Generation SERVE is honored to welcome two new board members this summer - Megan Heron and Kristen Clifford. Read more about them here:

Megan Heron found her passion for service growing up in northeastern Pennsylvania. As a child raised in a single-parent household, service to others was a value deeply embedded in her upbringing. This passion grew in college where Megan regularly volunteered as a tutor at a neighboring middle school, started an after-school program, and prepared meals at a local community kitchen.Upon graduating college, Megan joined an AmeriCorps program, City Year. AmeriCorps Members commit their time to address critical community needs like increasing academic achievement, mentoring middle school students, and supporting youth development through service-based learning and community beautification projects. After two years in the corps, Megan joined staff, and has since worked in the nonprofit, K-12, and healthcare sectors for the last 14 years. Megan currently works as the Senior Director of Client Success for Bexa, a healthcare company that provides early detection breast exams.

Megan holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s degree in public health from the University of Florida. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and dogs, and finding ways to give back to the Austin community. Megan is a proud Big Sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters, and an active member of the Junior League of Austin.

Favorite Generation SERVE activity: Collaborative efforts with The Junior League of Austin
​
Why I support Generation SERVE: I developed a lifelong passion for volunteering as a child, which helped shape the person I am today. I want to help younger generations find meaningful opportunities to connect and give back to their community.



Kristen Clifford has over 10 years of senior leadership experience at national voluntary health non-profits. She served as national vice president, Healthcare Access for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society from 2016 to 2020. She most recently served as chief program officer at the Alzheimer’s Association from 2020 to 2024, overseeing the organization’s efforts in care, support and risk reduction for the millions affected by Alzheimer’s and other dementia. In this role, Clifford led care and support services offered across the organization to those affected by the disease; health system outreach and quality improvement initiatives; long-term care initiatives focused on person- centered care delivery models; and growth strategies for reaching more individuals through quality improvement, education, and supportive programs and services. Clifford has 20 years of experience in patient advocacy, health care relationship management, medical education and strategy development.

Kristen and her husband, Sean, have lived in Austin for more than 15 years, and together, they embarked on an entrepreneurial journey in establishing Wallaby Windows & Doors of Austin, a locally owned and operated window, door, and siding replacement company. Kristen and Sean have three daughters between them and have enjoyed family volunteering with Generation Serve for the past 10 years! Kristen also loves community theater, traveling, music, and spending time with family and friends.

Favorite Generation SERVE activity: Micah 6 Pantry - distributing food and engaging with community members
​
Why I support Generation SERVE: Providing opportunities for families and children to serve the community from a young age will shape the way they think about, and engage in, volunteerism for the rest of their life. I have seen the power and impact of Generation Serve though my own family’s service experiences and I am thrilled to support the mission of this organization, empowering children to engage with a multitude of different non-profits to make a real difference in our community.

We are excited to share that our Executive Director,  Stephanie Bazan has been recognized in Austin Woman Magazine’s inaugural Change Makers List! She is among other phenomenal leaders who are making significant and intentional strides to uplift Austin’s community. Help us congratulate her!

Change Makers: Nonprofit
Austin’s resiliency, drive and sense of community shines through brightest with the woman-identified leaders of its nonprofit organizations. These beacons of community impact are digging in with their hands and feet to ensure the city continues to foster real equity, generosity and hope for those Austinites who are underrepresented and deserve their voices to be heard.
​
See the full list in the January 2024 issue: https://bit.ly/ATXWoman-change-makers-list

Recently, we talked to local high schoolers about their experiences with volunteering and what they knew about volunteering in the Austin community. For anonymity, we won’t share their names or what high schools they go to, but if you’d like to know, their ages ranged from 15-17. It was very exciting to get to talk to teenagers from the general Austin community, and we hope to talk to more! 

Below are the conversations between the four teenagers and a TAB member who interviewed them. Talking to all of them, I found it super interesting how different all their responses were, and it’s always great to hear new perspectives!

___________________________________________________________________________

TAB: Why should we try to help our community?

Interviewee: Community is a family, and in a family, we should always try to help each other. Also in a community, whatever goes around comes around. If I help someone, they’ll help me right back whenever I need it, so that’s why we should always try to help our community.
___________________________________________________________________________

TAB: What was one of your favorite times volunteering?

Interviewee: I really loved volunteering. I’ve been volunteering since I was a little kid. I think it’s such a fun way to connect with your community and help it. One time last year, I was volunteering at an art class with little kids, two to four year-olds. I thought they were so cute. At the end, on Friday, because it was a one-week camp, a little kid came up to me, and she was crying and hugging me because she was sad to leave. That was just a really touching experience for me because I was like, I’m actually making an impact on these peoples’ lives
___________________________________________________________________________

TAB: What does community mean to you?

Interviewee: To me, community is a place where people with common interests can come together to spend time with each other, volunteer together, and create big projects together. They kind of just give you a big sense of belonging. You’re talking with all these other people, spending time with all these people that might think similarly to you, and it makes you feel like you have a place you can always go.
___________________________________________________________________________

TAB: What does volunteering mean to you?

Interviewee: Volunteering means to me that it gives you an opportunity to help within your community and give to people that don’t have the best privilege that you have every single day. It also gives you a sense of community within the volunteering process.
___________________________________________________________________________

​