Neil Bush
Neil Bush is an international businessman who is active in service. He serves as chairman of the Points of Light board of directors, where he expands his father’s vision of inspiring, equipping and mobilizing volunteers to increase capacity for vital social services and for finding innovative solutions that lift individuals, strengthen families, and renew communities.
Neil chairs both the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation, dedicated to helping all Houstonians realize their fullest potential through literacy, and the Bush China U.S. Relations Foundation, which convenes a conference that brings together leaders from the United States and China forging cooperation on issues of global importance. Neil serves on the advisory boards of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M, the Houston Salvation Army and the Asia Society Texas Center.
In his professional life, Neil develops international business opportunities. He is chairman of Singhaiyi, a Singapore company investing in U.S. real estate; co-chairman of CIIC, a property development business in China; and chairman of A&A Consulting, a global platform that attracts Asian capital for investments in health care, education and food in the United States.
Neil and his wife, Maria, have six wonderful children and they are proud that the family passion for service has passed on to the next generation. Neil’s daughter, Lauren Bush Lauren, is founder and CEO of FEED Projects, a nonprofit that has provided over 93 million meals that are served in schools in Africa through the UN World Food Programme. His son, Pierce Bush, mentors an inner-city youngsters and leads the largest Big Brothers Big Sisters agency in the United States.
Neil earned an MBA and a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University.
Robert F. Ashcraft, PhD
Robert F. Ashcraft, Ph.D. is the executive director of the Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation at Arizona State University (ASU), the Saguaro Professor of Civic Enterprise in ASU’s School of Community Resources and Development and an affiliate faculty member of ASU’s School of Public Affairs.
From its beginning in 1999, the ASU Lodestar Center has emerged as one of the leading nonprofit academic centers in the nation. Dr. Ashcraft has a global reputation for his pioneering work to advance the understanding of and effective practice for leaders of nonprofit/philanthropic organizations. Under his leadership, the ASU Lodestar Center is considered one of the world’s leading nonprofit academic centers, renowned for its research, education, leadership programs, technical assistance, and conference activities, helping to build the capacity of the social sector for those who lead, manage, and support nonprofits. Dr. Ashcraft teaches courses in nonprofit management, philanthropy and the capstone course for students in ASU’s graduate degree program. His research interests have resulted in numerous publications on topics such as nonprofit and social entrepreneurship education models, collaboration strategies, and volunteer management. His efforts have resulted in successfully securing more than $40 million in external resources from individuals, foundations, corporate and government entities that, along with earned income strategies through an enterprise model, have bolstered the range of nonprofit and philanthropic programs at ASU. Dr. Ashcraft has also served since 1984 as executive director of Nonprofit Leadership Alliance at ASU (formerly American Humanics), a flagship program that recruits, educates and inspires undergraduate students across disciplines for nonprofit service careers. His leadership brought about the nation’s first undergraduate degree in the field of nonprofit leadership and management. In prior nonprofit professional service, Dr. Ashcraft worked as a director of volunteers, director of youth and community services, manager of human resources and executive director. In 2012 Dr. Ashcraft was named one of the most influential leaders in the nonprofit sector by the Nonprofit Times as a member of its “Power and Influence Top 50” list.
Dr. Ashcraft is immediate past Chair of the bi-national Board of the U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership (San Diego, CA). Additionally, his current board leadership roles include serving Public Allies (Milwaukee, WI), the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance (Kansas City, MO), the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council (Cleveland, OH), (where he serves as a former President of the board) and the National Association of Park Foundations. In addition to service on a number of scholarly editorial advisory boards, his professional memberships include the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action, the International Society of Third Sector Research and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. In addition, he has served as senior policy advisor to the American Red Cross’ National Office of Volunteers (Washington, D.C.), as a member of several national boards, including: YMCA of the USA (Chicago, IL), past chair of the National Recreation and Park Association (Ashburn, VA), board member of the Sajai Foundation (Minneapolis, MN), and the Arizona Humanities Council (Phoenix, AZ). Dr. Ashcraft holds a baccalaureate degree from the University of Arizona, an M.A in Education degree from Northern Arizona University, and he earned his Ph.D. degree from Arizona State University.
