Meet Our Board of Directors
Dr. Karen Kohler, President, Secretary
Dr. Karen Kohler is an educational leader with expertise in early childhood/elementary education, family engagement, and literacy. She was the former founder and executive director of early childhood literacy programs that focused on professional development for pre-kindergarten and Head Start educators and parents in Texas and California.
Dr. Kohler started her career in education as an elementary school teacher and later a family specialist known for increasing and sustaining parent involvement and family engagement on Title I campuses. Currently, Dr. Kohler is an Adjunct Professor at Texas A&M University, San Antonio, and the University of the Incarnate Word. In addition to teaching classes in Reading, Literacy, and Instructional Methods for pre-service teachers, she was hired to research and develop new program minors for the University of the Incarnate Word.
Dr. Kohler is passionate about educating parents and guardians to be engaged in their children’s education process. She holds a Master’s in Education with an emphasis on Elementary Education and a Doctorate in Education, specializing in Reading and Literacy. Her research interests include family engagement in education, the collaboration between classroom teachers and speech-language pathologists, and best practices for supporting secondary special education teachers and staff.
Kara Mowrey, Ed.D., Treasurer
Dr. Kara Mowrey is a faculty member at San Antonio College and has served as Adjunct Faculty Coordinator for the Student Development department over the past two years. She has over 20 years of teaching experience from middle school to higher education. She is passionate about serving students and, specifically, supporting first-time college students in achieving their academic goals. Dr. Mowrey has served as a mentor for the Faculty Partners initiative in Student Development and works to equip new faculty with innovative strategies to engage students in the classroom and online.
Her journey with advocacy began when her daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia, and she has worked to support families and students with dyslexia as they navigate the educational system. She hopes to empower students to find the services needed to be academically successful.
Dr. Mowrey earned her Bachelor of Science in Education from Baylor University, her Masters in Arts in Counseling, and her Doctor of Education from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Dr. Mowrey lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her husband of 25 years and two daughters. She enjoys traveling and volunteering in the community.
Anneke Schreuder, Ph.D. - Outreach Coordinator
Dr. Anneke Schreuder is a Dutch pediatrician and neonatologist who is particularly interested in developmental epidemiology.
Her daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia. This brought her deeper into the world of learning disabilities. For several years, she worked as a dyslexia tester/tutor at UT Health Science Center.
Seeing many students struggling in math, she decided to return to her area of expertise and passion: math. In 2010, she started Dyscalculia Services to provide Dyscalculia Training to teachers, parents, and Tutors, assessments for students and adults, and provide remediation for students and adults.
Dr. Schreuder has a longstanding interest in neuroimaging and neurodevelopmental pediatrics and their relationship to early childhood development and education.
She serves on the board of the Learning Disabilities Association Texas Chapter and co-chairs the Professional Advisory Board of the Learning Disability Association of America.
She frequently speaks on Dyscalculia at conferences, consults various schools, and has developed a series of online courses to train Dyscalculia tutors.
Virginia Spencer, Board Member
Virginia Spencer is a Special Education Advocate, Dispute Negotiation Coach, and Business Consultant based in Austin, Texas. She helps parents secure a free, appropriate public education for their children with disabilities.
In addition, she works on resolving disagreements with schools and creating cohesive teams. Virginia is the parent of 2 adult children with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia.
Kelly Emanuel, MPH, Board Member
For 12 years, Kelly worked primarily as a project manager in the healthcare industry for a global consulting company, insurance companies, a large integrated delivery network, and pharmaceutical companies. When her son and daughter were diagnosed with multiple medical conditions and learning disabilities, Kelly put her career on hold to focus 100% of her efforts on her children. She put her research skills to use by learning everything she could about their conditions and therapies. Kelly trained as a Resource Parent through SPAN, and a special education advocate through COPAA. She has experience with seclusion and restraint issues, physical and social-emotional bullying, and the school district’s failure to provide Child Find services, FAPE and LRE.
For over a decade, Kelly has gained extensive experience with children that have a wide variety of learning disabilities and medical conditions. She has worked with children that have: dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, auditory processing disorder, ADHD, convergence insufficiency, executive functioning deficits, sensory processing disorder, oral apraxia, and feeding issues, autism (classic, PDD-NOS and Asperger’s), anxiety, depression, trichotillomania, food allergies, and emotional regulation challenges.
In the past, Kelly held leadership positions in various Special Education Parent Teacher Associations. She has experience with fundraising and successfully advocating for additional programs and services. Kelly has been an ABA behavior technician and completed RBT 40 hr training. She has also provided SAT tutoring services to high school students with learning disabilities.
Kelly Emanuel holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame and a Master’s degree in Public Health from New York Medical College. She completed approximately half the coursework for a second Master’s degree, a Master of Arts in Teaching, Special Education K-5. She discontinued the program when she decided to homeschool her children full-time.
Kelly lives with her family in North Texas, where she continues to homeschool both children. She has a special interest in assisting children with multiple learning disabilities and behavioral challenges. She is the owner of Starfish Skills, a company that provides information and resources on learning disabilities.
Lisa Rogers - Board Member
As a special education teacher and case manager for the past 26 years, Dr. Lisa Rogers has continued to answer the call to educate young learners, both those with learning disabilities and those at risk. She has vowed to take an even more active role in LDATX and looks to further network with teachers, administrators, and all stakeholders.
As a parent and grandparent of behavior needs children and learning disabled children, Dr. Lisa Rogers has first-hand experiences of struggles and successes. She believes we are all a part of the village to raise each child and support the whole child and family dynamic. The resources and support LDATX has to offer are priceless and relevant.
Outside of work, Lisa enjoys being a youth Sunday school teacher at Carver Park Baptist Church, where she resides in Waco, TX. She is a single mother of three and has three grandchildren. Her young and old students, who affectionately call her Granny, continue to flock to her classroom to get help, snacks, or a daily laugh or smile. She loves making learning fun and believes that all students can learn. She strives daily to answer the call in her life to teach. She currently serves as the President of The Texas Association for Alternative Education and on the Board of Directors of Delta Kappa Gamma, an International society of key women educators.
Dr. Lisa Rogers earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from Baylor University in 1999, her Master in Arts in Teaching from Grand Canyon University in 2003, and her Doctorate of Education in Higher Education Leadership from Capella University in 2007. She has taught adjunct and presented at local and international conferences in order to share and empower educators and students nationwide.
Rachel Krueger - ex-oficio
Rachel currently serves as the Director of Affiliate Relations with LDA of America and oversees 35 affiliates, and is a consultant for LDATX. She is the Past President of LDATX and has been involved with LDA for 10 years.
Additionally, she is also a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and is a certified Mental Health First Aid Instructor. Rachel has worked with children who have bipolar issues, are on the Autism Spectrum, and have Oppositional Defiance Disorders.
She is also the Co-Chair of the Mental Health Committee, and is the Assistant Chair for the LDA Annual International Conference.