The Founder's Trap
The Founder's Trap
The Founder's Trap Market Archetype Mechanical Natural
Tier
Developing
Trajectory Thumbprint

The Founder's Trap

What does this mean?

10-year flat revenue, below-market executive comp, and a small board. The organization survives purely on the sweat equity of a founder, making it utterly un-transferable.

The Path Forward

The Dispersal

Forces succession planning and structural maturity. It requires raising capacity-building funds to decouple the organization's survival from the founder's personal sacrifice.

The Dispersal
The Dispersal
Institutional Health Scores
5-yr trend: The Founder's Trap
Overall
59
Score
Governance
58
Score
Financial
60
Score
Program
60
Score

Institutional Epochs

2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
Financial Era
Governance Era
Trajectory Era
Founders Trap

Historical Performance

Year Revenue Top Comp Comp % Rev Score Phase Label Outlook Details
2024 Hidden Hidden Unknown
2023 Hidden Hidden 2.9% 59 Fragile Recovery
2022 52 Fragile Stable Watch
2021 1.8% 55 Fragile Recovery
2020 7.8% 50 Fragile Decline Risk
2019 4.8% 55 Fragile Recovery
2018 5.4% 50 Fragile Decline Risk
2017 5.6% 54 Fragile Stable Watch
2016 5.7% 54 Fragile Stable Watch
2015 2.4% 55 Fragile Stable Watch
2014 2.8% 55 Fragile Stable Watch
2013 3.1% 55 Fragile Recovery
2012 3.9% 51 Fragile Decline Risk
2011 5.5% 54 Fragile Stable Watch

Officer compensation history

Tax year 2025

Name Title Phone Email Compensation
Emily Neff Board Member 1.4% of Rev
Lisa Abel Chief Development Officer 0.8% of Rev
Waris Mustafa Chief Financial Officer 0.7% of Rev
Lamont Jefferson Board President
Roxanna Richardson Secretary
Ed Hart Board President
Wendy Weil Atwell Board Member
Martha Avant Board Member
Brenda Betts Board Member
Jorge del Alamo Board Member
Thomas Edson Board Member
Chave Gonzaba Board Member
Marie Halff Board Member
Jason Harris Board Member
Cecilia Herrera Board Member
Karen Herrmann Board Member
Emily Jones Board Member
Jennifer Kelley Board Member
Rosario Laird Board Member
May Lam Board Member
Carolina Roberts Lewis Board Member
Kim Lewis Board Member
Jane Macon Board Member
Katherine Moore McAllen Board Member
Prentice Huntington Miller Board Member
Bruce Mitchell Board Member
Dacia Napier Board Member
Elizabeth McAllen Roberts Board Member
Harriett Romo Board Member
Ambassador Sichan Siv Board Member
Sidney Swearingen Board Member
Emory Hamilton Board Member
Rose Marie Hendry Board Member
Karen Hixon Board Member
Claudia Huntington Board Member
Banks Smith Board Member
Hector Rivero Borrell Board Member
Robert Hammond Board Member
Toby O'Connor Board Member
Nelson Rockefeller Jr Board Member
William Scalan Jr Board Member

Tax year 2022

Name Title Phone Email Compensation
Emily Sano Board Member 0.9% of Rev
Lisa Tapp Board Member 0.8% of Rev
Mary Burch Chief Development Officer 0.7% of Rev
Suzanne Weaver Artistic Director 0.6% of Rev
William Rudolph Artistic Director 0.2% of Rev
Ed Hart Board President
Lamont Jefferson Board President
Bruce Mitchell Board President
Gregg Muenster Secretary
Roxanna Richardson Secretary
Martha S Avant Board Member
Brenda Betts Board Member
Lenora P Brown Board Member
Rebecca Cedillo Board Member
Kevin Covey Board Member
Jorge del Alamo Board Member
Dale F Dorn Board Member
John Eadie Board Member
Thomas Edson Board Member
Kathleen Finck Board Member
Claire Golden Board Member
Chave Gonzaba Board Member
Marie Halff Board Member
Emory Hamilton Board Member
Rose Marie Hendry Board Member
Christian Herff Board Member
Cecilia E Herrera Board Member
Karen Herrmann Board Member
Karen Hixon Board Member
Claudia Huntington Board Member
Alyda Kniestedt Board Member
Rosario Laird Board Member
Jennifer Lee Board Member
Kim Lewis Board Member
Martha Lopez Board Member
Jane H Macon Board Member
Katherine Moore McAllen Board Member
Dacia Napier Board Member
Thomas OConnor Board Member
William Dean Rasco Board Member
Corinna Richter Board Member
Peggy Mays Board Member
Elizabeth McAllen Roberts Board Member
William Scanlan Jr Board Member
Jenny Schimpff Board Member
A Kate Sheerin Board Member
Banks M Smith Board Member
Beth Smith Board Member
Nancy Steves Board Member
Sidney Swearington Board Member
Rich Walsh Board Member
Mark E Watson III Board Member
W Richey Wyatt Board Member

Tax year 2021

Name Title Phone Email Compensation
Katherine C Luber Executive Director 1.0% of Rev
Lisa Tapp Chief Financial Officer 0.7% of Rev
Mary Burch Chief Development Officer 0.6% of Rev
William Rudolph Artistic Director 0.5% of Rev
Ed Hart Board President
Lamont Jefferson Board President
Bruce Mitchell Board President
Gregg Muenster Secretary
Roxanna Richardson Secretary
Martha S Avant Board Member
Brenda Betts Board Member
Lenora P Brown Board Member
Rebecca Cedillo Board Member
Kevin Covey Board Member
Jorge del Alamo Board Member
Dale F Dorn Board Member
John Eadie Board Member
Thomas Edson Board Member
Kathleen Finck Board Member
Claire Golden Board Member
Chave Gonzaba Board Member
Marie Halff Board Member
Emory Hamilton Board Member
Rose Marie Hendry Board Member
Christian Herff Board Member
Cecilia E Herrera Board Member
Karen Herrmann Board Member
Karen Hixon Board Member
Claudia Huntington Board Member
Alyda Kniestedt Board Member
Rosario Laird Board Member
Jennifer Lee Board Member
Kim Lewis Board Member
Martha Lopez Board Member
Jane H Macon Board Member
Katherine Moore McAllen Board Member
Dacia Napier Board Member
Thomas OConnor Board Member
William Dean Rasco Board Member
Corinna Richter Board Member
Peggy Mays Board Member
Elizabeth McAllen Roberts Board Member
William Scanlan Jr Board Member
Jenny Schimpff Board Member
A Kate Sheerin Board Member
Banks M Smith Board Member
Beth Smith Board Member
Nancy Steves Board Member
Sidney Swearington Board Member
Rich Walsh Board Member
Mark E Watson III Board Member
W Richey Wyatt Board Member
Officer contact details, exact compensation figures, and active litigation are available to verified members.
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Score breakdown

Score breakdown

Financial resilience
60 / 100
weight 40%
Governance risk
58 / 100
weight 40%
Program scale
60 / 100
weight 20%
Overall
59 / 100
Developing

The three components combine into a single 0–100 score weighted as shown. Full methodology →

Peer comparison

Compared to 8 other orgs in TX with NTEE prefix A5.

Most-divergent component: financial score sits 14 points above the peer median (60 vs. 46).

5-year trend: The Founder's Trap

10-year flat revenue, below-market executive comp, and a small board. The organization survives purely on the sweat equity of a founder, making it utterly un-transferable.

What's driving this score

What would change this score

No specific high-impact levers identified — this org's score is balanced across components.

Improving governance is a board decision. These are the levers.