Creating Smiles, Improving Lives

Over the last 20 years, he has been fortunate to hold various senior leadership positions in acute care hospitals, physician practices, and long-term acute care hospitals. He is currently the CEO and Market Executive of Cornerstone Hospitals of Austin and Round Rock. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He was introduced to Austin Smiles by Dr. Jim Cullington and is thrilled to be a part of such a worthy and inspiring cause. Curt is married to Tiffanie and they have two rambunctious boys, Jonathan and Henry, who keep them on their toes.

Dee Dee Ritzinger was born in Wiesbaden, Germany, and grew up living in many places as her father was a flight surgeon in the Air Force. She went to Texas State University for design and communications and holds a marketing certification from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. Dee Dee was the founder and CEO of A3 Creative Inc. from 1996 -2019. She launched her consulting practice in April 2019, helping people across the globe with health and wellbeing, as well as personal and business matters.

Dee Dee understands her purpose and passion is to help people. At age 16, she volunteered for Amigos de las Americas. She was placed with one other young woman in the remote village of La Masica, Honduras where she vaccinated locals there and in nearby villages for Diphtheria Pertussis Tetanus (DPT). She saw many diseases that were fatal or debilitating for young children and adults.

Dee Dee was recruited by Forest Cook to join the Austin Smiles Board of Directors in 2009 and became Vice-Chair in 2015. She has been in the operating rooms of missions and has seen the dedication and professionalism of our medical team experienced in the process of transforming the lives of cleft-lip palate patients.

Virgilio Altamirano is from Nicaragua and came to UT to study engineering and business in 1973. He earned a BS in Architectural Engineering (1977) and a BA in Accounting and Finance (1981). He obtained his CPA license in 1985. He began his professional career in 1982 as a Bank Examiner, and later held Senior Accounting and Financial positions with several banks and other industries. Virgilio currently manages a family-owned Real Estate Investment Company in Central Texas. He has been a Board Member of several non-profits.

He was introduced to Austin Smiles in 2000 thru Dr. Jim Fox. As a co-founder of the Friendship Cuba organization, he has facilitated several Austin Smiles medical missions to Havana, Cuba. Virgilio is married to Tricia and has two daughters working in Manhattan.

Sheri Gallo has served on the Austin Smiles Board since 2018 and has participated as a volunteer on medical mission trips to Veracruz, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Sheri Gallo attended Trinity University in San Antonio and UT Austin studying biology and architecture. Sheri served on the Austin City Council and is a successful businesswoman in the real estate and mortgage lending industries.  She has also worked as a property tax arbitrator for Travis County.

 Sheri’s strong community involvement includes past leadership positions as UT School of Social Work Advisory Council Chair, Austin Apartment Association President, Housing Authority of City of Austin Chair, Doss Elementary PTA President and Anderson High School Project Graduation Chair. Sheri has also served on the Settlement Club Executive Board, the University of Texas School of Social Work Dean Search Committee, and the Real Estate Council of Austin Board.

In addition to her involvement with Austin Smiles, Sheri currently serves as a member of the University of Texas Development Board, is a Docent of the Governor’s Mansion, and is a member of the Settlement Club. Throughout the years, she has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, Blue Santa, Girl Scouts, Lake Travis Underwater Cleanup, MDA, and Austin Theatre Alliance.

Sheri’s family includes her two grown children, Anthony Gallo and Cassie Gallo McKinney, and three precious grandchildren.  Sheri plays competitive tennis and pickleball, enjoys scuba diving in beautiful places and travels as much as possible! Sheri loves animals, especially her rescue dog, Allie, and spent many years training and showing Hunters and Jumpers throughout the State of Texas.

Sheri treasures the time she spends with Austin Smiles because every day it reminds her of how lucky we all are, and how important is it for us to give back our time and resources to help those less fortunate. 

Andrea is passionate about child development and helping underserved children. Andrea spent several years teaching catechisms and leading faith formation for children in the various congregations she has been a member of. Andrea sought to become actively involved with Austin Smiles as a way to give back not just to local children in need but to find ways to bring aid to children in the region that she is originally from, where the need is exponentially greater and the resources are extremely limited. Andrea is focused on expanding Austin Smiles’ international missions to include Honduras.

Andrea is married to Edmundo and they have resided in Austin since 2016 with their two sons, Sebastian and Gael. The Toro’s were introduced to Austin Smiles by Curt and Tiffanie Roberts.

