Leadership

Our team is passionate about creating opportunities for students from historically under-resourced and underserved communities, inspiring them to be trailblazers in the fields of science, research, advancements, and outcomes related to neurological, neurodegenerative, and psychiatric conditions.

Executive Team

Our executive leadership sets the overall strategic direction for WiN, as well as oversees the day-to-day operations—including program implementation and development, fundraising initiatives, and spearheading partnerships with other organizations, institutions, and individuals to support these efforts.

Rebecca Farrell Ewing, PhD

Executive Director and Ex-Officio Board Member

With over twenty years of experience, Rebecca Farrell Ewing, Ph.D., LPCC-S (KY), has dedicated her career to empowering individuals to thrive in their overall health and wellness while honoring their autonomy, purpose, and dignity. Her work is rooted in principles of intersectionality, inclusivity, equity, social justice, and diversity. Dr. Farrell Ewing has held leadership roles in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations, alongside her teaching experience in higher education. Her dedication to mobilizing communities and resources through collaborations, partnerships, and policy reforms is highlighted by her active involvement in various multidisciplinary teams, boards of directors, task forces, and committees.

Valeria Marquez Cardenas

Program Director

Valeria is a recent UT graduate with a degree in neuroscience and a teaching certificate in 7-12th grade Life Sciences. They are a two time alum and current program director for Women in Neuroscience, which provides neuroscience lab experience during the summer for underrepresented communities. Additionally, Valeria has four years of stroke research experience, using software such as ITK-SNAP for lesion tracing (T1 and FLAIR) and Brainsight. They are also familiar with data collection and analysis techniques such as EEG, and TMS, and behavioral testing. In the near future, they will be applying to PhD Neuroscience programs across the United States. They are hoping to continue pursuing their interest in aphasia, and how it affects bilingual vs monolingual populations whether it is in stroke survivors or people with frontotemporal dementia.

Board of Directors

Our board is responsible for providing governance and oversight, including setting policies, approving budgets, and ensuring the organization’s compliance with legal and ethical standards. Additionally, they serve as WiN ambassadors, helping to raise awareness and support for our mission and goals.

Patricia Niekamp

President

Founder of Texas CEO Magazine, the only statewide business publication in Texas. First woman General Manager at two separate broadcast companies; and a Leadership Austin Fellow

Augie Rojas

Vice-President

Lean Lean Six Sigma and Proven Turnaround Expertise Quality Management/Business Process Improvement; Strategic Planning; P&L; Sales Management; CRM; Reengineering; PMO; Diversity & Talent Acquisition/Management; Organizational Development/Redesign & Training; Performance Management; Trilingual: English, Spanish, Portuguese; Top-tier MBA: Kellogg/Northwestern

Judi Nudelman

Founder and Past President

Retired from IBM where she had a 30 year leadership career in Marketing and Management; Founder and Leader of Central Texas CurePSP Support Group; Currently serves as Commissioner on City of Austin Commission on Aging

Mary Abreu, PhD

Board Secretary and Program Advisory Committee Chair

During her 30-year career, Mary held leadership roles across the full spectrum of drug development. Her career path spanned academics (Johns Hopkins University) to government (NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse) to industry (small, medium, and large) to consulting for Industry.

Derek Eckert, CFP

Development Committee Chair

Senior Vice President, Wealth Advisor at Farther; Investment Advisor and Managing Director, Syntropy Wealth Management; Past Board Member, Texas Sierra Club.

Gail Kaplan

Retired, Former Recruiter

At an early age, Gail went to Europe and spent time in Israel at a turkey farm on a South African kibbutz. After returning to Austin and graduating from college, she joined the Peace Corps and spent the next 3 years in Liberia, West Africa teaching high school. Returning to Houston, Gail taught English and after 20 years, entered Legal Recruiting specializing in Patent Attorneys for 35 years. Gail is a volunteer for a plethora of organizations including Planned Parenthood, Women in Neuroscience and various schools. Gail’s husband died in 2016 from complications surrounding a traumatic brain injury.

Micky Marinelli, PhD

Associate Professor of Neuroscience, UT Austin; Associate Professor Department of Neurology, Dell Medical School, WiN Founding Mentor and Lab Host

Michael Hirsch, PhD

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Huston-Tillotson University, Professor of Sociology

Sudhir Sivakumaran, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of the Lewy Body Dementia Association

Translational Neuroscientist; Biomarkers; Cross-functional Leadership; Multi-stakeholder Engagement & Partnerships; Data-driven Evidence Generation; Founder of Apeiron Neuro Consulting; PhD in Neuroscience

TC Waugh

Founder and CEO, Gold 4 Good

With 25+ years of executive leadership in marketing, sales, finance, real estate, and nonprofit management, T.C. has navigated the various fields of advertising planning, production, and execution, marketing strategy and tactics in traditional media (TV, radio, OOH, print, direct mail) as well as digital media (online ads, social media advertising). He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Boston University, a Masters of International Business from Universidad de Belgrano in Argentina, and is a graduate of Leadership Austin’s Essentials Program.

William Schwartz. MD

Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Schwartz has been a member of numerous government committees (e.g., National Institutes of Health, National Space Biomedical Research Institute), and a member of international committees for organizing scientific conferences. His laboratory has been focused on the neural regulation of circadian rhythms in mammals (especially in rodents) for nearly 40 years, supported by the NIH from 1982 – 2014, and encompassing a number of approaches (including metabolic, anatomical, electrophysiological, behavioral, molecular, genetic, and computational techniques). The most recent work is in some new chronobiological areas. Dr. Schwartz’s research has contributed to the development of mathematical and computational models and tools for the analysis of clocks and rhythms, with applications in circadian biology that range from understanding coupled oscillator networks to animal activity rhythms.

Cynthia McGuineas

Point Venture POA/HOA Board of Directors

Accomplished, Paid Media Ad Sales Professional. Served on several non-profit committees from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to Communities in School.