Board of Directors

Charles C. Andrews, Board Chair -- Andrews currently serves as the Co-Chair of Inner City Technological Ventures and is the President of 4NAffairs, an off-shore destination and financial management group.

Previously, Andrews was involved with radio programming since 1982 and for ten years, beginning in 1993, he was the executive producer and on-air talent for the AFRICAN All Africa Network.

Anthony Alcoser, Board Treasurer: Alcoser is Manager of the Annual Fund in the department of Institutional Advancement at Texas A&M University-San Antonio.

Alcoser is responsible for community and donor relations while promoting membership to the President’s Circle, on behalf TAMU President, Dr. Maria Hernandez Ferrier.

Alcoser also is a member of the Harlandale Independent School District Board of Trustees. First elected in 2006, Alcoser was the youngest member to serve on the Board and is the youngest to serve as President. Anthony adheres to the premise that “Brain power is the currency of success.”

He graduated from Harlandale ISD, went on to graduate from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and received a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from Texas A&M University-San Antonio.
He is also a 2002 alumnus of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute in the Washington D.C. Office of the 23rd Congressional District.

Alcoser hails his greatest accomplishment as being Dad to his daughter, Giselle.

Steve Blanchard, PhD -- Blanchard earned a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Public Health, and a Doctor of Philosophy, in Sociology with emphasis in population studies. He currently teaches in the Sociology Department of our Lady of the Lake University.

Blanchard’s recent honors and awards include: West San Antonio’s Chamber of Commerce 2005 Doctoral Achievement Award, Moody Professor for 2005 – 2006, McNair Scholars Mentor of the Year 2004 – 2005. He has published numerous articles in his fields of expertise.

Blanchard’s current research experience includes: Principal investigator of a PepsiCo Foundation funded project to identify the factors that lead to Hispanic undergraduate achievement. He is also a consultant at the Center for Health Care Services in San Antonio, reviewing the Center’s extant database with the goal of designing an indicator database for assessing outcomes in the Center’s community mental health programs.

Maria del Rosario "Rosie" Castro: A native San Antonian, Castro is the Director of the Center for Academic Transitions at Palo Alto College in San Antonio. The Center provides assistance with employment, internships, transfer to 4-year universities, graduation certification, scholarships and alumni services.

Castro is also a consultant, trainer and facilitator who specializes in leadership training and leadership program development. She facilitated the work of the Blue Ribbon Committee that created the Westside Education and Training Center, a partnership of the Alamo Community College District, Edgewood I.S.D., the City of San Antonio’s Economic Development Department and the Annie E. Casey’s Making Connections Initiative and many other groups and residents.

She is a graduate of Our Lady of the Lake University and has a master's degree in Environmental Management from U.T.S.A. Her public service includes employment in the City of San Antonio’s Human Resource Department and with the San Antonio Housing Authority.

She has taught public administration courses at San Antonio College and graduate courses at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

She is the mother of twin sons: Texas State Representative, Joaquin Castro and City of San Antonio Mayor, Julian Castro.

Anthony C. Edwards: A self-taught artist, Edwards enjoys painting with acrylics and designs stain glass renderings with an Afrocentric focus. Edwards writes his own soundtracks for the documentaries he makes. A technophile, he owns four Apple computers.

After 27 years with CPS Energy, Edwards retired in 2007 as Vice President of Community Programs. He remains a consultant for CPS, working with senior management on community and educational partnerships.
Previously, he was Director of the Medical Holding Unit at Bexar County Mental Health, Mental Retardation, overseeing a 26-bed detoxification program for people with severe alcoholism.

While pursuing his master's degree, he was Executive Director of the inner-city Alamo Branch YMCA, directing youth sports activities.

While pursuing his undergraduate degree, he was a San Antonio Police Department Community Relations Officer, working in public housing with at-risk teens.

Edwards graduated from the University of the Incarnate Word with a bachelor's degree in Sociology. He received his master's degree in Environmental Management, with a concentration in Urban Studies, from the University of Texas, San Antonio.

He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the San Antonio Museum of Art, a member of the Board of Directors of San Antonio Fighting Back and a member of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church.

Pilar Oates -- Oates is the former Executive Director of Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas (MHM). MHM is a 501(c)(3), faith-based organization and is San Antonio’s largest non-public funding source for community healthcare. MHM is one-half owner of the Methodist Healthcare System – the largest healthcare system in South Texas. MHM’s funding from 1997 through 2009 will exceed $235,900,000 for programs to uninsured and underserved individuals throughout South Texas.

Oates has a background of service to community, having worked for the City of San Antonio’s Department of Community Initiatives in adult literacy and community action programs. She is involved in extensive community service that focuses on improving outcomes for individuals and families, serving on community boards such as American Heart Association, United Way, and The Bexar County Health Collaborative.

Charlotte-Anne Lucas. Selected to lead NOWCastSA in 2009, Lucas wrote her first news story on a manual typewriter, and has taught online journalism, Web design, digital storytelling, interviewing and content management systems at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, St. Mary's University in San Antonio and Texas A&M University San Antonio.

She worked for newspapers in Philadelphia, Dallas, Phoenix, San Francisco and San Antonio, and her freelance writing has appeared everywhere from the New York Times to the Auckland, New Zealand Herald. Her journalism has earned dozens of awards, including being named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

In 1997, while she was business editor of the San Antonio Express-News, she graduated from Leadership San Antonio, a program jointly sponsored by the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to develop emerging and existing community leaders.

