About Austin LifeGuard
Letter From the Director
Our Services
Our Funding
Our Staff

Our Staff

Micah Anderson | Program Director

Micah is the boss over here at Austin LifeGuard. He loves working for LifeGuard because he knows that teenagers are trying to figure out who they are and they sometimes need adults who aren't their parents to come along and point them in the right direction. Micah married his wife, Ashley, in the spring of 2006. They are both UT Austin graduates and on Saturdays in the fall can be found down at D.K. Royal Stadium watching the Horns play football. Micah is also our resident rock star. He is the lead singer in a 90's cover band in his free time. Rock on Micah. Rock on.

Christi Russell | Program Administrator

Christi is our resident data-head. She can make you a spreadsheet faster than you can say the word AutoSum. Christi's job is to take care of all of our reporting but she's also become our IT person by default. Bless you Christi. Christi is married to Daniel and they have 2 beautiful little girls, Grace and Abby. You can catch the whole Russell family regularly watching shows like American Idol and Survivor. What many don't know about Christi is that she is quite the quilter. Nothing says cultural relevance to the youth of today quite like quilting!

Felicia Craig | Lead Educator

Felicia is the only member of the Austin LifeGuard staff that was born and raised in Austin. If you haven\'t noticed by now, we have a very musical staff over here at LifeGuard. Felicia is a hip-hop artist who\'s stage name is \"Lady Light.\" On top of speaking in the classroom regularly herself, Felicia has the job of training all of our Staff Educators. She teaches them the curriculum and helps our educators find their groove. She is one of the major reasons that students not only learn a lot from Austin LifeGuard but they also enjoy our program as well! She teaches the teachers.

Jordan Wheaton | Administrative Assistant

Jordan Wheaton is our Administrative Assistant. She is the glue that holds Austin LifeGuard together. She works with teachers and administrators to schedule our presentations all over central Texas. Jordan graduated from Texas A&M in 2007 but can still be heard whooping on occasion. Her husband Ross would describe her as sweet and spunky. And we LifeGuardians couldn't agree more. Jordan may be one of the sweetest people on earth. If you don't like Jordan, you probably also don't like babies, rainbows or freedom. When not at work you can catch Jordan hanging out at the dog park with her puppy, Olive.

Amanda Brown | Grant Manager

Amanda grew up in Waco, TX and stuck around to go to college at Baylor. But she also has a Master's degree in social work from UT and has been with LifeGuard for two years. When she's not acting as head sexpert you might catch her playing with her dog, a chocolate lab named Bagby, baking cupcakes (...mmm cupcakes) or running a marathon. You heard me right, marathons. She's run eleven marathons in eleven different states thus far. Amanda recently married the devilishly handsome Doug Brown and can now teach sex-ed from experience!

James Dodds | Staff Educator

In addition to teaching in the classroom himself, James is our Curriculum Specialist. That means he gathers statistics and information concerning sexual health and turns that raw information into the sleek digital presentations that students see in the classroom. James moved to Austin from Cuero, TX (population 6,571) to attend the biggest university in the country. The student enrollment at UT is about 7 times more people than live in James’ home town! James likes to drink good coffee, read Malcolm Gladwell books/articles, run and philosophize on life. If you’re looking for a good conversation on just about anything, James is your guy.

Josh Myers | Substitute Educator

Josh was born in Fort Worth but moved to Austin as a youngster. He went to college at Howard Payne University and furthered his education with master’s degree in marriage and family therapy. He now works for Austin LifeGuard and is also a licensed professional counselor who works at a local adolescent counseling center. Josh has a heart for young people and loves to present to our students. And the students love him! Josh has a gift for using dry humor that knocks them dead. Josh recently married Katie in the fall of 2009. You go boy.

Jason DeGraaf | Staff Educator

Jason left his home in the St Louis area in 1996 to attend the University of Arizona. He, like many of our staff members, has some interesting hobbies. He likes swing dancing, practicing yoga and is a self proclaimed “fantasy nerd” who likes Star Wars, Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings. His favorite part about working for Austin LifeGuard is laughing with the other staff about all the wonderfully awkward questions and situations that we sex educators find ourselves in. I guess you have to have pretty thick skin to do what we do! Jason is not currently in a relationship. “All the single ladies, put your hand up!”

Branden Stathes | Substitute Educator

Branden is not only new to Austin LifeGuard, but he’s new to Austin all together. He’s a newly arrived Georgia boy. So of course he likes sweet tea and peaches. Why does Branden like working for LifeGuard you ask? In his words…“I’ve learned that the days in my life that I gave myself up for the betterment of others were the days I was most alive and joyful.” Interesting fact about Branden: He eats Oreos and milk every single night. I’m not joking. He’s says that he’s been doing it for so long that he has trouble going to sleep if he doesn’t (Double Stuff Oreos only… duh).

Callie Black | Staff Educator

Callie Black hails from Keller, TX. She attended school at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University (whoop!). She’s not a farmer. She just went to school there. Callie loves to do things outdoors: sand volleyball, frisbee, walking barefoot in Zilker Park… Callie is our little “Energizer Bunny.” She never wears out! But it comes in handy. Her liveliness and magnetic personality make her an incredible LifeGuard presenter. Callie loves to travel. She’s been to Paris and London. Italy and New Zealand are on her hit list for future travels. Callie lives by the creed: “break dance, not hearts.”

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