Lori Olson, Executive Director

Lori Olson has served as the Executive Director of the Texas Land Trust Council since July of 2011, working to strengthen the coalition of land and water conservation organizations working across the Texas. In her work with the Council, Lori engages in state and federal advocacy, strategic outreach, and research projects that promote the many benefits of conservation. She offers counsel, training, and technical assistance, and hosts the annual Texas Land Conservation Conference.  

Lori has over two decades of experience in the field of land conservation, working with land trusts in Oregon, North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas.  She is the former Executive Director of the Eno River Association, a land trust located in Durham, NC. She also served for several years as a project manager for The Trust for Public Land, focusing on Central Texas conservation projects with government agency partners including the Cities of Austin, San Marcos and San Antonio, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Travis and Hays Counties.  

A native Texan, Lori is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. in Biology, and a graduate of the University of Oregon with a Master’s degree in Community and Regional Planning, as well as a Master of Science degree in Public Affairs. She also completed her Certificate in Non-Profit Management at Duke University. She is an avid conservationist and lover of travel and the outdoors. Lori lives in the Texas Hill Country with her family.

Elisa Donovan- Chair

Elisa is the Vice President and General Counsel of the Coastal Prairie Conservancy, a land trust that protects over 33,000 acres of farms, ranches and natural areas in a nine-county region in Texas’ Mid to Upper Gulf Coast. Elisa leads strategic partnerships for regional grassland conservation and advocates for the protection of the coastal prairie, including through her role as a member of the San Jacinto River Regional Flood Planning Group during the development of Texas’ first flood plan. Elisa founded Nature’s Burial, Coastal Prairie Conservancy’s venture that established the first certified conservation burial grounds in Texas. Elisa received a Bachelor of Science in Materials Science and Engineering from Rice University and holds a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. She practiced law for over 20 years handling business, real estate, and energy matters before redirecting her career to fulfill her longstanding passion for the protection of wildlife habitat, joining the Coastal Prairie Conservancy in 2017. Elisa enjoys cycling the backroads of Colorado County and spending time with her husband Barry and three sons on their family farm.

Mark Steinbach – Chair-Elect

Mark has been the Executive Director of the Texas Land Conservancy since 2007. He earned his bachelor’s in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and master’s in Rangeland Ecology and Management, both from Texas A&M University. His master’s research focused on Texas landowners and their knowledge of conservation policy and land management techniques. Mark received his Ph.D. from the University of Montana in Missoula from the College of Forestry and Conservation. His dissertation and post-doctoral work focused on land fragmentation in the Rocky Mountain region. He previously worked at the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, where he was a private lands wildlife biologist providing technical assistance to landowners in the Hill Country. Mark’s land management experience also stems from his academic career and working on his family’s farm in Washington County.

Jordan Gossett – Treasurer

Jordan works as a Farm and Ranch Lendor with Cultivated Lending, LLC, specializing in flexible and competitive real estate loans for recreational land, farm and ranch property.  Previously, Jordan served as the Vice President of Commercial Lending at Horizon Bank, where he spent nearly a dozen years working in lending and credit.  A graduate of Belmont University, Jordan’s passion for wildlife and ranch management led him to also earn a Certificate in Ranch Management from Texas Christian University. In addition to his service with TLTC, Jordan also serves on the board of directors of the Hill Country Quail Coalition. Jordan lives in Austin with his wife and two children.

Allison Elder – Secretary

Allison Elder is the Director of Legal Services for the San Antonio River Authority (SARA). In this capacity she manages the legal needs of SARA and serves on the executive team. Her responsibilities include legal compliance in the areas of contracting, construction, environmental regulation, risk management and records retention. Her career has focused on private land conservation and historic preservation. Allison has a finance degree and a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining the River Authority, Allison was the Vice-President and General Counsel of the Texas Agricultural Land Trust, a statewide private land conservation organization. She has also served as a Senior Attorney at the law firm of Braun & Gresham, and as Executive Director of Green Spaces Alliance. She is the immediate past Chair of the Texas Land Trust Council and of Mission Heritage Partners, the official friends’ group for the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. She is a volunteer with the Mentor Circle Program at St Mary’s University School of Law. Allison was selected by the San Antonio Business Journal as an Outstanding Lawyer in the community in 2019. She was a member of the 2017 Leadership San Antonio Class 42. Allison and her husband Steve have been married for 32 years and have four children.

Craig Bonds

Craig is a 24-year veteran of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and currently serves as its Chief Operating Officer. Prior to July 2023, Craig served within the Inland Fisheries Division, including prior work as a fisheries biologist at various levels and locations throughout Texas, promoting to Austin as Division Director in 2015. He holds a B.S. from Texas A&M University, and a M.S. from Virginia Tech. Craig is a Certified Fisheries Professional with the American Fisheries Society (AFS). He has held numerous positions within that professional society, including President of both the Texas Chapter and Southern Division. Craig also serves as Board Chairman of the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, serves on the Texas A&M University’s Range, Wildlife, and Fisheries Management Department’s External Advisory Committee, and is the Executive Sponsor for TPWD’s R3 Plan, which is aimed at recruiting, retaining, and reactivating anglers, boaters, hunters, and target shooters in Texas. His passion for the outdoors was kindled as a youth while fishing and hunting on the family ranch in Bell County and continues those traditions on family land in Fayette and Bastrop counties.

