Staff

Jacob Fraire serves as President & Chief Executive Officer of the Texas Association of Community Colleges (TACC).  Since 2016, Mr. Fraire has provided leadership to TACC, an advocacy organization whose core mission is to advance state policy, institutional practice, and research in support of Texas community colleges.  He serves as chief advocate and strategist for Texas community colleges and their unified policy agenda before the Texas Legislature and policy leaders. In Fall 2019, Texas community colleges served 748,000 students enrolled in credit-bearing programs and countless additional students in continuing education and workforce training programs. 

In addition to TACC, Mr. Fraire further provides leadership to the Texas Community College Education Initiative (TCCEI), which operates the Texas Success Center, and the Community College Association of Texas Trustees (CCATT), an organization of locally elected trustees and regents.   He further provides leadership to the Junior and Community College Political Action Committee (JACC-PAC).

Before joining TACC Mr. Fraire served as Vice President of Philanthropy at Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation, which has since then converted to the Trellis Foundation.  Acting as the chief architect of the corporate philanthropy, Mr. Fraire stewarded $80 million in competitive grants to advance college access, need-based financial aid, student success, and research.  

Mr. Fraire serves as Board Chair of the Institute for Higher Education Policy and on the Advisory Board for the Community College Research Center.  He has previously served on multiple state and national boards to include, Texas Transfer Working Group, Texas Dual Credit Task Force, Grantmakers for Education, Corporate Advisory Committee of the Council for Opportunity in Education, and the federal Advisory Committee on the Measures of Student Success.  He serves as Ex-Official of the TACC Business Advisory Council. 

For a decade, Mr. Fraire served in multiple policy advocacy positions in Washington, DC.  He served as Director of Legislation & Policy Analysis at the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) and as a senior legislative coordinator at a firm representing research-intensive universities.

The son of migrant farmworkers, Mr. Fraire grew up in El Paso, Texas. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Edward’s University and a Master in Public Affairs degree from the University of Texas at Austin.  In May 2013, he was awarded an honorary associate's degree from El Paso Community College.  He and his wife, Virginia, have five children.

Martha M. Ellis, Ph.D. is Interim President and CEO of the Texas Association of Community Colleges and President of Mellis LLC, a consulting firm bringing deep experience, substantive knowledge, and research-based innovation to leaders as they confront the challenges and opportunities facing higher education today and in the future. Ellis is a Texas Pathways Coach for the Texas Success Center, Achieving the Dream Leadership Coach, and professor of practice at the University of Texas at Austin. 

Previously, Martha was Managing Director for the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Before joining the Dana Center, Dr. Ellis was Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs for the University of Texas System. Martha has 35 years of experience in community colleges in Texas and New Mexico including two college presidencies, provost, chief information officer, undergraduate dean, and faculty member. Ellis has won numerous teaching awards, has scholarly publications, and is an invited speaker at national conferences. Ellis was recognized by the U. S. Congress and Texas House of Representatives for her leadership in higher education. 

Dr. Ellis chaired the Appeals Committee for the Commission on Colleges for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.  She was on the Board of the American Association of Community Colleges and the Executive Committee of the Texas Association of Community Colleges. She was a member of the Commission on Women in Higher Education for the American Council of Education and the Board of Educational Affairs for the American Psychological Association. She was president of the Association of Texas Colleges and Universities. Martha has volunteered on various chamber, economic development, and hospital boards.

Martha lives in Austin with her husband Steve. 

As vice president of the Texas Success Center, housed at the Texas Association of Community Colleges (TACC), Cynthia Ferrell supports the implementation and scaling of student success strategies and policies for the 50 community college districts in Texas.

Prior to joining the Texas Success Center, Cynthia served as director of Student Success Initiatives at the University of Texas at Austin, as well as national director of leadership coaching for Achieving the Dream, director of the Board of Trustees Institute, director of Gulf Coast Partners Achieving Student Success, and UT director of the Governance Institute for Student Success. In these roles, she provided training and ongoing support for community college trustees, chancellors, presidents, and leadership teams to implement data-informed policies and practices to improve the success of all students.

Formerly the director of
the Texas Developmental Education State Policy Initiative, Cynthia supported strategies jointly developed by TACC and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to scale successful innovations statewide and establish policy supports to improve developmental student success.

