseball, Softball, Football, and Wrestling. He is also a member of St. Vincents’s De Paul and the Knights of Columbus.

Julie currently serves as the Director for Major Gifts for the Community Foundation of West Texas. She writes, “I am a native Lubbock girl who moved away as soon as I could and came back when I came to my senses! Fundraising, promotion, marketing, advertising, publishing, podcasting, and a little writing have paid the bills for the last 40 years in one way or another. Mostly another. I’ve only felt like I ever had 2 actual jobs because the rest of the time I’ve been so grateful to earn a living doing what I love. My extended family brings me great joy and, while too many of the people I love dearly are far, far away, I collect friends all over and see no reason to stop any time soon.”