Leah Williams - Co-President

Geneva Heights

Future Cougars: Jenna  (Class of 2022)  and Hallie (Class of 2025)

My husband Stuart and I are both East Dallas natives. Stuart grew up in Lake Highlands, and I grew up a few blocks from Tietze - my parents still live in the same house. I am a product of Mockingbird Elementary (shh, don’t tell!), J. L. Long and Woodrow Wilson.  Growing up here, we’ve seen how much East Dallas and Lower Greenville has changed for the better, including Geneva Heights! After we got married, we immediately started looking for a house in the area. We first rented a duplex on Miller and a year later we moved three blocks down the road a bought a house on Llano. We love the neighborhood and its walkability.

I own a boutique public relations/marketing agency, Dala Communications, and Stuart is the philanthropy director for Promise House, a youth homeless shelter. We first got involved in Pre-G through Wendy Hatchell, the brainchild of Pre-G and our inaugural president. The group has grown so much since it began, and it has been a blast to be a part of the excitement and momentum that is Pre-G.

As Co-President of Pre-G I look forward to working alongside my partner in crime, Erica, and helping support our board members as we work together to spread awareness for our growing group. My goal is to ensure our families and kiddos remain connected even amidst today's crazy world of COVID-19 and social distancing. A more engaged community is more important than ever right now and only means one thing for our neighborhood school – a better education for our kids and all who attend Geneva Heights!

Melinda Trujillo - Treasurer

Lakewood Heights
Cougar: Gwendolyn (Class of 2020)

Future Cougar: Madeleine (Class of 2022)

My husband, Thomas, and I have lived in Lakewood Heights since 2012. Prior to moving to our current neighborhood, we were located in Uptown and then moved to Florida for a few years, but knew this was the neighborhood we wanted to be in when we moved back to the Big D! We love the quaint neighborhood feel and all that it entails in the big city. I work full-time for an investment management firm in Uptown, and Thomas is an audit partner at KPMG. Our girls attend preschool at Skillman Church of Christ Child Development Center. When we aren’t chasing after our girls, we love to find the best new restaurants, travel, and spend time with friends and family.

Pre-Geneva Association was introduced to me by a friend that lives in the neighborhood, and immediately I knew this was an organization I wanted to get involved in. I am elated to support this organization and our children’s future school – with a bonus of getting to know some really amazing neighborhood moms (and dads) at the same time!! As Treasurer, I will maintain all financial records and budgets for our organization.

Lydia Hathorn - Secretary

Vickery Place

Cougar: Connor (Dual Language Kindergarten, class of 2020)

Future Cougar: Claire (Kinder class of 2024) 

After living in NYC and New Jersey for 7 years, a new job offer for my husband, Chris, brought our family to Dallas in 2016. Neither of us are from the northeast (I’m from Missouri, he’s from Louisiana), and what we felt was most lacking from our lives during our time in NYC/NJ was a sense of belonging to a community. When the time came to buy a house in Dallas, finding a neighborhood that felt like home with a school where our kids could flourish and thrive in a network of caring neighbors and friends was at the top of our priority list. Vickery Place and Geneva Heights seemed the perfect fit. This past school year, we confirmed that Geneva Heights Elementary is indeed a very special place - Connor attended PreK4 at Geneva Heights and just started kindergarten with the class of 2020. Claire and I enjoy volunteering in the school library, where she’s already building a fan club that awaits her kindergarten arrival in 2024.

When I’m not working part-time as a women’s health nurse practitioner at Parkland Hospital, I can often be seen walking the kids to school (always running late, of course), strolling Greenville with the family in search of a new place to try for dinner, or heading to Tietze Park after grabbing coffee from Halcyon. My hobbies include DIY home improvement projects, gift wrapping, hunting for a good bargain, dancing at the drop of a hat, home organization, and color coding my planner (now you know why I’m the secretary).

Kristen Orlando - VP of Programming  

Belmont Addition
Cougar: Lucca (Class of 2022, Kinder Dual Language)
Future Cougars: Layla (Class of 2022, currently PreK-3)

My husband and I, both Ohio State Graduates, moved from

Denver to Dallas in 2012. We spent around a year looking for an area that checked off all of our wants and after stumbling on the Lower Greenville Neighborhood we were hooked. We have really loved being able to walk everywhere. What started out as frequent walks to the Greenville bars escalated quickly into bike rides at Tietze with our two kiddos. 