She earned a Ph.D. in higher education administration from the Community College Leadership Program at The University of Texas at Austin.

As the Director of Institutional Strategy, Christine Bailie supports the Texas Success Center mission and the Texas Pathways strategy for the 50 community college districts in Texas.

Prior to joining the Texas Success Center, Christine has worked in the field of education for 20+ years and brings expertise in the nexus of practice, research, and policy. Christine has served as a high school educator, led state and regional initiatives to redesign institutional systems, conducted policy analysis, designed research studies, created professional development to promote capacity-building and knowledge development, and facilitated cross-sector regional partnerships to strengthen and align P-16 pathways.

Christine holds a baccalaureate degree in Economics from Texas A&M University and a Master of Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. She also earned an Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership and Policy from the University of Texas at Austin.

Jacob Cottingham serves as the Senior Director of Government Relations at TACC. Mr. Cottingham develops and implements legislative policy goals and strategies for the association, as well as monitors legislation and regulatory changes relevant to Texas community colleges. As a key member of TACC’s advocacy team, Jacob builds critical relationships between TACC member colleges and policymakers.

Before joining TACC, Jacob Cottingham spent six sessions working in the Texas House of Representatives. During his time at the Capitol, he staffed the House Appropriations Committee, with a focus on education finance, as well as the House Higher Education Committee, where he concentrated on affordability and student support policy. Prior to working at the Texas Legislature, he honed his policy skills working in city government and as Policy Director for a County Commissioner.

Mr. Cottingham has a long and varied history within higher education. He graduated from Bard College with a degree in Language & Literature, including time spent studying in Qing Dao, China. He credits additional coursework at his local community college for paving his way to graduate school and he obtained a master’s in public affairs from the LBJ School at the University of Texas in Austin. On occasion, he serves as a guest lecturer for classes at UT Austin.

When he’s not working, Jacob enjoys spending time with his family and two children, smoking meats, and taking advantage of the many natural swimming holes in Central Texas.

As the Director of CCATT, Nicole builds trustee and regent capacity through professional development, board engagement, and connecting CCATT members to ongoing legislative issues and strategies coordinated by TACC.

Prior to this role, Nicole served on the Austin Community College District Board of Trustees and CCATT Board of Directors. Her position was designated to represent very large-sized colleges. She also participated in the CCATT Legislative Committee and the Joint Legislative Committee between TACC, CCATT, and TCCTA for the 2021 legislative session. Additionally, Nicole served on the ACC Foundation Board as an Ex-Officio Member, appointed by the ACC Board Chair in August 2019.

Eversmann graduated from Austin Community College with an Associate of Arts Degree in General Studies and transferred to the University of Texas at Austin to complete a Bachelor of Arts in Government with a minor in Educational Psychology. Nicole is currently pursuing her master’s degree at the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Chris Fernandez serves as the Director of Policy Analysis at TACC. He assesses the progress of key goals and outcomes of community colleges, tracks higher education research and policy, and recommends areas for additional data collection and research. He seeks to communicate findings in ways that are useful and actionable for policymakers, practitioners, and/or fellow advocates.

Prior to joining TACC, Mr. Fernandez was a researcher for Trellis Company where he analyzed financial barriers to college access and success, focusing on financial aid and student loans. He also spent time with the Swarthmore College admissions office helping bring underrepresented students to campus.

Graduating in 2012, Mr. Fernandez earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in Sociology and Anthropology with a minor in Public Policy from Swarthmore College. While in college, he received the McKitterick Scholarship and Glant Scholarship for academic merit, as well as the Bramson Prize recognizing the excellence of his senior thesis. 

In addition to contributing to TACC’s goals, Mr. Fernandez enjoys trail running, all kinds of reading, and attempting recipes beyond his abilities.

As the Director of Research and Evaluation, Kristina supports the mission of the Texas Success Center by implementing all research and evaluation processes. She manages internal and external collaborations to ensure projects are high quality, action-oriented, equity-focused and aligned with the Texas Pathways Knowledge Development Agenda. Additionally, Kristina manages Center databases and performs and supervises quantitative and qualitative analyses. She composes reports and other research deliverables, communicates findings with stakeholders, and informs the creation of training, technical assistance, and professional development for Texas Pathways colleges. 

