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Stories: Literary gala with novelist Celeste Ng

When:
Monday,
November
02,
6 p.m - 9 p.m
Where:
Austin Central Library

Celeste Ng is a celebrated author known for her best-selling novels, including “Everything I Never Told You” (2014) and “Little Fires Everywhere” (2017), which was adapted as a limited series on Hulu, starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. Literary page-turners, Ng’s novels delve into the intricacies of family dynamics, suburban life, and the complex issues of race in America.

Recognized as “a singular force of literary activism,” Ng passionately supports the endeavors of fellow writers and is a vocal advocate for social justice causes. She popularized the impactful social media campaign, #SmallActs, which serves as an inspiration for rallying support for marginalized communities. In 2020, she collaborated with the nonprofit organization We Need Diverse Books to establish grants aimed at empowering individuals from diverse backgrounds pursuing careers in publishing.

Jena Stude

Interim Treasurer

Jena Stude is Vice President of Development at Good + West Residential. Prior to joining Good + West in 2021, Jena was an Investment Manager at Blueprint Local, a real estate private equity firm, overseeing direct real estate investments in Texas. Before Blueprint Local, Jena was an Associate Director at the University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO) from 2013-2019. Jena previously held similar positions at Ascension Health, a large non-profit hospital system based in St. Louis, Missouri and the University of Arizona Investment Office. Jena holds a B.S. in Business Administration and an M.S. in Finance from the University of Arizona.

Frank Livaudais

Board Vice President

Frank Livaudais is also Vice President of Enterprise Engineering for Cloudflare, an internet security company in downtown Austin. An avid runner and reader, he has run more than 250 marathons (including races in all 50 U.S. states, six countries, and four continents). Frank tries to read 100+ books a year. He lives in Austin with his wife Shelley, son Christopher and one fairly naughty vizsla.

Tom Oney

Board President

Tom Oney is Chief People Officer and Executive Vice President of External Affairs for the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). He oversees LCRA’s Human Resources team and all of LCRA’s public-facing and advocacy functions, including Communications, Community Resources, Environmental Affairs, Public Affairs, and Regulatory Affairs. Tom also advocates before the Texas Legislature on behalf of LCRA and led LCRA’s public policy team during the 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021 Texas legislative sessions.

Tom was born and raised in Waco, Texas, and received his Bachelor of Arts in political science from Baylor University in 1996. He received his Juris Doctor cum laude from Tulane University School of Law in 1999. Tom currently represents LCRA on the board of directors of the Association of Electric Companies of Texas and serves as president of the board of directors of both the Austin Library Foundation and Green Doors, an award-winning non-profit benefiting homeless people in Central Texas.