Ashley’s passion is to inspire women to look and feel their best. After 10 years in the industry, she has the confidence to help patients do just this. Training and education are very important to her. She is constantly attending training sessions and educational conferences. Ashley has started training local Plastic Surgery practices on advanced PRP, Skincare, Injectables, Micro-needling, and Sculptra.

Dr. Sarah Frommer was adopted from Seoul, South Korea by an Army family. She went to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to study Biomedical Engineering and earned her BS degree, Magna Cum Laude, in 2000. After RPI, she was accepted into the MD/PhD program at the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities. Here, she earned her medical degree and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering studying adult stem cells and graduated in 2010. Fortunately, she was able to take a 1 year international medicine elective between her 3rd and 4th year of medical school; she did medical work and research in Israel, Belgium, Guatemala, Tanzania, and India during this time. She then moved to Providence, RI to start a Plastic Surgery Residency at Brown University. During her residency, she earned resident of the year for 2014. She also had many opportunities to travel internationally during residency – she received a Regan Fellowship to participate in an Operation Smile mission in Paraguay; she also did observerships at SickKids in Toronto and the Children’s Hospital at Seoul National University. After graduating from residency in 2016, she moved to Austin to do a fellowship in Craniofacial and Pediatric Plastic Surgery at Dell Children’s Hospital. During her fellowship, she was able to travel to El Salvador with Austin Smiles to do surgical work.

After fellowship, she is happy to stay in Austin and is currently employed by Texas Children’s Hospital. In her spare time, she loves exploring new restaurants, cooking, doing crafts, and spending time with friends. She is excited to get to work with Austin Smiles again and try to make a difference in patient’s lives.  

Edmundo is married to Andrea and they have resided in Austin since 2016 with their two sons, Sebastian and Gael. The Toro’s were introduced to Austin Smiles by Curt and Tiffanie Roberts and they are focused on expanding the organization’s missions in Latin America to include their native Honduras.

Forest is passionate about philanthropic work in the local community and has served on the Board of Directors for organizations including Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Austin, the Austin Theatre Alliance, Zachary Scott Theatre, and The University of Texas Club. He has served on the Austin Smiles Board of Directors since 1997, including as both Vice-Chair and Chair of the Board. Forest is the proud grandfather of grandsons Taso and Phil.

Glendene has presented at major international conferences all over the world and has been published in a variety of journals and newspaper editorials. Her most recent publication, “Global governance and the role of non-state actors in improving the social and economic development of growing economies: A conceptual approach using a global public health framework on violence prevention,” is a chapter in the book Civil Society: The Engine for Economic and Social Well-Being (Springer International Publishing, 2018). Dr. Lemard-Marlow holds a Ph.D. in International Economics and a Master of Arts in International Studies from the University of Miami and a Yerby Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Jim’s guiding principle has always been to offer services where needed regardless of any reward and to treat all patients to the best of his ability regardless of ability to pay. Jim is proud of the Austin community of doctors, nurses, surgical technicians, support staff, and countless volunteers for being so generous of their time and deed for Austin Smiles.

Kevin has been supporting Austin Smiles over the years as a donor, mission volunteer and most recently as a newly elected Board member. Kevin also volunteers on the City of Lakeway Citizens Committees and civic organizations as well as serving on his community HOA Board. Among other activities, Diane and Kevin enjoy global travel including traveling to multinational venues with their three grandchildren and they recently completed the Seven Continent Circuit with a trip to Antarctica.

Dr. Mahlon Kerr – After graduating from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor of Science in biology, Dr. Kerr went to Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, where he earned his medical degree. Following a general surgery internship at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, he completed 5 years of combined residency training in plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. He has received more than a dozen honors and awards from medical societies and organizations and been instrumental in several medical studies. Together with his wife Ashley he opened Synergy Plastic Surgery in 2010. The practice has grown to multiple locations and surgical facilities throughout the greater Austin area.

Dr. Kerr is board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, a member of multiple local and national plastic surgery societies, and actively teaches medical students through his clinical position with Texas A&M Medical school. Dr. Kerr has a passion for international plastic surgery and has been involved with many cleft trips over the last 15 years. Outside of work he spends time traveling and puttering around his ranch in Fredericksburg with his lovely wife.

