Melissa Woolard is an expert in the field of non-profit management and servant leadership. She is driven by her passion to enrich the lives of people, especially the underserved. Woolard’s superpower is her ability to connect people and leverage relationships to create and grow impactful change. After graduating from The University of Texas in Austin with her degree in Advertising from the College of Communications, Woolard served as a copywriter for the top advertising agencies in Dallas, TX. At The Richards Group, she worked on national accounts including Chic-fil-a and The Home Depot. At Temerlin McClain, she worked on JCPenney, American Airlines and Subaru. In 1999, Woolard moved to San Antonio to work at The Adkins Agency on local accounts including The San Antonio Express-News, The Spurs, H-E-B and Methodist Healthcare. In 2002, after starting her own family, Woolard discovered her passion for volunteering and serving her community through her work with the Junior League and as a founding board member for Girls, Inc. She continued to volunteer and make connections in the non-profit community while she started her family and freelanced as a copywriter and as the social editor for the North San Antonio Times.From 2008 through 2011, Woolard served as the Public Information Officer for two major schools districts in South Texas including San Antonio I.S.D. and Seguin I.S.D. She is known for getting both districts to create their social media accounts. In 2017, Woolard began her non-profit work with the San Antonio Tennis Association, a 501c3 dedicated to growing the game of tennis, focusing on teaching tennis and creating access to children in underserved communities. In 2018, Woolard was recruited to lead the Miss Tristan Foundation a fledgling legacy foundation with a four person board and $75,000 endowed by Tristan Byrd’s family. In five years, Woolard grew the foundation into a six-person organization serving over 3000 children with a $650,000 budget. In 2022, Woolard created a partnership with the City of San Antonio to deliver free water safety education and free swim lessons to the 2000 children served by the city’s free preschool program Pre-K 4 SA. Today, The Miss Tristan Foundation is the name in South Texas in water safety education and drowning prevention awareness. In 2023, Miss Tristan will receive the Community Lifesaver Award from the National Drowning Prevention Alliance. Tee Off for Tristan, a golf tournament and fundraising event will celebrate it’s fifth year in 2023.