Lisa Gonzalez

Lisa is the Vice President and Executive Director of Audubon Texas, the state office of the National Audubon Society, where she leads a team advancing conservation, science, policy, and education to protect birds and the places they need today and tomorrow. Her work is guided by Audubon’s aim to bend the bird curve and halt the decline of bird populations, grounded in the belief that what’s good for birds is good for people, and that partnerships with private landowners are key to this work. Before joining Audubon, Lisa spent nearly two decades at the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC), including as COO and CEO. She holds degrees from Texas A&M University at Galveston and the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Lisa lives in Houston with her husband of 30 years and their two dogs, and loves to go birding.

Kathy Miller

Kathy has served as the Chief Executive Offier of the Hill Country Conservancy since 2022, where she leads a talented staff team working to conserve the best of the Texas Hill Country.  Kathy also served as Interim CEO of Waterloo Greenway Conservancy and led comprehensive restoration efforts along Waller  Creek, in collaboration with the City of Austin. Prior to that, Kathy spent 16 years at the helm of the Texas Freedom Network. Kathy earned a degree in political science from the University of Texas at Austin in 1991 and attended the University of Texas graduate school, studying philosophy. Kathy is the proud mother of two adult daughters, Olivia and Caroline.

James Oliver

A lifelong rancher with more than 15 years of production ag lending experience, James Oliver brings a unique perspective to the TLTC Board of Directors. He got his start in production agriculture on his family’s South Texas cattle operation as a child, and he hasn’t looked back. With a B.S. in Agricultural Economics from Texas A&M Univerisity, James has a wealth of professional experience with the National Finance Credit Corporation, First State Bank of Uvalde, Bank One and its successor, JP Morgan Chase. He currently sits on the board of directors of Ozona National Bank, a regional community bank. James has been running a diversified commercial cattle, sheep, and goat operation on his wife’s family land in Crockett, Pecos, Val Verde, and Kinney counties for the past decade. He brings to the board his background in agriculture and finance, and his passion for helping landowners who wish to conserve and pass their land intact to the next generation.

Stephanie Prosser

Stephanie is a native Texan and has held a lifelong interest in land and nature which lead to a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Texas – San Antonio and a Master of Science in Biology from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi. In 2008, she started her professional career as a Biologist with Bayou Land Conservancy in Houston, Texas. There she held a variety of titles including Conservation Director and Interim Executive Director. In 2016, Stephanie made a career switch to join her family surveying business, Medina Valley Surveys, located in Castroville, Texas, where she perpetuated her love of the outdoors with daily fieldwork. In 2020, Stephanie became a Registered Professional Land Surveyor and now specializes in Land Title Surveys for Conservation Easement properties. Since joining the family surveying business, she’s had the opportunity to work across Texas on many spectacular and challenging farms and ranches that are now permanently protected. Her heart is in the Texas countryside, and she enjoys nothing more than exploring and protecting it. In addition to joining the Texas Land Trust Council Board of Directors in 2023, she has held a position on the Green Spaces Alliance Lands Committee since 2017. In her downtime she enjoys her time outside with her husband Patrick, daughters, Lily and Mirabelle, and their many pets.

Suzanne Scott

Suzanne Scott joined the Nature Conservancy in Texas as the State Director in November 2020, after a 20-year career with the San Antonio River Authority serving as its General Manager for 13 years. In her current role, Scott establishes conservation strategy and public policy leadership to protect the state’s cherished landscapes and support ecology, economy, public health, and equity. Suzanne is a natural collaborator and is focused on promoting resilience through on the ground nature-based projects in rural and urban communities, while supporting the protection and restoration of connected and diverse habitats and ecosystems throughout Texas. A water policy expert, she has guided the development of successful programs to improve flood protection, water quality, habitat restoration, and increase public river access. In addition, Scott chaired the South-Central Texas Regional Water Planning Group and the Guadalupe and San Antonio Rivers Bay and Basin Area Stakeholder Group. She also led the first Interregional Planning Council, created by the Texas Water Development Board. Currently, she serves on the State Flood Planning Group for the San Antonio River Basin. Suzanne obtained her undergraduate degree from Texas Tech University and a Master of Science in Urban Administration from Trinity University. She lives in San Antonio with her family.

Romey Swanson

Romey Swanson has dedicated his career to advancing private-land conservation and wildlife stewardship across Texas. He serves as Executive Director of the Devils River Conservancy, working with landowners, public agencies, and conservation partners to protect the Devils River, its springs, and the working lands and wildlife habitats that sustain them. Throughout his career, Romey has advanced voluntary, collaborative approaches that support landowners while conserving important Texas landscapes. Before joining DRC, he served as Director of Conservation Strategy for Audubon Texas and Conservation Program Manager for Hill Country Conservancy. His experience also includes private-lands wildlife consulting, conservation planning, public policy, and partnership-building among landowners, land trusts, nonprofits, and government agencies. Romey is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and holds degrees from Texas State University, including a Master of Science in Wildlife Ecology. He has served in professional, nonprofit, and public advisory roles supporting wildlife, working lands, and conservation across Texas. His work reflects a belief that the future of Texas wildlife and habitat depends on strong relationships with private landowners and durable partnerships that keep working lands whole, healthy, and productive.

Bob Stokes

After practicing law for 10 years, Bob joined the Galveston Bay Foundation as President in June 2004. There he leads a robust professional staff in a number of programs areas working to conserve and protect the Galveston Bay ecosystem. He is a 1990 graduate of Yale University and a 1994 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. In addition to his service on the TLTC Board, Bob has also served on the Houston Wilderness Board of Directors since 2004 and on the Governing Board of Earth Share of Texas beginning in 2007.