Houston P. A. hosted by Laurent

Nancy Henderek is the founder and artistic director of Dance Salad Festival which opens this coming Thursday, April 18th and runs through Saturday the 20th at the Wortham Center. Performers include: Maria Kochetkova with Sebastian Kloborg, Ashley Bouder and Joaquin De Luz from New York City Ballet, Spellbound Contemporary Ballet from Rome, Italy and many more. Also part of the festival is the free...

Stephanie Fitzpatrick is a veteran and the owner of Earthwise Pet The Woodlands and with her is Jennifer Weissbach, a dog trainer and the owner of Puppertory Academy. On April 6th they are holding their first "Proud to Serve Those Who Serve" fundraiser from 12-4 PM at Earthwise Pet / The Woodlands on Kuykendahl and FM 1488, (across the street from HEB). They are donating 100% of their proceeds to...

Cristina Cave is the community relations manager for BakerRipley and she gives us an efficient crash-course in filing our taxes for 2018. BakerRipley is offering free tax preparation services to anyone making less than $58,000. They have locations open around town guaranteeing that taxes get done legally. Indeed, Cristina warns us that a lot of "tax preparers" who offer loans based on IRS tax refu...

Ashley Brockette is the Communications Director for Child Advocates, here to tell us about one of their major fundraisers: the 30th Annual McDonald’s Houston Children’s Festival Saturday and Sunday March 30 & 31, The festival is closing down 16 blocks of Downtown Houston for the biggest Children's Festival in the country. It all benefits Child Advocates and thus far, this festival has raised over...

Rodney Waters is the program director for Music Doing Good with Scholarships. The due-date for applications to obtain a MDG scholarship is March 19th so get to it! Students can obtain $500-1500 scholarships to cover music classes and other expenses related to music education. We also discuss the incredible success of Music Doing Good with its students, including a group which started their own non...

Susanne Theis is the programming director for Discovery Green, the beautiful park we have in Downtown Houston. It features a huge pond, walking trails, free interactive art installations, free activities like yoga, music classes, and much more, free concerts and free movies and other free classes organized by some of the best non-profit organizations in town like Writers in the Schools and Hester...

Casey Kelly is the director of communication for Magnificat Houses, Inc and with her is John Reece, their director of residence services. Magnificat Houses is a famous success story in the world of philanthropy and their programs have been the subject of sociological and psychological studies. Founded in 1968, Magnificat Houses provides shelter, food and programs to help people climb out of homele...

Marie Jacinto is the director of communications for AVDA: Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse. February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month and the subject is treated year-round by AVDA's Coaching Boys into Men program. High school coaches are given training to teach their athletes about self-respect and the respect of others and specifically the women they date. For many boys, their coach has th...

Christine Mansfield is the marketing and development manager for the Houston Arboretum and Kelsey Low is their adult education manager. They will be welcoming Houstonians for Tapas on the Trails on Saturday, February 9th. It is, in my opinion, one of the best Valentine's Day events in town and it benefits a great non-profit. We also discuss the end of their masterplan which opens the arboretum to...

Eureka Gilkey is the executive director of Project Row Houses and Ryan Dennis is their curator and programs director. The famously artistic social services is celebrating 25 years of history with a beautiful book: Collective Creative Actions: Project Row Houses at 25. The famous 3rd non-profit is now immortalized in the Smithsonian where the Org took a group of kids last year. That's a great story...

Juan Garcia is the chairman of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's Go Tejano Committee. With him is Adrian Izaguirre, their promotions coordinator. They are both volunteers because the Houston Rodeo is a non-profit organization whose mission is education and it is entirely run by voelunteers. The Rodeo has given out over 400 Million Dollars in scholarships to Texas students and the Go Tejano Co...

Barry Ward is the executive director of Trees For Houston. The Org plants over 20,000 trees a year in the Houston area! It’s not just about making Houston a cleaner and more beautiful city, it's also to create reduce ambient temperatures and increase water absorption everywhere it makes sense, aka flood mitigation. They work with architects, the City of Houston and anyone wanting to improve their...