He is active with Austin Smiles, both as a volunteer and board member, because of the great opportunity to improve the lives of affected children and families and to positively impact the perception citizens of other countries have of Americans. Stan is married to Brenda and is the proud father of two daughters, one of whom has been on two Austin Smiles mission trips. “I think Austin Smiles the most worthwhile organization with which I have ever been involved.”

Michael Collier is a vice president in Frost’s private banking group. He joined Frost in 2018 and has nine years of experience in the banking industry. Michael is a General Securities Representative, an Investment Adviser Representative and a Certified Wealth Strategist. He also holds his Texas General Lines for Life, Accident, Health and HMO insurance license. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of Texas at Austin.

Michael was introduced to Austin Smiles by David Landry.  He has lived in Austin for over 30 years, and enjoys spending time with his wife, Elyse, and their two children Hudson and Addie.

Laura North graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Texas at Tyler in 1990. After 5 years of teaching 5th-grade students, she moved into the healthcare industry and has spent the last 20 years working in various areas of the industry from pharmaceuticals to medical devices.  She is currently a Senior Hospital Sales Representative for Allergan Aesthetics.  Laura was introduced to Austin Smiles through the Austin Plastic Surgery Society and Dr. James Cullington. Since going on a mission trip in 2017 to Veracruz with Austin Smiles,  she has been a volunteer and advocate for the organization.  Laura has two amazing daughters, Macy 17, and Madison 21.

Since 1991, Cindy Greenwood has been at the center of Austin’s luxury real estate market and continues to be a top-performing agent as well as a mentor to those around her. She is known throughout the community for her integrity, positivity, and her glass half full outlook. Cindy is an attentive agent with strengths in negotiation, communication, and marketing skills. These have led Cindy to a long history of marketing luxury condominium projects and multi-million-dollar estates. She looks forward to sharing Austin’s rich history and character with everyone she meets.

Aside from her professional career in real estate, Cindy is passionate about the performing arts and youth education. Cindy Greenwood has been on multiple trips with Austin Smiles and has been a Board Member for many years. She also currently serves on the Board and is Development Chair at ZACH Theatre.

Carl Stuart is married to Claire and they have three children. Carl is President of Carl Stuart Investment Advisor, Inc, and he oversees approximately $525 million of client assets. Since 1995 Carl has broadcast Money Talk heard every Saturday from 4:00 until 5:00 PM on News Radio KLBJ.

Carl has served on various boards including Peoples Community Clinic, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Austin, YMCA of Austin, St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, Texas Presbyterian Foundation, KLRU Austin PBS, Zach Theatre, Westwood Country Club, Headliners Club and the University of Iowa Center for Advancement.

Brian Mueller, CPA is the founder of Mueller & Associates, CPAs, a value-focused tax and advisory boutique ranked in the top 1% of performing firms nationwide. As a self-driven and results-oriented CPA, Brian is passionate about partnering with clients and building relationships for life. His firm has amassed the largest market share of Plastic Surgery clients in Austin, and stands out as the go-to practice for successful, entrepreneurial physicians.

Born in Argentina to a family of Eastern European origin, Brian moved to the U.S. by himself at age 18 to pursue the American Dream. He obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Austin, and then became a dual credentialed CPA and IRS-licensed Enrolled Agent (EA). Brian is married to a physician and together they have two lovely children, a boy and a girl.

Maria Resendiz, PhD, CCC-SLP is a bilingual speech-language pathologist with over 20 years of experience. She is an associate professor at Texas State University.

She first went on a trip to El Salvador with Austin Smiles as a graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin in 2001. In 2017 Maria was re-introduced to Austin Smiles by bilingual speech-language pathologist Julie Loney, who approached Maria about providing speech therapy to children via tele-practice after they received surgeries from Austin Smiles plastic surgeons. Since then, Maria has involved her collaborators and students in training with therapists from El Salvador. Along with collaborators, Maria will start providing speech therapy to children in Guatemala multiple times a year. Maria is married to Richie; they have two children, Gabriel and Rebeca, who keep life interesting.

Tracie Monroe grew up in the Texas Panhandle. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas Tech University and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Western Connecticut State University. She spent most of her nursing career working in a large, free clinic. She has also provided disaster relief medical care to those affected by tornados and bombings. Trace hopes to bring a personal perspective to Austin Smiles as she was born with a cleft lip and palate and knows how much the gift of a smile can change someone’s life.

Tracie and her husband Mark retired to the Austin area twenty years ago. They have two daughters and three grandchildren.