For Immediate Release

Contact:
Rebekah Haynes
KGBTexas Public Relations/Advertising
(210) 826-8899
bekahh@kgbtexas.com

San Antonio River Foundation Names New Executive Director

(April 2, 2007) SAN ANTONIO, TX — As community and corporate anticipation builds about the commencement of the long-planned San Antonio River Improvements Project, the Board of Directors of the San Antonio River Foundation has named Catherine Nixon Cooke as its new executive director.

Board president Edward “Sonny” Collins announced Cooke’s selection at last week’s board meeting, citing her creativity, community building skills, and fundraising experience as critical components in the Foundation’s work to provide the amenities, public art, and special enhancements that will make the San Antonio River Improvements Project so unique, ensuring that it will become a lasting legacy for San Antonio and all of its citizens.

“I can think of nothing more exciting than being a part of what is about to happen here in San Antonio,” Cooke said. “The idea that the San Antonio River will become a beautiful ribbon of water connecting our community in a myriad of ways, from its headwaters to our extraordinary Mission Espada, is thrilling.”

“I can’t wait to listen to all the voices along the river, to hear the dreams about what our community wants its river to be, and to play some small role in what the City, County, San Antonio River Authority, U.S. Corps of Army Engineers, and the private sector will do to create a true legacy for our city and beyond. The partners in this endeavor all are committed to the very best for all of San Antonio, and the River Foundationis honored to raise the extra dollars that will make that possible.”

Cooke is a native of San Antonio, with more than 20 years experience in non-profit management, economic development, and community relations. She returned to San Antonio in 2005, after serving as president and CEO of The Mountain Institute, an international non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, with 8 field offices in Asia and South America

Her career spans conservation and community development, journalism and public relations, and special events planning. She is the author of Tom Slick Mystery Hunter, a biography published in 2005 about the oilman/philanthropist who founded Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, Southwest Research Institute, and the Mind Science Foundation; and the former editor-in-chief of Coronet Magazine, published in the 1980s with a circulation of 600,000 readers. Serving as the executive director of the Mind Science Foundation for 15 years, she developed a membership base, created its lecture series, and instigated the Imagineer Awards to salute innovative ideas and actions in the community.

Cooke is an elected Fellow of The Explorers Club, and serves as a Board member of the Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics and the San Antonio Medical Foundation (San Antonio), an Advisory Board member of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies (Corpus Christi), and the Mountain Forum (Nepal). Her degree is in Communications from Stanford University, with graduate studies in Spanish and Sociology at the University of Valencia (Spain) and Trinity University (San Antonio).

The San Antonio River Foundation is a certified nonprofit organization that works to secure community involvement and financial resources to enhance the natural beauty, recreational use and public appreciation of the San Antonio River and its tributaries in Bexar, Wilson, Karnes and Goliad Counties. Since its inception in 2003, the San Antonio River Foundation has been actively involved in the San Antonio River Improvements Project, a multi-year plan to restore and enhance 13 miles of the San Antonio River both north and south of downtown.

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