Even in 21st century America, women still lag behind men in significant leadership positions, but Eastern Williamson County seems to be bucking that national trend.
The majority of Americans believe that women are every bit as capable of being good political and corporate leaders as men, according to polls and surveys.
Yet while women make up slightly more than half of the college-educated workforce, the Women’s Business Collaborative (wbcollaborative.org) reported in 2024 only 10.4% of Fortune 500 chief executive officers were women.
And only 28% of congressional
JENI NEATHERLIN
Superintendent Hutto ISD
Neatherlin joined the Hutto Independent School District in August 2024 after leaving a post as superintendent of the Granger Independent School District.
She has a daughter in middle school, and together they volunteer in civic and faithbased organizations.
On work/life balance: I think the key for that for me is that my daughter plays multiple
seats are held by women.
Central Texas, however, has seen significant progress for women in management and oversight roles.
In the last two years, several key leadership positions have been filled by women. In Taylor, four of the six candidates who ran for City Council in the May election were women.
In Hutto, more than half of the director-level positions listed on the city’s staff directory are held by women.
The East Wilco Insider recently spoke to some of these local leaders, asking what it takes to succeed as a woman in a position of power and influence.
sports and she’s a cheerleader and she’s in band, so she’s actively involved in school and my job is very interwoven with her events as well. I feel like the word “balance” is not necessarily something that I think is needed all the time. There are busy seasons and sometimes it’s not quite as busy, so you just have to ebb and flow and know which part of your life needs your focus at that time.
On gender inequality in leadership: I try to not look at it from that lens, honestly, because I feel like everybody has their own obstacles. There’s adversity for people whether they’re rich or poor, where they come from; there’s always going to be some level of adversity to everybody’s path.
The journey to success: Get connected. Your network is your net worth. You need to put yourself in a position to be around strong leadership and see what it looks like, whether from men or women.
Finding a mentor is paramount to any type of success because the people who are in those positions that you can learn from and you can associate yourself with, that is what will fit you up for success.
Advice for future leaders: One of the biggest things I always advocate for is for women to be the best versions of themselves.
I’m always happy to help them reach their goals. If you’re dreaming about leadership, you can find ways to lead where you are, like leading in the classroom, church or the community.
Leadership is not a one-place thing it’s an everyplace thing. When we talk about people stepping up and taking on roles in their community, I believe wholeheartedly that people can lead where they are.
JENNIFERGARCIA -EDWARDSEN Superintendent Taylor ISD
Garcia-Edwardsen joined the Taylor Independent School District in November 2023. She moved from New Braunfels with her husband and two young children to take the position. She enjoys basketball and outdoor activities.
On work/life balance: So my husband and I make a really good team and it would be hard to do this job without him because having a 4- and 5-year-old takes a lot of attention for the kids. When I’m home I get to be home. He helps me allow that time where I can be with them. And when I need to be back at work, sometimes he’ll come with me to the events, and we’ll bring the kids with us. I think trying to keep the worlds separate is very difficult.
It’s got to be one world that you’re married to.
On her leadership style: I care a lot about people, and I think when you put people first you earn their trust. When you have people’s trust you have everything. I also talk a lot about it being OK to make a mistake and just learn from them. I try to lead with grace, lead with understanding, but also high expectations for our students and the schools.
On gender differences in leadership: I don’t focus on being a female. I focus on the job itself.
I’m a person that just believes in doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason and good things will come from you. I’ve never wondered, I’ve never felt different. I’ve just never focused on that. I don’t see it. Because I see so many women leaders throughout cities, our neighboring school districts. I see women rising.
Advice for future leaders: Before you get to this position there’s a tremendous amount of drive you have to have. There’s a lot of things that can get in your way.
Distractions. And you have to be very focused and committed. There’s that piece and there’s also the experience piece, making sure you understand the culture and the dynamic of your community or school district and you have the expertise to support it. So for our young leaders, get as much experience as you can with what your heart desires and that will lead you to the right community that you want to lead.
SHELLI COBB
Taylor City Council member
Cobb was elected in May 2024. She retired from Taylor ISD in 2023 as a coach and assistant athletic director and now works full time in marketing in addition to serving on city boards and commissions. She and her husband have two adult sons. They lost a third son in 2020.
On her leadership philosophy: Building relationships with people has always been a large part of my leadership style, along with making sure I communicate effectively when I’m in those roles.
Throughout my career in athletics and teaching and being in charge of athletic staff and even now in local government, I’ve always been the type of leader who wanted to know what the people, what our staff, our kids, whomever we were making the decisions for and about, how our decisions affected them. I also was big on empowering those that I was managing to make decisions for themselves, to take initiative and not be worried about making a mistake. That’s how we learn, how we grow.
On what it takes to lead: You have to be willing to sacrifice. It’s never about you. It’s always about others. You’re there to serve.
If you’re there for your own personal gain or anything that you feel like you’re going to get from it, then right off the bat that’s not going to work out. Ultimately, you’re going to have to sacrifice for the better good of everyone else. You also have to grow some tough skin. You’re going to have to be able to take the hits.
When people are angry, it’s from fear and that’s because we as leaders haven’t done enough to remove that fear from them.
So when the anger comes people will lash out and sometimes it hurts, but you just have to take it on the chin and keep communicating. Just understand it’s not personal. If you can sit down and talk it out, you can usually work it out.