Dr. Aisha Siddiqui is the founder of CHAT: CHAT Culture of Health - Advancing Together. CHAT specifically targets the Social Determinants of Health: Education, Economic Stability, Community, Healthcare, and Environment. Her organization helps children and teenaged immigrants integrate into American society. They call themselves "Newcomers" and because of language barriers, cultural barriers and po...

Elizabeth Appleby is the curator of the San Jacinto Museum of History and with her is Amanda Accardo the external relations manager for Shell Deer Park. Shell and the San Jacinto Museum have opened a new exhibit: Big Energy: A Texas Tale of People Powering Progress. It chronicles 9 decades of Deer Park development along the Houston Ship Channel and so much of that came from the people working for...

Oli Mohammed is the executive director of The Houston Furniture Bank. They are celebrating 25 years of loyal service in the Houston area by starting new programs and helping people continue their recovery from Harvey's flood. They have been a major partner for the City of Houston and have already provided replacement furniture to over 2000 families and counting. They are also forging partnerships...

Steve Lufburrow is the president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Houston and with him is his son, Will Lufburrow their director of fund development. They are one of Houston's largest employers and keep winning awards from the Better Business Bureau for how well they manage their donations. When you give $1 to Goodwill, 95% of it goes directly to helping people find employment. They run many prog...

Brian Carr is the chief advancement officer for Northwest Assistance Ministries. They are doing a big toy drive for the holidays and the toy distribution will come along a full holiday meal for the families. They are also welcoming the Christus Health Foundation's Health Screening Mobile Unit. Free comprehensive health screenings are available and ladies get to schedule a full appointment (men can...

Dirk Van Tuerenhout is the curator of Anthropology for the Houston Museum of Natural Science. They just opened the Fossil Preparation Laboratory which allows visitors to watch paleontologists at work. They cut a hole in a wall, put up a window and a communication device and now, people can see what happens backstage. It's another opportunity to awake a vocation in children. We also talk about a my...

Barbie Brashear is the director of The Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council (HCDVCC - aka The Council) and with her is Maisha Colter, the director of legal advocacy programs for Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse (AVDA). They are online: www. HCDVCC.org and www. AVDA-TX.org and these phone numbers are important to have: Call AVDA and get help now 713-224-9911 or the 24 Hour National...

Keith Ostfeld aka Mr. O, is the director of educational technology and exhibit development for the Children's Museum of Houston. It's probably the best place to take your kids for Halloween since it's an awesome Haunted Museum and while they'll have fun, they'll also learn. Keith tells us about their new app that works throughout the museum, how they're working on the next big thing: teaching kids...

Mike Vance is the program director for The Heritage Society and the co-author of Murder and Mayhem in Houston (with John Nova Lomax). They are bringing back NoTsuOh , once Houston's biggest celebration which rivalled New Orleans' Mardi Gras. This year will feature the Coronation Gala on Friday, October 26 and an animal parade on Sunday, October 28. We also talk about the museum and the historical...

Bryan Kelly is the CEO of Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) and Sam Rangel is a PEP entrepreneur. Prison Entrepreneurship Program is a business program that connects executives, entrepreneurs, and MBA students with convicted felons. PEP is a nine-month "mini MBA" course culminating in a shark-tank style competition. 100% of PEP's graduates land a job within 90 days of release and nearly 100% r...

Roger Bare is the executive director of the Art Colony Association which is organizing the 2018 Bayou City Art Festival Downtown on October 13 & 14. It's one of the biggest open-air art fests in the country and they're closing down over a dozen blocks of downtown Houston so artists can expose their work (some will be creating on-site) while revelers enjoy all the foods and fun activities going on....

Brian Carr is the chief advancement officer for Northwest Assistance Ministries. Since Harvey flooded Houston, Northwest Assistance Ministries has assisted more than 13,000 individuals with more than $5 Million in Relief Funds from generous neighbors. They also operate the second largest Meals on Wheel's programs, which delivers great food to seniors who cannot leave their homes. And they operate...

Paige Myrick is the executive director of Opera in the Heights and Eiki Isomura is their Artistic Director and Conductor. They made it out of Harvey fairly well and we discuss their beautiful upcoming season. They will perform 4 great classics: Donizatti's "La Fille du Régiment" aka The "Daughter of the Regiment", Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte", Piazzolla's "Maria de Buenos Aires" and Puccini's "Madam...