Robert D. Graham
Board Chair
Mr. Graham is a Vice President of Contran Corporation. He is responsible for legal matters for certain companies within the Contran organization, including serving as the Executive Vice President and General Counsel for 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. In addition, Mr. Graham was a partner with Locke Lord, LLP (formally Locke Purnell Rain Harrell) in Dallas, concentrating on corporate and securities law. He is the recipient of the 2008 Robert H. Dedman Award for Ethics and Law from the Texas General Counsel Forum.
Laura J. O’Rourke
Chair Elect
Ms. O’Rourke is a partner with Baker & McKenzie, LLP. 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 including, Lawyers in the Classroom; Big Brothers/Big Sisters; Girls, Inc.; Habitat for Humanity; Susan G. Komen; Salvation Army; and others.
Serena Connelly
Board Secretary
Ms. Connelly is one of the co-founders of Human Rights Initiative. She is a social worker and serves as Vice President of the Harold Simmons Foundation, assisting nonprofits with funding. She has served on the boards of Dallas Women’s Foundation; Foundation for the Education of Young Women; Dallas Zoological Society; Texas Christian University’s Institute of Child Development; Texas Association for the Protection of Children; and University of North Texas’ Contemporary Arab and Muslim Cultural Studies Institute.
Elizabeth (Betsy) A. Healy
Ms. Healy was instrumental in founding Human Rights Initiative in 1999, and served as Executive Director until November 2005. Betsy remains firmly committed to the agency’s mission. 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.
Greg Curry
Greg Curry is a Partner in Thompson & Knight’s Energy Litigation Practice Group and serves as a member of the Management Committee and the Firm’s Client Services Partner. He focuses his practice on general commercial, oil and gas, real estate, and insurance coverage disputes. Curry has a long history of community and bar involvement and is actively involved in several organizations, including the International Association of Defense Counsel, Texas Association of Defense Counsel, State Bar of Texas, Dallas Bar Association, and DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar, where he currently serves as Texas State Representative. He is a Fellow of the American, Texas, and Dallas Bar Foundations, and is a member of The College of the State Bar of Texas. Curry has been recognized by numerous publications for his outstanding legal work, including The Best Lawyers in America® by Woodward/White Inc. (2007-2013) and Texas Super Lawyers® by Thomson Reuters (2003-2012).
James C. Ho
James C. Ho is a partner in the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. An experienced appellate, business, and constitutional litigator, Mr. Ho has briefed, argued, and won cases in diverse areas of law in courts across the country, including the U.S. Supreme Court. He has more than a decade of government experience, most recently as Solicitor General of Texas, the State’s chief appellate and Supreme Court litigator.
Mr. Ho has also served in all three branches of the federal government. On Capitol Hill, he served as chief counsel to Senator John Cornyn and to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittees on the Constitution and Immigration. At the Justice Department, he was the second highest political appointee at the Civil Rights Division. He also worked at the Office of Legal Counsel, advising White House and other senior officials on constitutional and other complex legal issues. In addition, he served as a law clerk for Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Stephanie Erwin Hunt
A native of Dallas, Stephanie Hunt graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s in finance. She has worked for Sotheby’s in Dallas and in the energy research group of Wasserstein & Co., (formally Wasserstein Perella).
In 2009, Hunt and her husband co-founded the Institute for Engineering and Humanity within Southern Methodist University’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 and The da Vinci School, specializing in early childhood education. Hunt, a passionate supporter of documentary film making, previously served as chair of the DALLAS International Film Festival and continues her support of film preservation through the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.
Hunt resides in Dallas with her husband, Hunter, and their six year-old triplets.
Hind Jarrah Ph.D.
Hind Jarrah is the executive director of the Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation, a non-profit who aims to empower women and their families through education, philanthropy, outreach and social services, which she co-founded in 2005. In 1982, she co-founded the Arabic Heritage Society, a non-profit, educational organization. After 9/11, Dr. Jarrah became a frequent guest speaker on Islam, women in Islam and interfaith relations. She recently pioneered the ISNA/URJ Muslim-Jewish Dialogue in DFW.
Dr. Jarrah holds degrees from the American University of Beirut (B.S. in Pharmacology); University of Texas Health Science Center in Dallas (Ph.D. in Pharmacology); and the University of Texas at Dallas (M.S. in Neuroscience and Cognition). She previously served on the Faith and Feminism Committee and the board of trustees for the Dallas Women’s Foundation.
The Rabbi Asher Knight
Rabbi Knight serves as a rabbi of Temple Emanu-El in Dallas. In addition to his pastoral, pulpit, and teaching duties, he oversees the congregation’s commitment to social justice and environmental sustainability. He was ordained in 2007 from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Named as one of Dallas’ “40 Under 40,” Rabbi Knight is a clergy leader of Dallas Area Interfaith, serves on the Pastoral Care Advisory Committee of Children’s Hospital and the convention committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Rabbi Knight works closely on Temple Emanu-El’s efforts with the Dallas Area Interfaith; Jill Stone Elementary; the Vickery Meadow Neighborhood Alliance; North Dallas Shared Ministries; Jewish Family Service; International Rescue Committee; and the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance.
Julie Lowenberg
Julie 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 Dallas Women’s Foundation’s Maura Women Helping Women Award and the League of Women Voters of Dallas’ Susan B. Anthony Award.
Almaz Woldeab, CPA
Almaz Woldeab has been a supporter and volunteer of HRI since 1999, and had a profound passion for the vision and mission of HRI. She currently works in accounting and finance at Texas Instruments, Inc., a leading technology and manufacturing company based in Dallas. Ms. Woldeab has degrees from the University of Texas at Dallas (B.S.) and Southern Methodist Unviersity (M.B.A.). She is also a Texas Certified Public Accountant.
A native of Ethiopia, Ms. Woldeab, came to the U.S., as a refugee in 1985 at the height of political turmoil and civil war in her home country. She has also served on the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas Grant Panel from 2005-2007.
The Following are Lifetime Members of the HRI Board of Directors
Don M. Glendenning
Past President
Don Glendenning is an experienced corporate and securities lawyer and a partner at the Dallas office of Locke Lord LLP. He serves a number of nonprofit organizations as a director or trustee, including the Dallas Zoological Society and the Thanks-Giving Foundation.
Patricia Cook M.D., FACP
Patricia Cook has been one of the longest serving members of the HRI Board of Trustees. In February 2006 she 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.
Advisory Board
Kenneth Z. Altshuler, M.D.
Cecilia Boone
Steve & Barbara Durham
Lauren Embrey
Lisa Hembry
Honorable Ambassador Swanee Hunt
Honorable Ann Margolin
Michael Meadows
Sarah Losinger
Caren H. Prothro
Lekha Singh
Harold & Annette Simmons