Advice for future leaders:
It’s not going to be easy. Expect the tough times to come because they’re going to come. It’s going to be very demanding. It’s extremely hard, especially if you want to go the route of having kiddos and a family. You’re not going to succeed all the time at everything. But you’ve got to persevere. Just keep pushing and take it one day at a time.
Stick to your goals and one day they’ll come true.
CHENEYGAMBOA Hutto EDC director
Gamboa was hired as the Economic Development Corp. director in December 2023 after serving as assistant director for a little over a year.
She and her husband are raising three daughters who attend school in Hutto, and she is studying for her certification in economic development.
On finding work/life balance:
My natural tendency is to really value work, but also really value time with my kids and not want to miss anything. So those are kind of a little tug-of-war for me as they are for a lot of women. There’s this stereotype of women that we’re the default parent. We’re the keeper of the social calendar and the meal planning and the groceries and the doctors’ appointments. That adds to the need for work/life balance because work doesn’t slow down and home life doesn’t slow down.
Now that my kids are older, I share enough about my work so they understand what I do and why it’s important. They tell me they’re really proud of me, which makes my “mama heart” happy.
On being a female leader:
I would love to say it’s the same but it’s not. My area is still very heavily male dominated. You have to prepare more so you’re seen as knowledgeable. I take that to heart because I love to learn, so if there’s an opportunity for me to learn more I love that. Also, being OK with not being liked. Just going back to some historic expectations of women in general, sometimes they’re expected to be agreeable and welcoming and hospitable.
And those are wonderful qualities and I don’t want to take that away from anybody, male or female. But I think if you aren’t those things, or you are not enough of those things, judgment can come in and it can be received differently than if it were coming from a male.
On encouraging more women to seek leadership positions: One of the best ways to get more women involved is through networking and mentorship. I worked in higher education and shifting into the publicservice sector wasn’t something I saw for myself, even though I loved economic development. And had I not had those opportunities to connect and engage with other female leaders, I wouldn’t have gotten where I am. I’ve learned so much along the way and I have been fortunate to have really strong women around me that are achieving great things and helped me build the confidence to find success in a male-dominated industry.
BILLIE LOGIUDICE Hutto Area Chamber of Commerce VP & COO Hutto ISD board president
Logiudice was hired by the Chamber in January. She is the mother to four children, all grown now, and is working on achieving her master’s degree in strategic leadership and organizational management.
On striving for leadership: When I first ran for the school board I had been a stay-athome mom. I did not have any higher education. I didn’t feel professional enough or educated enough, but what I knew I had was a connection with the people. I could connect with a population that didn’t always feel like they had a voice. But I took that first step.
Throughout my journey I was raising my four kids by myself. I went on to get my bachelor’s degree and I’ve been serving on the school board since 2010, the last five years as president. Those roles allowed me to develop my leadership skills and be part of some impactful changes in the community where I work.
On work/life balance: For many years I didn’t have balance. I was trying to do all the things for all the people and do them really well and still have time for my kids.
Being a single mom, my kids kind of came along with me and we served together. I would volunteer with the organizations they were part of, like when they were in sports. That helped develop a sense of community and giving back (to) the kids and it allowed us to do things together as a family. But admittedly there were certainly times when I did not give my kids my best because I was giving so much to other people and those are the times I can reflect back on and think, maybe I could have done better there.
On important leadership skills: Sometimes you have to intentionally focus on creating some time and space so you can approach situations, conversations and decisions that need to be made from a real thoughtful and healthy place rather than reacting and shooting from the cuff. Otherwise, you’re just always running on full adrenaline and that’s not healthy. Also realizing that everything is not an emergency and not everything is personal. Those have been some real hard lessons learned for me because I haven’t always been good at that.
CARLY PEARSON
Taylor assistant city manager
Pearson joined the city’s executive team in February. She is active in national and state professional organizations and she and her family raise horses on their Georgetown ranch.
On her leadership style: I like to take the approach of balance in everything I do in leadership. That’s balancing the needs of the organization that we’re serving with the needs of the people, because they are just that. They’re people as well as staff members and they have all kinds of things going on that we may not know.
So I try to ensure there are opportunities for people I lead to achieve all of the expectations that they may have for their careers.
On what it takes to lead: There’s a lot of moving parts to every task, every day, every staff member, every department, every organization and initiative that we’re in on any given day, so I think you have to be objective, intentional, open-minded and really try and view everything with that in mind. Every day is unique in my role, in my industry and every organization I’ve been in especially as you move up into leadership roles.
Often you are navigating a space that is male dominated, where you are the only or one of very few females and that is different.
On barriers to women advancing: I think the No.
1 barrier to women is flexibility in the workplace because they do raise children.
We have other family commitments, not that men don’t as well, but there is that priority for a lot of women. And when you move up in your career, your schedule is crazy. You don’t work 8 to 5 anymore.
You’re available all the time and that is a challenge.
Advice for future leaders: Join professional organizations that you are passionate about in your field. The professional peer connections that you make through joining and volunteering for leadership roles in those organizations are invaluable. I don’t like to use the word “networking” because it’s really friendships. Start young because you will be surprised at how fast time flies. Those professional relationships you build through the years will see you through questions you may have, opportunities you may seek and references you may need. You just can’t put enough value on that.
Sometimes you have to intentionally focus on creating some time and space so you can approach situations, conversations and decisions that need to be made from a real thoughtful and healthy place rather than reacting and shooting from the cuff. “
— BILLIE LOGIUDICE
Hutto Chamber of Commerce VP & COO / Hutto ISD board president
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