Category: Officers

Term Expires December 2026

Rachel Allyn Sanborn has lived in Hays County since 1981. She became involved in water issues in 1997 by volunteering for the San Marcos River Rangers, part of the Texas Stream Team Network of water quality monitors working to identify non-source pollution and areas of poor water quality. She eventually became the Volunteer Coordinator and has trained over 700 volunteers to serve as citizen scientists monitoring water quality along the San Marcos River and across the state. The River Rangers now boasts over 50 regular volunteers a month – alerting city and county officials to potential problems and learning more about the natural cycles of the San Marcos River.

She has spent the last 20 years developing student and community interest in environmental stewardship and encouraging residents to take an active role in the preservation and protection of their river and aquifer. She has participated in San Marcos and Cypress Creek watershed plans and is familiar with the Habitat Conservation work being done to improve water quality along the San Marcos. She boasts being a veteran trash-picker and kayaker and participates in numerous river clean ups all year long.

Sanborn holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Political Science Department at Southwest Texas State University and has served two terms on the board of the San Marcos River Foundation. She is currently employed with the San Marcos River Foundation to administer the River Ranger program and assist with SMRF’s expanded work in land conservation and watershed protection of the recharge zones. Additionally, she has served seven years as President of the Friends of the San Marcos Library, has volunteered with numerous youth groups and was the 2014 inductee into the San Marcos Women’s Hall of Fame.

Term Expires December 2026

Term Expires December 2024

Byron Miller is a businessman and community leader and who firmly believes in the Rotarian motto “Service Above Self.”

A fifth generation San Antonian, Miller grew up on the East Side. His mother, educator Hazel T. Miller, and father, businessman Johnnie Miller, founded the Miller Child Development Center Inc. in 1969. Currently CEO, Miller remembers helping to build shelves and cubicles for the center his parents first operated out of their home.

As a child, his mother “encouraged me to read and be inquisitive and to step outside my comfort zone,” Miller said. “You can’t always be sure that you’re going to be successful, but unless you try you have no chance.”

After graduating from Sam Houston High School in 1975, Miller continued his education at Morehouse College, one of the country’s most prestigious historically black colleges, graduating in 1979.

In 2006, Miller was appointed to fill a vacancy on the EAA board. He was elected for his first full term in 2008 and re-elected in 2012 and 2016. Serving on the board “has been very eye-opening, very rewarding to me,” he said.

A former justice of the peace, Miller’s long record of civic involvement ranges from being a Boy Scoutmaster to serving on the boards of the Witte Museum and the Carver Community Cultural Center. He is the commissioner of Juneteenth San Antonio and a lifelong member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

“I believe in public service,” he said. “It’s one of the tenets of my life.”

Term Expires December 2024

An independent business attorney practicing corporate, real estate and oil and gas law, Ben Youngblood cut his teeth working on water issues serving on San Antonio Water System committees.

During his time with the city-owned utility, “I started looking at the bigger picture,” he said. “And that’s the EAA.”

Youngblood was appointed to the board in 2008. He was elected to the position in November of the same year and re-elected twice. His current term expires in 2020.

“I’ve always thought that water is the defining issue for the future of the region and I want to be a part of ensuring that the water remains clean and useful for the citizens of San Antonio,” he said.

A San Antonio resident since the late 1960s, Youngblood spent his early life on the move. His father was in the Air Force, so Youngblood “grew up all over.” By the time he graduated from Churchill High School in San Antonio, he had attended 18 schools. In his teens, Youngblood fell in love with sailing, and learned the sport on Woodlawn Lake. Later, he taught sailing at the Lake Canyon Yacht Club. Youngblood also has taught youth programs in fresh water ecology and astronomy.

Youngblood carries the special distinction of being both an Aggie and a Longhorn. He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in economics from Texas A&M University and earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Mr. Youngblood serves on the boards of directors of: Mission Pharmacal Company (a multi-national pharmaceutical manufacturer); Edwin M. Jones Oil Company (a diversified independent oil & gas producer); and Airport Galleria Land Company (a commercial real estate development company). Mr. Youngblood has current and past service on a variety of civic, non-profit, and charitable boards, including the San Antonio Ethics Review Board (Vice-Chair), San Antonio Planning Commission Technical Advisory Committee, San Antonio Water System Citizen’s Advisory Panel (Vice-Chair), San Antonio Water System Rate Structure Committee, San Antonio Water Policy Group, San Antonio City Council Redistricting Commission, Northside Neighborhoods for Organized Development (NNOD) (Past President), Northside ISD Bond Committee, and the Down Syndrome Association. He has taught youth programs in Astronomy, Freshwater Ecology, and Sailing.