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Meet the 2022 Champions of Change | Nonprofit Leader of the Year Nominees

2022 Champions of Change Nonprofit Leader of the Year Nominees

BiNi Coleman
Co-Founder
African American Leadership Institute

BiNi Coleman has over 28 years consulting and developing highly effective programs, systems and organizations to benefit the community — efforts which have been recognized and studied by agencies such as Texas State University at San Marcos, the Stanford Graduate School of Business, SEDL, the Texas Education Agency, Texas Department of Transportation, US Department of Education, and Colin and Alma Powell’s America’s Promise Alliance. One recent example has been the launch of the African American Leadership Institute (AALI), which is designed to enhance civic awareness and leadership opportunities to make an innovative community impact on Central Texas. As her work has received increased attention, she has received the following recognitions in 2021: • the Outstanding Leadership Award by the Austin NAACP • Named a "Top Ten" Central Texas Diversity Champion by the Austin Black Business Journal & Community News • Nominated for Best CEO Award in the nonprofit category by the Austin Business Journal • Featured in VoyageAustin "Hidden Gems" series, covering "Local Businesses and Creatives You Should Know" Many moons ago, BiNi was a member of the University of Texas Women’s Volleyball team, and beyond her work, she is a happy wife and mother living in amazement of her beautiful 6-year-old daughter.

Jane Hervey
Executive Director
Future Front Texas

Jane Hervey is a creative producer, accidental nonprofit founder and recording artist, living and working in Austin, Texas. As a trained journalist, writer and self-identified nerd, she’s fascinated by the way we use words, photos, gatherings and the Internet to create culture. Her curiosities in those areas inform most of her projects today, which includes accidentally founding a nonprofit festival and learning club called Future Front Texas and producing within her studio, group work, to design communication strategies and experiences for clients. Jane has professionally collaborated with a range of people and places—from grassroots orgs and independent artists to projects with Bumble, The Line Hotel, Red Bull and Dr. Marten’s. Her work has also been profiled in publications like Texas Monthly, ADWEEK and Forbes, as well as recognized in the City of Austin’s Women’s Hall of Fame.

Courtney Santana
CEO & Founder
Survive2Thrive Foundation

The Survive2Thrive Foundation was founded in 2013. The mission of The Survive2Thrive Foundation (S2T) is to provide life-changing resources and support to displaced victims of domestic violence and abuse, to assist them in creating their own sustainable path to recovery, self-sufficiency and success. Our Vision: To assist victims of domestic violence and abuse in the transition from continued victimization through empowerment to true survivorship and success.

Dr. Jereka Thomas-Hockaday
Co-Founder
Central Texas Allied Health Institute

Dr. Jereka Thomas-Hockaday was born in Baytown, Texas. She received a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences from Texas State University- San Marcos, both master’s and doctorate degrees from Capella University. Over her twenty-year career in healthcare, Jereka has worked as an Emergency Room Technician, Surgical Technologist and Surgical Assistant in various hospitals in the Austin area. In 2011, Jereka accepted a position as Surgical Technology Instructor at the newly opened Brown Mackie College-San Antonio. During her tenure, she served as Instructor, Clinical Coordinator and Acting Department Chair. In 2015, Jereka completed an Advanced Certificate in Surgical Assisting from Meridian Institute of Surgical Assisting in Nashville, TN. Jereka was then invited to become a partner and Managing Director at River City Assisting, LLC surgical assisting group. In this capacity, Jereka managed six employees. The group provided surgical assisting services for fifteen surgeons in Austin the areas of General, Orthopedics, OB/GYN, Plastics, ENT and Brain/Spine surgery. She is now co-founder of the Central Texas Allied Health Institute. A new institution of higher learning that seeks to bring allied health care training to individuals in vulnerable communities who have not historically had access to these types of training programs. She and the team of the campus are featured on the upcoming sixth season of Queer Eye for their work running a Travis County sponsored COVID testing and vaccination clinic in East Austin. Jereka and her husband, William “Ben” Hockaday live in rural South Travis County with their 3 year-old son Carter Thomas and their dog, Chula. Servant leadership and public service is family legacy as Ben is a career federal employee at the Veterans Administration.