Vanessa Vaughan

Hostel/Council Executive Director

Vanessa has been Executive Director of the Austin hostel since March 2006. She has hostelled as a means to backpack around the world for 13 months and live a year in both Scotland and South Africa. She is very passionate about giving back to the traveling community and helping people get out there and experience the world! Originally from Texas, she continues to be involved with guiding outdoor adventures in the surrounding hill country as well as showing off Austin, her favorite city in the United States.

Ali Pharmakidis

Hostel Manager

Ali has been working with HI-Austin since 2005 and has been the General Manager since May 2007.  She has travelled extensively throughout the US and Europe and plans to one day expand her travels to China, India, and South America.  She thoroughly enjoys backpacking, and has trekked through the Rockies, the Ozarks, most of New England, Washington State, and the High Sierras.  A transplanted Yankee, she loves Austin for its greenbelt, music scene, and abundant vegetarian food.  She is an active member of Sasona Co-op, and is thrilled to be working with another organization that builds a strong sense of community , camaraderie, and culture.  She finds posting photos of herself and writing in the third person rather difficult, but would like to tell you that she is a graduate of the University of Vermont  :)

Trevor Evenson

President

Trevor has been a Director of the Hostel since March 2005 and has served as President since March 2006.  Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, he has travelled extensively though Europe, the Americas, Australia, and the Middle East. A lifetime member of Hostelling International, he volunteers his free time with numerous non-profit groups around Austin. Mr. Evenson has a varied educational background with credentials in Business Administration, Culinary Arts and Information Technology. He is currently employed with Check Point Software Technologies as an Information Security Consultant.

Shaya Zucker

Vice-President

Shaya, 57, has been a Director of the Hostel since March 2003 and has been serving as Vice President since March 2006. Mrs. Zucker has 20 years of experience working with not-for-profit organizations. She has served as President of the Reconstructionist congregation Shalom Rav. She has served as both a Director and Executive Director of a community not-for-profit radio station in Champaign, Illinois. Mrs. Zucker has volunteered with Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve in Austin and Austin Habitat For Humanity. She works in the Eanes school district as a certified substitute teacher. She and her husband have lived in Austin since 1989.

Ron Anderson

Treasurer

Ron, has been a Director of the Hostel since March 2001 and has been serving as Treasurer since March 2003. A two-time graduate of the University of Texas, he works as an engineering manager for the Lower Colorado River Authority. Mr. Anderson has published numerous articles on the topic of water resources. He has enjoyed traveling - from Solola, Guatemala to Portland, Maine, from Samara, Russia to Hamburg, Germany to Kusadasi, Greece. Mr. Anderson has been an Austin resident for over 20 years.

Annie Schwartz

Secretary

Annie has been a Director of the Hostel since March 2005 and has served as Secretary since April of 2005. She is an attorney specializing in open source software-related issues at IBM. She has traveled through five continents and has high hopes to visit the other two in the near future. Ms. Schwartz holds a B.A. in Political Science from Bryn Mawr College and a J.D. from Temple University.

Jackie Kenyon

Jackie Kenyon, 40, has been a Director of the Hostel since March 2004. She also serves on the Historic Review Board of Elgin, Texas and on the Events Committee of United Way Capital Area's Young Leaders Society. She currently works at Texas Mutual Insurance Company as a Sr. Staff Attorney and the Subrogation Manager. Ms. Kenyon holds a B.A. in Government from the University of Texas and a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law.

Eleanor Langsdorf

Eleanor, 63, has been a Director of the Hostel since March 2006. She hails from St. Louis, MO but has lived in IL, MD and TX and likes TX best! Her background is in education (high school math) but she is now retired. That doesn't mean she is idle. Days are filled with driving older citizens to appointments (Care-givers), helping people maintain their homes (Handi-wheels), making blankets for children in crisis (Project Linus), volunteering with local organizations and church groups, exploring Texas and visiting with young grandsons in Bedford. She is new to Hostelling but feels it is an organization worth supporting.

David B. Miller

David, 59, has been a Director of the Hostel since March 2003. Mr. Miller is the retired Director of The Foreign Service Review, Inc., a company that prepares students to take the United States State Department Foreign Service Exam. Previously, he was involved with executive search and work assessment for engineering and construction companies in the power generation industry.

Joseph Santandrea

Joseph has been a Director of the Hostel since March 2003 and served as President 2004-2006. Mr. Santandrea won a 2003 Volunteer of Distinction Community Service Ambassador Award for his work with the hostel. He also volunteers at Little Walnut Creek Library teaching an Introduction to the Internet in Spanish. Mr. Santandrea has traveled, lived and worked in over 30 countries. He currently works at Dell, Inc. as a Product Marketing Manager. He holds a BA in Psychology and Cognitive Science from the University of Rochester and an MBA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.   Joseph's newest project for HI-Austin is these awesome t-shirts! 

Kevin Yang

Kevin has been a Director of the Hostel since March 2006. He is originally from Taiwan and has backpacked, lived, studied and volunteered in over 25 countries. He is passionate about being a responsible world citizen. He holds a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering and a BA in Plan II from the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently dreaming about and planning his around-the-world trip.