Julie Gart

My mom would have told you that my whole life, I grew up planning events. I got a degree in marketing from the University of Texas in Austin because I didn't want to be limited in the type of work that I could do. I felt it offered a lot of versatility. When I got my first job as an event manager, it was at a small southern restaurant in Austin, Texas, and we planned different events in the different rooms. We also did all of the outside catering for the LBJ Library, which is located in Austin. Lady Bird and her daughters were still alive, and I had the pleasure of working with Lady Bird and her daughters. They did something called the Beautify Texas Highway Campaign, where they planted blue bonnets all down the Texas highway. Those blue bonnets still bloom today, and they've turned it into a wildflower center. But it's that that inspired me to dedicate my career to nonprofit work. As an event manager, you build relationships, and so I built those relationships and then transitioned more into a development career. Those relationships still benefit me today in my career, and I just continue throughout my career to grow and build more.