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Greetings! 
Discover the World is honored and pleased to welcome longtime volunteer, child sponsor and dedicated supporter Christie Skinner to its board of directors, effective October 1, 2011. Christie is no stranger to DTW, having not only made trips to Africa to volunteer among the children we serve there, but she has also directed several vital fund-raising programs as well. She brings to our board a deeply committed heart for vulnerable children and orphans, a vital dedication to her Christian faith, along with extraordinary business skills and boundless energy.
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Laura and Christie in Kenya with their sponsored child, Joseph (2011) |
Previously a long-time resident of La Canada, CA. Christie currently resides in Austin, Texas, with her husband Tom, their daughter Laura and son Patrick. Their oldest child Leah is a junior at Texas Christian University. Christie herself is a 1979 summa cum laude graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Interior Design. Over the past several summers, Christie has participated in three different volunteer visits to DTW's projects in Kenya, joined on two of them by her daughters. One of her passions is the development of lasting economic opportunities for women in Africa.
As an entrepreneur, Christie started City Spaces, Inc. as a commercial space planning and design firm in Pasadena, growing it from 2 to 25 employees over a 23 year period of time. City Spaces was known throughout the greater Los Angeles marketplace for being "a mid-sized design firm, with the expertise of a large firm combined with the personal touch of a small firm." City Spaces ranked in the Top 15 Design firms within Los Angeles. She sold City Spaces, Inc to competitor Shlemmer + Algaze+ Associates in 2009, prior to relocating to Austin, where her husband is currently the Dean of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. Through Christie's leadership, City Spaces guided its philanthropy to support and fund numerous programs for the care and education of countless children who are victims of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Kenya.
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Christie, Leah and Joseph (2007) |
Christie joins a strong and active board comprised of DTW Co-founders Doug & Jackie Millham of Pasadena, board chair Paul Edwards of Morrison, CO., board treasurer Janice McGlashan of La Canada, and Rev. Karen Berns of San Marino. We welcome Christie with great joy, eager to join her giftedness and energies with those of the rest of our amazing board. We thank God for placing the needs of poor and vulnerable children deep within her heart.
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