Chris Bugbee
As Chief Operating Officer for OneStar Foundation, Chris Bugbee serves in an executive leadership role with oversight over OneStar’s programmatic, financial, budget and human resource functions. He serves as a senior advisor to the CEO providing strategic oversight of the administration of the $14 million AmeriCorps*Texas grant program and the $100 million Rebuild Texas Fund, and implementation of the Texas Faith-Based and Community Initiative, including statewide efforts to strengthen the nonprofit sector in Texas.
Before joining OneStar in 2006, Chris was appointed to serve in Washington as Deputy Director of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He also served at the White House as Associate Director in the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and as a Senior Intergovernmental Officer for the U.S. Secretary of Labor.
During his time at the White House, Chris was responsible for overseeing the implementation of several of the President’s key State of the Union initiatives, a prisoner reentry program and a program designed to provide mentoring for children of prisoners.
In 2008, Chris was selected by the Governor of Texas to participate in the Governor’s Executive Development Program, a leadership program for top executives in state government. In 2014 and 2015, Chris was recognized as a finalist for the Austin Business Journal’s “Best Nonprofit CFO/COO” Award.
Chris is a native Texan and holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural development from Texas A&M University and a master’s degree in public service and administration from the George Bush School of Government and Public Service. Chris is married and currently resides in Austin with his wife and two sons.
Doug French
Doug French, Chief Executive Officer of Stylecraft Builders, chose to make a career in his family business after earning a Master’s in Business Administration from Baylor University with honors, and previously earning his undergraduate degree from Texas A&M Magna Cum Laude.
In addition to his leadership at Stylecraft, Doug is dedicated to community involvement. He is a past board chair for United Way, a board member for SOS Ministries, a member of the Blinn College Advisory Committee, and a member of Declaration Church, as well as serving in other volunteer positions. He and his wife Kara enjoy traveling, watching Aggie sports, and spending time with their daughter Hadleigh and son Benton. Doug’s passion for equipping and developing strong employees has helped continue to define Stylecraft’s reputation as a company dedicated to integrity and quality.
Roxanne Saldaña Jones
As President and CEO of UWT, Roxanne Saldaña Jones leads the voluntary state association of local United Ways in Texas. With nearly 60 members across the state, UWT serves as the collective voice of a system that strives toward collaborative, lasting community-level change. Roxanne brings strong non-profit leadership to UWT as an established convener and partner in the sector and has been in the sector for over 20 years in various capacities. Roxanne is well versed in community collaboration, strategic growth models, community needs assessments, business planning, management of cross-sector collaboration, as well as many other proven efforts that support community and nonprofit growth. Roxanne’s background is in management, and she has coordinated the combined campaigns for the State of Texas and the City of Austin and served as a private strategic consultant. She is trained in negotiation, facilitation, and is a United Way certified instructor. Roxanne is native to Austin and attended the University of Texas at Austin and St. Edward’s University, holding a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Masters of Business Administration.
Wynn Rosser, PhD
Wynn Rosser is President & CEO of the T.L.L. Temple Foundation. Wynn earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Texas A&M University as well as an associate’s from Kilgore College. Wynn has received several awards, including the H.S. Warwick Research Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in the area of Alumni Relations and Educational Advancement and the Distinguished Former Student of Texas A&M University’s Department of Agriculture Leadership Education and Communications. He also was awarded an honorary associate of arts degree from El Paso Community College.
He and his wife, Dr. Manda Rosser, are raising three children on a farm with more than 40 animals including alpaca, horses, sheep, goats, chickens, dogs and cats. He enjoys reading, running, cycling and he is active in his church.
Wynn is committed to collective impact and to improving education outcomes – especially for low income and rural students as well as to a regional approach to grant making and philanthropic leadership.
He is past chair of the Grantmakers for Education Board of Directors and is chair of the Texas Education Grantmakers Advocacy Consortium (TEGAC). He is also a lecturer in the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M.