Lucas went to the Web in 1999, becoming managing editor of the online-only financial news Web site, TheStreet.com. She later became Content Director of MySanAntonio.com, the converged site of the San Antonio Express-News and KENS-5 TV. Both TheStreet.com and MySanAntonio.com became profitable during her tenure.

In 2007 she was a manager for the Knight News Challenge-funded Innovation Incubator project, in which 35 college students at seven universites collaborated to create new models of participatory community news production.

Lucas was named to the Advisory Board for the Journalism Studies Department of Texas A&M San Antonio and is a founding member of the Local Online News Publishers Association Board of Directors.

Former members of the NOWCastSA Board of Directors:

William G. Moll, Chair Emeritus -- Moll is President of KLRN-TV, San Antonio’s Public Television Station, Channel 9. Previously, Moll served as Chairman of Clear Channel Television, a division of Clear Channel Communications headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. In addition, Moll’s wide-ranging experience includes positions as President of WNBC-TV in New York; President/CEO of the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) in New York; President/CEO of Clear Channel Television in San Antonio; President/CEO of WKRC-TV, in Cincinnati, Ohio; President/CEO of Harte-Hanks Broadcasting in San Antonio; President/CEO of KENS-TV, San Antonio; Station Manager, KLRN-TV, San Antonio.

Bill Israel, PhD, -- Israel is a journalist and a professor of journalism and political communication at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. He focuses on the study of media and power.

Israel began his career in Iowa as a reporter for newspapers, radio and television, specializing in political reporting while completing a bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of Iowa.

After a stint as press secretary for an Iowa gubernatorial candidate, Israel became the Washington, D.C. press secretary to U.S. Sen. Harold Hughes. He later won a Rotary Foundation Fellowship to study at the University of Strasbourg, France. He moved to northern California, where he worked as reporter, editor, photojournalist or anchor for news organizations including the Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Examiner, Dallas Morning News, USA Today, The New York Times, CBS Radio and ABC-TV.

Jennifer Velasquez -- Velásquez serves as Coordinator of Teen Services for the San Antonio Public Library System and manages the daily operations of the Teen Services Department of the San Antonio Central Library. She serves as lecturer in the School of Information and Library Science at San Jose State University (CA) where she teaches programming and services for young adults.

In 2005, The New York Times recognized her work in the area of teen services when she was a recipient of the New York Times Librarian Award. Her programs were twice recognized as YALSA Excellence in Library Service to Young Adults Award recipients.

In 1996, her work was recognized with La Promesa Award for Outstanding Programming to Latino Youth from The National Latino Children's Institute.

She received her master's degree in Library Science from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey’s School of Communication and Information in 1991.

Thomas L. Schlenker -- As the Director of Health for the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, Dr. Schlenker oversees a staff of approximately 400 employees working to control and prevent infectious disease; protect the environment; promote health, especially for women and children, and emergency preparedness.

From 2006 to 2011, Dr. Schlenker was the Public Health Director for Madison and Dane County, Wisconsin.
Previously, he led health departments in Milwaukee and in Salt Lake City, he served as Chief Medical Officer for the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin-Kenosha and was a Senior Fulbright Fellow at the National Institute of Public Health in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

Dr. Schlenker graduated from Antioch College, received his medical degree from Northwestern University and received a master's degree in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health. He is a board certified pediatrician.

Julie Weber -- Weber is Director of Online Marketing at the University of the Incarnate Word where she has developed and manages the Extended Academic Program Websites including the Virtual University, ADCaP, and high school programs. She creates the online marketing strategy (display, SEO, SEM, email and social marketing) and coordinates with traditional marketing efforts.

She was General Manager of MySanAntonio.com from 2002 to 2009 and was Digital Media Manager for Hearst Newspapers from 2000 to 2002. She was Online Sales & Marketing Manager San Antonio Express News from 1997 to 2000.

She graduated from St. Mary's University and a earned a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of the Incarnate Word.

She is a member of the North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Technology Committee, the Newspaper Association of America Digital Media Federation Board and the St. Mary's Alumni Association.

Charles Pruski -- Pruski has more than 37 years of experience in the field of public health. He is currently the Interim Deputy Public Health Director for the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District (SAMHD), a city department with almost 400 employees and an annual budget exceeding $40 million. Pruski assists the Director of Health in the management of the department and he represents the department at various state, local and community events.

Pruski assists the Director of Health in the management of various public health programs to include: fiscal operations, contracts and ordinances, human resources, information technology, emergency preparedness, food sanitation, environmental health, epidemiology, capital projects and health facilities management. He also represents the Director of Health at various state, local and community events.

Ray Howard -- Howard is an Evaluation and Educational Development Specialist for the Academic Center for Excellence in Teaching (ACET) of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

In this capacity, Howard supports its educational, research and development programs with academic and organizational systems development, faculty development, strategic planning, project design, educational research, scientific grant writing and technology-based learning assistance and training. Howard has mor than 30 years of experience in health care policy, fiscal management, organizational development, research and building collaborative partnerships. He has served on community and corporate boards, civic and government committees focused on improving health, economic and social support systems for children, men and families.
Howard is pursuing a Doctoral Degree in Public Health from the University of Texas.

Brian Johnson -- Johnson is a Cloud Computer and Social Web Evangelist at Rackspace Management; leveraging project management best practices to turn big ideas into business cases, and business cases into reality.