About Us - HALO Board
HALO's Board of Directors includes the following
distinguished individuals:
Brian Jackson, Austin, TXPresident, 2010
Mr. Jackson was born in Austin, Texas in 1964 and graduated from Abilene Christian University in 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English. He obtained his Law Degree from the University of Houston School of Law in 1990 and is currently a Senior Shareholder in the Austin law firm of Davis & Davis, P.C.
Mr. Jackson specializes in health law and defending healthcare providers in medical malpractice cases. He also advises Hospitals and Hospital Boards on regulatory issues, contractual issues, reimbursement disputes, and governance issues.
In addition to his busy trial schedule, Mr. Jackson has been a featured speaker at seminars throughout Texas on legal issues for hospitals and hospital districts, including lectures in Abilene, Amarillo, Austin, Dallas, Harlingen, Houston, Lubbock, San Antonio, and Wichita Falls. The State Bar of Texas has also selected Mr. Jackson as a featured speaker at their Advanced Medical Malpractice Conference for six of the last eight years. Mr. Jackson was a contributory author in 2005 for an article in the Texas Tech Law Review on the subject of Tort Reform for hospital districts.
Mr. Jackson and the law firm of Davis and Davis, P.C., represent more than 100 Hospitals across Texas as well as the Texas Hospital Association, the Texas Hospital Insurance Exchange, and the Texas Pharmacy Association.
Mr. Jackson serves on the Boards of several non-profit organizations including Brentwood Christian School, HALO (Helping Autism through Learning and Outreach), and KidFish. He lives in Austin with his wife Kristi and three young children.
Mary Brown, Los Angeles, CA
2009
Mary Brown has been a story analyst for Steven Spielberg for nearly 20 years, first at Amblin Entertainment and currently at DreamWorks SKG. She previously was an executive at other entertainment companies. She has also produced several award-winning plays in Los Angeles. She earned her BA from Occidental College and a Masters degree in English literature from Northwestern University. She has performed community service for other organizations, and was a spokesperson and board member for Victims for Victims, in support of victims of violent crime. Mary has compiled a directory of summer camps and programs for special needs children in southern California and has created a website for the catalog. Mary is married to Drew Brown, a television producer, and has three children: Annie, Kyle and Woody, who has been a student of Soma's for five years. Mary is dedicated to seeing Woody thrive academically, using RPM to support his full participation in the general ed classroom setting.
P.J. Himelfarb, Hagerstown, MD
2010
P.J. has been a corporate and securities attorney for 17 years. P.J. worked for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for six years and is now a partner in the international law firm, Weil, Gotshal & Manges. P.J. and her husband Adam have twin 10-year old girls, Rhiannon and Teghan. After a typical infancy, it became clear sometime in the girls' second year that Rhiannon had developed autism. P.J. and Adam have tried many different therapies, even moving to California from Maryland for a year and a half for a top-notch verbal behavior program, but it wasn't until Rhiannon attended her first camp with Soma three years ago that she was able to effectively communicate and show her significant academic achievements. P.J. and Adam have now made it their mission to support HALO and RPM.
Stacey Lewis, Austin, TX
Secretary , 2010
After 10yrs in Retail & Mortgage Banking Division with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Stacey left her career to dedicate herself fulltime to her son Cameron who was diagnosed with Autism at age 3 and Epilepsy at age 4. Stacey has been an active advocate for autism for the past 9 years and was invited to share her story about advocating for her son during his elementary school years at Dr.Stanley Greenspan's 2005 International ICDL (Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental & Learning Disabilities) Conference . In 2006 Stacey was introduced to SomaŽ RPM and organized a California Workshop in 2007 . She has since moved to Austin where she is committed to helping HALO grow and serve the special needs community through her role as Secretary of HALO's Board of Directors, moderating HALO's online Member forum and volunteering at the HALO clinic.
Amy Bruce, Austin, TX
Treasurer
