team

		Team : Elizabeth Christian

, President

Elizabeth Christian, a fourth-generation Austinite and journalism graduate of The University of Texas, is president of Elizabeth Christian & Associates Public Relations. Christian has a 32-year career in public relations, journalism and political affairs and has also been active in a wide range of community affairs.

Christian is involved in every aspect of support for ECPR clients. She has also spearheaded several major pro bono projects of significant impact, including the recently celebrated Tribute to Lady Bird Johnson's life.

She has been involved with the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce for many years and holds the record for length of service on the Chamber board. Part of that service included two two-year terms as the Chamber's chair of both the transportation committee and the education committee. She has made numerous trips to Washington, D.C., to lobby on Capitol Hill on issues of importance to Austin's economic development, and she has participated in the Chamber's inter-city trips nationwide for years.

Elizabeth Christian & Associates Public Relations is an investor in Opportunity Austin, an extraordinary $12-million program designed to bring jobs and new businesses to Central Texas.

Key to economic development is public education, and Christian has been involved in a number of extensive programs involving the Austin Independent School District over the years. She was co-chair of "Austinites for Our Schools," a campaign that passed $369 million in school bonds for AISD in 1996. She served on the board of Austin Partners in Education and was on the Mayor's Blue Ribbon panel to help select a school superintendent for the 80,000-student district.

Investment in the arts has also been a critical factor in Austin's success, and Christian has long been committed to projects that enhance Central Texas' appeal. Among the largest of these efforts was the 1998 campaign coordinated by Christian for Arts Center Stage that allowed the creation of the Long Center for the Performing Arts.

A third important arena for economic development in Central Texas is healthcare, and Christian has considerable professional and personal experience in this field as well. She managed the statewide public relations and grassroots lobbying effort that supported legislation allowing women direct access to their obstetricians/gynecologists and also helped structure a National Institutes of Health-approved study of bicycle helmet use in Austin. The ECPR firm has always maintained a substantial healthcare practice, representing such clients as St. David's HealthCare for many years.

Christian lived in California for 13 years, from 1980-1993. She worked at the Los Angeles Times in a variety of capacities for the better part of that time, holding positions as assistant Business news editor and as an editor and writer for the Real Estate section. She also co-published and edited an award-winning weekly newspaper in Northern California in the 80s. Also in California, Christian worked as both senior vice president and media director at Carl Terzian Associates, a large corporate public relations firm in Los Angeles, and served as the executive director of the Greater Ukiah Chamber of Commerce, where she helped revitalize the Mendocino County Tourism Board.

Christian is on the board of the Headliners Club, the board of visitors for Southwestern University, the board of directors for the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and the Austin Independent School District Foundation. In 2004, she was named "Public Relations Practitioner of the Year" by the Texas Public Relations Association. In 2001, she received the prestigious Profiles in Power Award given by the Austin Business Journal.

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Our Team

Elizabeth Christian Sylvia Castañon John Egan Lindsey Erwin Rebecca Hind Kristin Marcum Meg Meo Erin Ochoa Laurie Parker Carrie Simmons Kathleen Smith Interns

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