OUR ADVISORY COUNCIL 

Lee Crawford is the Division Chief for the General Counsel Division of the City of Austin Law Department. Lee is an accomplished senior attorney and manager with a record of significant achievement as in-house counsel in both the public and private sectors. With his years of experience, Lee is guiding the growth of One Good Turn.

John Newton is a father, priest, author, and graduate of the University of Texas at Austin (BBA). In 2008 John graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary and was ordained to the priesthood at All Saints Episcopal Church in January of 2009, where he served for almost three years as the University of Texas Campus Missioner. In February of 2011, John began working as a Canon on Bishop Andy Doyle’s staff, a position he held for just over seven years. In March of 2018, John began a new post as the rector of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Austin, TX. John is the author of three books: New Clothes: Putting on Christ and Finding Ourselves (2014), Falling into Grace: Exploring our Inner Life with God (2016), and Reckless Love: the Scandal of Grace in a Performance-Driven World. John is married to his best friend Emily and the two of them reside in Austin with their daughters, Annie and K.K., and their golden retriever, June. When not working or with family, John enjoys running, hiking, eating Mexican food, and rooting for the Texas Longhorn football team.

Dr. Messer is Professor of Medicine and former Director of the Section of Cardiology at
Rush University Medical Center. He is a member of the Consulting Staff, NorthShore
University HealthSystem and Senior Clinician Educator, Pritzker School of Medicine,
University of Chicago. Dr. Messer graduated from Harvard’s College, Medical School,
Residency and Cardiology Fellowship programs. He served in the Air Force as Officer-
in-Charge of the Cardiopulmonary Measurements Unit, Aerospace Medical Research
Laboratories. He has been active in many national and international organizations,
serving as Chairman of the Board of the American College of Cardiology, Chairman of
Heartbeat International Foundation, member of the Advisory Board of Cardiovascular
Credentialing International, and service on multiple organizations devoted to
development of guidelines, performance improvement, and graduate medical education
including membership on the Board of Trustees of Chicago’s Weiss Memorial Hospital.
He is a Master of the American College of Cardiology, and a Fellow of the American
College of Physicians, the American Heart Association, the American College of Chest
Physicians and the Society of Cardiac Angiography and Interventions.

A prolific entrepreneur, advocate, traveler and philanthropist, Julia Folk has dedicated herself to improving the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people after seeing their plight first hand. She founded the World Dream Foundation to address issues of poverty and, under Ms. Folk’s leadership, WDF has expanded its programming in health, education and human rights from Cambodia to other parts of Asia, Africa, and even the U.S. Ms. Folk is driven by the belief that a simple act of courage, compassion, and love can change the world. At WDF, she leads a team of committed change-makers that is working to ease poverty, suffering, and injustice, and empower the most disadvantaged populations, one community at a time. Originally from Ukraine, she got her first job as a kindergarten teacher when she was 18 and has been committed to building a better world for future generations ever since. In 2009, Ms. Folk moved to the U.S. on her own, where she set out to connect people to better lives. Julia Folk completed her B.A. in Philology, speaks six languages, has a special interest in neuroscience and aviation. She currently lives in the Greater Los Angeles Area.

Fern Lentini has spent the majority of her professional business career in marketing and sales management. She served as National Director of Marketing and Sales at the 7th largest National Accounting firm before moving on to Vice President of Marketing and Sales at the AMA, emphasizing strategic growth and brand management. She earned a bachelor of science in marketing and supervision from Purdue University. Her volunteer activities have included Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago and Almost Home Kids, a care facility for recuperating children,  and other management boards.  With her husband, she co-manages the Manne Family Foundation and the grant process focused on women's and children’s needs.  She enjoys mentoring young women on their personal and business growth to become “the best they can be."

David Diehl is an associate professor of program planning and evaluation at the University of Florida. He was formerly the Director of Evaluation Initiatives for Family Support America and a Research Associate and Associate Director of the Center for Practical Evaluation at the Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute. He received his doctorate from Cornell University in Human Development, with a dissertation addressing the implementation and evaluation of a Head Start reading project. David has research interests in the areas of child welfare and evaluation research and he has expertise in participatory evaluation, community planning, child development, early intervention, survey development, foster care, and youth assets.  He has led evaluation initiatives in a diversity of areas, including international development, nutrition, agriculture, climate change, financial education, and parenting.

Selina Serna serves as the Executive Director of Project Schoolhouse, where she brings a graceful yet firm, quiet accountability. Serving on the board since 2013 when a trip to Nicaragua inspired her to become involved, she has been increasingly engaged until taking over the Executive Director role in 2019. Formerly a long-time team member of Whole Foods Market, Selina knows the importance of balancing social good with successful business models. Selina has served as Financial Controller for Whole Foods’s UK expansion, Assistant Controller for US Southwest Region and, most recently, Sr. Coordinator for Growth and Business Development until leaving in 2019 to focus full time on Project Schoolhouse. Selina is a graduate of Rice University with a degree in Economics.

Lisa began her professional career at the high tech consortium SEMATECH. As an Organizational Development Specialist, she was part of a team that designed and facilitated strategic planning meetings for 100+ high-level managers from member companies such as Intel, IBM and Motorola, and government agencies such as DARPA.  While there, she created and delivered well-received training classes on topics such as Team Development, Team Leadership, Project Management and Employee Development.  She later became an independent consultant in the Training/Organizational Development arena. After an extended break to raise three children, Lisa returned to the workforce as a Special Education teacher, specializing in teaching reading - especially to students with dyslexia.  In the small Hill Country town of Blanco, Lisa has reveled in her time working with underprivileged and historically underserved students. Lisa’s undergraduate degrees in English and Journalism, along with her significant experience in Adult Education/Curriculum Development, make her uniquely positioned to aid OGT in their mission to provide medical educational materials to underserved communities worldwide. 

Lori Patterson has over 20 years of professional development, marketing, and recruiting experience in the Internet, real estate, and legal industries. She is currently Chief Marketing Officer at Zero Four Media, focusing on marketing, public relations, branding, social media, and community relations efforts. She has a B.S. in Human and Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University. Lori has also been extremely active in her community, including a previous position as Board Member of Well Aware, a non-profit dedicated to building and repairing water wells in Africa. Lori especially enjoys spending time with her husband Ryan and one-year-old son Sebastian.  Her other interests include studying Reiki and various forms of energy healing, and traveling.  Lori is a certified Reiki Master and has traveled to over 40 countries. Lori is honored to be a part of the Advisory Council of One Good Turn.  She has witnessed first-hand the important work the organization has accomplished in Kenya, Africa, and understands the need for the practical medical education and hands-on guidance that Dr. Ann Messer and her team provides.