Current Leadership

Kristina Deitz, Chairman

Kristina Deitz, GISP, received her Master’s Degree in Geospatial Surveying Engineering from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi in 2015. She discovered GIS back in 2007 and had several summer internships working with multiple companies ranging from environmental mapping to oil/gas while working on her Bachelor’s degree in GIS. While working on her Master’s degree she worked as a Teaching Assistant with various labs ranging from basic GIS concepts to the more advanced GIS classes. After graduating with her Master’s degree she went on to work in the consulting realm for AECOM for over 5 years. She has since moved on to the municipal government sector and is currently a Business Intelligence/GIS Analyst with the City of Plano. She has also been an active member of URISA’s GISCorps where she has previously served as a Data Manager for a Community Solutions partnering with the Northeast Hartford project.

Nicholas Willette, Vice-Chairman

Nicholas Willette, GISP, received his Bachelor of Applied Arts and Science in 2019 and Master of Science in Information Science in 2021 from the University of North Texas. Nicholas has worked in GIS since joining the Marine Corps in 2007, and has also worked as a land surveyor in both the public and private sector. He recently was employed as a GIS Analyst with the Fort Worth Water Department, handling the mapping of public water and wastewater infrastructure and training the Water Department’s survey team. In November 2022, Nicholas will begin taking over the role of GIS Manager for the City of Euless, Texas. Nicholas has been volunteering with URISA Texas since mid-2021 and was responsible for the website redesign efforts, and is currently serving as the Communications Committee Chairman.

Adailin Lebron, Past Chairman

Adailin “Adi” Lebron, GISP, received a Bachelor of Liberal Arts from the University of Texas, Austin and a Master of Applied Geography in Geographic Information Science from Texas State University in 2018. Her Master’s research included working with Spatial Big Data (SBD) and database management. Adi’s professional background includes GIS internships with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Texas General Land Office. She worked at AECOM as a GIS Analyst and then was hired as a Business Intelligence/GIS Analyst at the City of Plano. Adi currently works as the GIS Engineering Specialist for the City of Grapevine where she maintains Public Works infrastructure. Adi has served URISA Texas since 2019.

Liz Parrish, Board Secretary

Liz Parrish, MBA, GISP, is a Director-At-Large and has served as the Communications Committee Chair for URISA Texas since 2020. In a professional capacity, she is currently the Manager of Geospatial Analytics and Insights for H-E-B, having 15 years professional experience in the Geospatial industry. Previously, Liz was a Strategic Advisor with Esri Professional Services with a portfolio that included the top financial institutions, retailers, and commercial real estate brokerages and have demonstrated experience helping these organizations strengthen their business performance through the application of location intelligence. Liz's passion is helping others be successful and reach their potential. Her personal motto is "Impact the Outcome" and she is always looking for opportunities to give back to the Geospatial community through mentorship, volunteering, or independent coaching. Liz holds an M.B.A. from the University of Redlands, a B.S. in Geographic Information Science and a Certificate in Information Technology from Kennesaw State University, and is a Certified Scrum Master and Scrum Product Owner. Professional memberships include URISA, ASPRS, and ICSC.

Sara Taylor, Treasurer

Sara Taylor, GISP, is the GIS Manager at Texas811 in Richardson, Texas, managing a team of 5 GIS technicians responsible for the utility service areas in Texas, South Dakota, and West Virginia, as well as base mapping in those states. Prior to relocating to Texas, she spent 15 years in the consulting industry completing GIS and Database Management project work for both public and private sector clients. Sara received her Bachelor of Science from Rutgers University and is a 2016 graduate of Penn State’s Postbaccalaureate GIS program. She was certified as a GISP by GISCI in 2010. She has previously served on the URISA Mid-Atlantic Chapter’s Board of Trustees as the 2017-2018 Sponsorship Coordinator, the 2019-2020 Board President, and the 2021-2022 Past President. At the national level, she has served on the URISA GIS Pro Conference Committee and is the 2022 & 2023 Chapter Development and Relations Council (CDRC) Chair.

Robert Wood, Director-At-Large

Robert Wood is a GIS analyst for the Fort Worth based civil engineering firm Freese & Nichols. He started with URISA Texas in 2018 on the events committee planning Mappy Hours in Fort Worth, Houston, and Corpus Christi. In 2019 Robert became co-chair of the outreach committee with goals to gain corporate sponsorships and engage other GIS organizations and universities in URISA activities. Robert is passionate about seeing the Texas chapter grow and committed to giving our members opportunities to grow with us.

Richard Ra, Director-At-Large

Richard was fortunate enough to step foot into his career in GIS while working as a contractor for Atmos Energy. Originally unsure of what he wanted to do in life - it took 3 changes in majors to even hear the acronyms GIS and it’s meaning. He still had a desire to learn more, but by then, he was already locked in for graduation and in 2018, he received his BA in Criminology from the University of Texas at Dallas. Later in 2021, he became the GIS Technician and GIS Department lead for the City of Richardson, where he had the opportunity to continue his technical education through exposure to many different angles of GIS work including administration, data management and web services. He has since come full circle and recently re-joined Atmos Energy, but this time as a full-time Senior GIS Specialist. In early 2022, he started volunteering for URISA Texas and has helped create numerous events for the URISA Texas website.

Courtney Roe, Director-At-Large

Courtney Roe, GISP has been a member of the GIS, CAD, and Survey community since 2013, with her roots in these fields going back to her academic experience at Texas State University and Austin Community College. Courtney is currently employed at Pape-Dawson Engineers as a Civil CAD Designer in Land Development and is a GISP, Autodesk Civil 3D Certified Professional, and Part 107 Certified Remote UAS Pilot (to fly drones). She enjoys being on the Board of Supporting Women in Geography & GIS (SWIGGIS) and TxGIS Day, is a 2022 Officer of URISA Texas, a leader in the Austin CAD User Group, and is always engaged in the GIS and CAD community. As a curator of knowledge, Courtney brings an enthusiasm and passion for the integration of Civil CAD, Surveying and GIS to maximize the potential of the industry. “Embrace it, we never stop learning!”

Jordan Carmona, Director-At-Large

Jordan Carmona has been working in the geospatial sector since April 2014. His first position was with a start-up IT & GIS services group geared toward local governments. He began working in local government for the City of McKinney as a GIS Specialist in 2017. He received his GISP in the winter of 2018, is a certified Part 107 sUAS remote pilot and attended the URIS GIS Leadership Academy in 2020. Beginning in 2021, Jordan began the first in-house geospatial program for the Town of Prosper, a fast-growing community of 35,000 residents on the northern edge of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. His professional involvement with the industry includes the URISA Vanguard Cabinet where he serves as the chair of the GIS Pro subcommittee. Jordan is currently an officer with URISA Texas, Conference Coordinator Elect in the South Central Arc User Group, and an advisory board member for the Tarrant County College GIS program. Jordan has a dual BA in History and Political Science from the University of North Texas. He enjoys an array of [gardening, programming, photography, coffee, cats]. His alignment is Chaotic Good.

Officers of URISA Texas

Kristina Deitz, President

Sara Taylor, Vice President

Jordan Carmona, Secretary

Nicholas Willette, Communications Coordinator

Richard Ra & Shama Sheth, Events Coordinator

Adi Lebron, Outreach Coordinator

Oly Powers, Scholarship

Associate Officers: Courtney Roe, Matthew Drouillard, Amy Cleare