My husband works in Supply Chain for US Cellular while I am the Director of Quality at my family owned FAA repair station BP Aero. 

I joined the PreG board quickly after it started and have loved watching our first wave of 6 month old babies turn into Geneva Heights Kindergarteners. 

With the programming role I have helped set up some annual events as well as manage our sports teams for spring and fall seasons. There’s nothing better than watching three year olds tumble down the field all kicking the same soccer ball am I right?  

We currently have a kindergartner in the dual language program and also have a PreG baby in the PreK-3 program. 

Aubrey Butcher - VP of Membership 

Vickery Place

Future Cougars: Nola (Class of 2021), Knox (Class of 2022), Bowen (Class of 2023)

My husband and I moved into Vickery Place in 2017 and were immediately struck by the number of young families who live in this neighborhood. Unsure of our school situation, we discovered the Pre-G community on Facebook and immediately felt the enthusiasm the parents had for the future of Geneva Heights. We felt welcomed and supported and I look forward to paying back that hospitality by serving on the board this year.

In addition to being a stay at home mom, I have my own residential interior design company - Gilded Heights. I started Gilded Heights as our family was growing so it often feels like my fourth baby. I anticipated wanting the flexibility to work from home and scale my business according to my family’s needs. While my husband and I are not originally from Dallas (California and Washington respectively), we feel like Dallas is our home now. We love our neighborhood and if you ever see three toddlers on bikes cruising down Lower Greenville or through Sam’s Club To Go, they’re probably our kids! We also love to travel, especially to Mexico! 

As VP of Membership, I am committed to working towards encouraging new membership and educating others about the Pre-G community!

Jackie Engwicht - VP of Fund Development

Vickery Place
Future Cougars: Declan (Class of 2021)  and Holden (Class of 2024)

My husband Cory and I moved to the Lowest Greenville area a little over two years ago from Uptown. We were craving a little more space and finding other families with little's for our kids to play with. We were also dead set on our kids attending the neighborhood schools. We hit the jackpot! Our oldest Declan, 4, currently attends Greenland Hills Preschool and will head to Geneva Heights next year. Our youngest, Holden -1, will attend Greenland Hills starting 2021 and follow on to Geneva Heights in 2024.

My husband works for AWS as an ISV strategic partner. I currently work for Copyright Clearance Center in software, content, and resource sales for corporations, mostly working with pharma companies. We volunteer with Jonathan’s Place and I will be Chairing the Chi Omega Christmas Market in 2021.

As VP of Fund Development, I am excited to support the Peace Pantry, Geneva Heights leadership, teachers and programs that help develop our kids in to functioning, contributing, hopefully happy and well adjusted, adults. I look forward to expanding our current fundraising efforts so that we are able to support Geneva Heights not only in their needs, but wants as well.

Crystal Woods - Parliamentarian

Belmont Addition
Future Cougar: Jamis (Class of 2022) & Henley (Class of 2025)

My husband, Jarrett, and I are both Dallas/Fort Worth natives. He beat me to the neighborhood in 2009, but I was quick to join him, with us buying a home together in the Belmont Conservation District home in 2012. It has been incredible to watch the area grow and thrive, and particularly exciting to see so many young families move in. We love East Dallas, particularly the character, traditions, and unique people that it encompasses, and could not be more excited about what is to come.

We soak up as much time as possible with our son Jamis, who currently attends Skillman Child Development Center and will start kindergarten at Geneva Heights in 2022, and daugherty Henley, who we welcomed in May 2020 and will start kindergarten in 2025. I work full-time as an employment litigation attorney at DLA Piper LLP (US) located in downtown, and my husband is a multi-family developer. We love traveling (even with a toddler), live music, sailing, and enjoying the outdoors with family and friends.

As the Parliamentarian, I try to ensure we dot all of the i’s and cross all of the t’s so that Pre-Geneva can continue to do the amazing work that it is doing. It is so exciting to be part of this incredible organization that has already made such a marked difference in just the few years since it was established—not just for our school, but for our neighborhood and in bringing our community together.