Braver Angels of Central Texas
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​Executive Board 2020-2021

Karl B. Schmalz

Red Co-Chair, Co-Founder

Karl Schmalz is a retired oil and gas industry tax lawyer.  He grew up in Massachusetts and received a degree in economics from Princeton University and a law degree from the University of Texas. He currently serves as a senior advisor to the International Tax and Investment Center. Karl is a long time member of the board of Communities in Schools Dallas Region, a stay in school non-profit that works with at risk students.  He and his wife, Bonnie Martin, their two children and four grandchildren all live in Austin, Texas

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Norman Kaderlan

Blue Co-Chair, Co-Founder

Norman Kaderlan has studied life sciences, led arts organizations, advised design professionals on managing and marketing, mentored technology startups, taught marketing to engineers, and helped researchers around the world move their innovations from the lab to the market. He loves traveling, eating, cooking and photography.

Steve Saltwick

Co-Founder, Past Red Co-Chair

Steve Saltwick is a bio-psychologist whose career took a path through high-tech (Tandem, Compaq, HP, and two startups) on six continents. He studies the guiding principles of the mammalian brain especially as it relates to artificial intelligence. He has published in SCIENCE but prefers to dote on his first grandchild and two border collies.

Steve is also Co-Chair (Red) of the National Alliance program for BraverAngels.Org

Mike Seay

Co-Founder, Past Blue Co-Chair

Michael Seay is an attorney and CPA and founding member of Seay & Traphagan -- a law firm that practices state and local tax law. Mike is also the immediate past president of Congregation Beth Israel, the oldest synagogue in Austin.  Mike is a progressive (blue) organizer for Braver Angels, and committed to reducing political polarization. He is the father of two kids, Jude (10) and Joy (8).

Mike Edmonds

Executive Board

Mike Edmonds (Red) is a retired executive who has worked in Managing Director, Senior VP, and General Manager positions at large retail organizations (Montgomery Ward, Pamida,Goody’s, Kohls,Mervyns, Sanger Harris, Pogues, and Rikes). He has extensive experience in Asian Markets as Managing Director of Overseas Operations in Hong Kong with satellite offices in Taiwan, China, Indonesia, Korea, Bangladesh, and India. 

Mike has been married 53 yrs to wife Deborah, with 3 grown sons and  6 grandchildren. He was elected and served on the City Council for Englewood, Ohio.  Happily retired in Austin and travels this great country and the world as often as possible.  

Matt C. Wood

Executive Board, Co-Founder

Matt Wood is an attorney with the Austin law firm Weisbart Springer Hayes, where he specializes in business litigation. Originally from a small town in Georgia, he and his wife Reagan put down Texas roots and have a young son named Nash. Matt is a long-time volunteer attorney with Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas. In his spare time, Matt enjoys international travel, good nonfiction, and open-minded political discussions.

Jennifer Richmond

Executive Board

Jennifer Richmond (Red)  is an International Relations Specialist with a demonstrated history of working in geopolitics and global intelligence, education and culture, international business development, marketing, communications and public relations, and strategy. After leaving academia, she has been responsible for managing the international business development and networks for groups such as Stratfor and Waveland Ventures. Richmond also started American Culture Consultants, helping international visitors and residents connect, advance and succeed in America and Truth In Between, an initiative to connect people across distance and difference to correspond over letters. Most recently, Richmond partnered with Allen Hilton of the House United Movement to create the non-profit, House United Academy. House United Academy’s mission is to promote critical thinking and viewpoint diversity in K-12 classrooms across the nation.  

Jennifer has been featured in major media around the world including the Wall Street Journal, Manila Times, Asia Times, Xinhua, the Globe and Mail, China Economic Review and the U.S. News and World Report.  She lives in Austin, TX with her husband, son and pug. 

Susan Adams

Executive Board

Susan Adams (Blue) is the Regional Coordinator for the Citizens' Climate Lobby Third Coast region, which includes Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Susan co-founded the CCL Austin chapter in 2012, and volunteered with the organization until coming on staff in early 2018. 

In addition to her experience volunteering with CCL, she has twenty years of experience working as a technical writer and editor, managing projects across diverse, multicultural teams for such companies as Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Xerox Research Centre Europe (XRCE), HP, and Compaq. Most recently, she was the Managing Editor for an online community of over a million IT professionals, working on new strategies to attract and engage over 6 million unique visitors per month. Susan has two daughters and enjoys playing the fiddle badly.