directors + advisors

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Elizabeth (Betsy) A. Healy
President

Ms. Healy was instrumental in founding Human Rights Initiative in 1999, and served as Executive Director for the organization until November 2005. Betsy remains firmly committed to the agency's mission and now leads the Board of Directors. Prior to her years with HRI, she was an associate with Cowles & Thompson, PC. She also completed a judicial clerkship at the Dallas Court of Appeals.

Betsy is currently a Program Officer with the Harold Simmons Foundation, Dallas, TX

Jay M. Vogelson
Vice President

Mr. Vogelson is a Dallas lawyer with Stutzman, Bromberg, Esserman & Plifka, P.C. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a former board member of the Dallas Committee on Foreign Relations, and has represented the American Bar Association at the United Nations and serves on the United States Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on International Law. He formerly was chairman of the ABA's Standing Committee on World Order Law and its International Law Section. He is on the adjunct faculty of SMU's Dedman School of Law, teaching public international law. He has served in other federal and state government positions.

Robert D. Graham
Director

Mr. Graham is a Vice President of Contran Corporation. In his current position, Mr. Graham has responsibility for legal and other matters for certain companies within the Contran organization, including serving as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Kronos Worldwide, Inc. and Vice President and General Counsel of NL Industries, Inc. Mr. Graham previously was a member of the Board of Directors, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Software Spectrum, Inc., a global business software and technical services provider. Prior thereto, Mr Graham was a partner with Locke Purnell Rain Harrell in Dallas concentrating on corporate and securities law. Mr. Graham is the recipient of the 2008 Robert H. Dedman Award For Ethics and Law from the Texas General Counsel Forum.

Stephanie Erwin Hunt
Director

A native of Dallas, Texas, Stephanie Hunt attended the University of Texas at Austin, graduating in 1990 with a BBA in Finance. After graduation, Hunt studied at Sotheby's in London and subsequently worked in the Dallas office. Two years later, Hunt joined the energy research group of the investment bank Wasserstein Perella, continuing her financial work until 1997. She then moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming as co-owner of The Gun Barrel Steakhouse.

In 2009, Hunt and her husband co-founded the Institute for Engineering and Humanity within SMU's Lyle School of Engineering. The Institute is dedicated to bringing technology-driven solutions to improve the lives of those in extreme poverty, and to developing a new generation of engineers who will apply their talents to the challenges facing the global poor.

Hunt currently serves on the boards of the USA for UN High Commission on Refugees; Human Rights Initiative in Dallas providing free legal representation and social services to refugees; and The da Vinci School, specializing in early childhood education. Hunt is the immediate past chair of the AFI DALLAS International Film Festival and continues her support of film preservation through the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Hunt attended NYU's summer filmmaking boot camp in 1999 and is a passionate supporter of documentary filmmaking.

Hunt resides in Dallas with her husband, Hunter, and their six year-old triplets.

Laura J. O'Rourke
Director

Ms. O'Rourke is a Dallas lawyer with Baker & McKenzie, LLP in the Securities Litigation group.  She has been actively involved in pro bono services throughout her legal career and is currently Co-Chair of the Dallas Office (Baker & McKenzie, LLP) Pro Bono Committee.  She has also been an avid supporter of Humans Rights Initiative of North Texas since she started practicing law in 2002.  She currently is a member of the HRI Pro Bono Attorney Liaison Committee.  Ms. O'Rourke is also an active supporter of various civic endeavors in the Dallas community such as: Lawyers in the Classroom, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Girls, Inc., Habitat for Humanity, Susan G. Komen, Salvation Army, and others.   

Tina E. Patterson
Director

Ms. Patterson is a Proposal Manager with Worldwide Information Network Systems, Inc (WINS) and owns a business providing mediation, arbitration and facilitation services. Ms. Patterson has served in leadership and volunteer capacities for nonprofit agencies including Habitat for Humanity, Dallas Reads, United Nations Association Dallas Chapter and National Capital Area Chapter, US National Committee for UNIFEM. She currently serves on the Montgomery County Maryland Human Rights Commission. 

Julie Lowenberg
Director

Ms. Lowenberg has served as president of the League of Women Voters of Dallas, the League of Women Voters of Texas (LWV-TX), National Council of Jewish Women Greater Dallas Section (NCJW), and Women's Council of Dallas County. Currently, she co-chairs NCJW's Services to Immigrant Families initiative, serves on an NCJW national task force on violence against women, teaches ESL civics at Vickery Meadow Learning Center and is Program Chair for Women's Health for LWV-TX. Ms. Lowenberg holds an LL.B. degree from Harvard Law School. She is the recipient of several awards, including the "Women Helping Women" (Maura) Award.

Cannon Flowers
Ex-Officio Director, Chief Executive Officer

The Following are Lifetime Members of the HRI Board of Directors

Don M. Glendenning
Past President

Mr. Glendenning is an experienced corporate and securities lawyer and a Partner at the Dallas office of Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell L.L.P. He serves a number of nonprofit organizations as a director or trustee, including the Dallas Zoological Society and the Thanks-Giving Foundation.

Patricia Cook MD, FACP
Director

Dr. Cook has been one of the longest serving member of the HRI Board of Trustees. In February 2006 she completed her service as an active member and also retired from UT Southwestern Medical School. Dr. Cook has faithfully guided the organization during her tenure and provided much of her time and financial support to making HRI successful.

Serena Simmons Connelly, LMSW
Board Secretary

Ms. Connelly is one of the co-founders of Human Rights Initiative. She is the Director of the Harold Simmons Foundation, and currently serves on the boards of the Foundation for the Education of Young Women and the Dallas Zoological Society. She was named Social Worker of the year by the Dallas Chapter of National Association of Social Workers in 2001. She is a member of the League of Women Voters, Amnesty International, Women's Funding Network, and Harvard's Women Waging Peace Program.