Prior to her roles at the Texas Success Center, Kristina taught mathematics for 15 years in high school and community college classrooms. During her 11 years at Austin Community College, she served as assistant dean of academic courses, developmental math advisor, and campus math contact to support improvements in the student experience. Kristina holds a baccalaureate degree in Mathematics from Georgetown University and a master's degree in Mathematics from New York University. She is a Ph.D. candidate in STEM Education at the University of Texas at Austin.

Sondra Guardado serves as the Program Coordinator for the Texas Association of Community Colleges. In her role, Sondra optimizes the impact of the organization by providing support with logistics, member communications, and event planning for multiple programs and projects.

Before joining TACC, Mrs. Guardado served as the Community Engagement and Partnerships Manager at Girl Scouts of Western Washington, focusing on creating accessible opportunities for diverse families in Seattle. She also spent time as a Program Manager at Bilingual Education for Central America in Honduras where she managed operations for local/international partners to facilitate bilingual academic opportunities in low-income communities.

Guardado holds a B.A. in Spanish from the University of Washington and an M.A. in International Community Development from Northwest University.

Outside of the office, Sondra can be found engaging in all kinds of outdoor activities, visiting family in different parts of the world, or in her kitchen expanding her baking skills.

Nour Hammoudeh serves as the Events Planner for the Texas Success Center at the Texas Association of Community Colleges. In this role, Nour coordinates various logistics including communication with hotels and event contracts, manages registration sites, food and beverage orders, and audio-visual requests for specific educational events. In addition to planning efforts for live events, Hammoudeh supports the management of software for virtual meetings and webinar platforms.

Prior to joining TACC, Nour worked for the Texas State Independent Living Council which provided her with insight into governmental funding and nonprofit policy-driven programs and initiatives. At the Texas SILC, she oversaw the planning and execution of the statewide cross-disability annual conference.

Ms. Hammoudeh has worked in the events industry for more than 6 years planning programs for nonprofits, socials, catering, corporate, and agency organizations.

Outside of work, Ms. Hammoudeh enjoys spending time with friends, family, and her two cats.

Ellie Rodriguez serves as the Director for Communications and Public Relations at TACC.  She helps maximize the impact of TACC and CCATT by realizing the successful implementation of contemporary communication strategies with a focus on policy advocacy. She also spends time developing suitable methods to broaden the reach of the association and its affiliates.
 
Before joining TACC, Ms. Rodriguez attended St. Edward’s University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in communication with a concentration in public relations and advertising. While at St. Edward’s, Ms. Rodriguez formed part of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, the Lambda Pi Eta Communication Honor Society and served as an officer for St. Edward’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter.  She graduated Magna Cum Laude in the spring of 2019.
 
Outside of work, Ms. Rodriguez enjoys attempting to play all instruments, spending time with her family, and traveling to Mexico on random weekends.

Lori Stalheber is the Director of Finance at TACC. She oversees accounting, payroll, maximizes the return on financial assets and is responsible for human resource management. Ms. Stalheber ensures the association remains fiducially responsible and provides accurate reporting to TACC’s members and CEO.

Before joining TACC, Ms. Stalheber lived in Houston, Texas and was the Director of Finance at the St. Martin’s Episcopal Church— the largest Episcopalian church in the country. Prior to this, she contributed to various non-profit organizations.  

Having graduated in 2003, Ms. Stalheber holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. While attending St. Thomas, Ms. Stalheber was a member of the accounting honor society along with various other clubs within the university.

Beyond TACC, Ms. Stalheber enjoys cooking, a variety of outdoor exercises and spending time with her family.  

As the senior administrative associate of the Texas Success Center, Sway Youngston provides for the team in all administrative capacities.

Sway has grown in many support roles for various industries throughout her 15 + year career and is excited to grow as she learns about the needs of community colleges in Texas. She has a unique perspective as a former student at Texas community colleges and understands the value organizations like TACC provide.    

Sway has a BA in communication with a minor in English from the University of Houston. She enjoys bicycling, social dancing, and cooking nutritious food.