Who We Are

The CCDC was established in 1978 by a diverse group of neighborhood activists. They included: Carey Baylor, Mary Baylor, Pauline Brown, Malcolm Greenstein, former State Representative Elliott Naishtat, Mary Robinson, Lena Stewart, Freddie Strong, Charles Walker, and Bobby Wisely. Many of these individuals are in the photos to the left. 

The CCDC is governed by a 9-member board of directors who are elected by the organization’s members. The board sets policies for the CCDC and works closely with Prak Property Management, the company that manages its affordable housing program.  

CCDC board meetings are open to everyone. They take place at the Haskell House, 1703 Waterston Avenue on the 3rd Tuesday of every month, January through November. Meetings begin at 6:30pm. Meeting agendas are posted on the Fresh Plus bulletin board, at the Pauline Brown Clarksville Neighborhood Center and here. Minutes of each meeting are posted here.   

Becoming a CCDC member is free and easy. Simply fill out this membership application form. Everyone who lives or has lived within the CCDC’s membership boundaries and as is at least 18-years old is eligible to become a member. Membership boundaries are: The south side of West 12th from West Lynn to Charlotte, the south side of Waterston from Charlotte to MoPac, West 10th from West Lynn to MoPac and along with the following streets: Patterson, Theresa, West 8th Augusta, Francis and Julia. Membership entitles individuals to run for a seat on the CCDC board. Members also receive emails from the CCDC about news and developments related to Clarksville.

Board elections are held the third Tuesday of April with results announced at the CCDC’s Annual Meeting that same day. At that meeting the board president and treasurer as well as the CCDC’s property management firm report to the neighborhood about the organization’s accomplishments and challenges during the previous year and also about the CCDC’s financial status.

The CCDC is a member of the Austin Housing Coalition and the Austin Museum Partnership. 

Responsibilities of CCDC Board Members

All CCDC board members are expected to:

  1. Actively support the CCDC's missions.

  2. Participate in all board meetings.

  3. Help with the CCDC's neighborhood events.

  4. Review and comment on the CCDC's proposed annual budget and monthly financials.

  5. Review and comment on new CCDC policies as well as existing policies that are being revised. 

  6. Provide the CCDC’s property management firm with advice and guidance when needed.

  7. Assist with the CCDC’s fundraising efforts.

  8. Support the CCDC at hearings before the Historic Landmark Commission, the Planning Commission and the City Council that relate to proposed policies and ordinances affecting Clarksville, requests to demolish historic homes in the neighborhood, and other issues that will impact Clarksville and its residents.

  9. Participate in the CCDC’s email and social marketing campaigns. 

2018. The Mayor and Austin City Council proclaimed October 2018 as Clarksville Community Development Corporation Month.

2020. The Austin chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) awarded the CCDC a Community Vision Award for the organization’s affordable housing program.

2022. Preservation Austin recognized the CCDC’s work rehabilitating the exterior of the Haskell House

Current Board Members


  • Mary has lived in Clarksville since 1989 and has been a CCDC board member for nearly 25 years. For most of that time, she has been president of the board; but early in her tenure she served as the organization’s secretary. She also serves on the CCDC’s Finance and Operations Committee.


    Over the years, Mary has helped guide the CCDC through many ups and downs and turn it into the dynamic organization it is today by applying the knowledge and skills she acquired by earning an MBA in public sector management at Boston University, working as a public sector consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton and Abt Associates, and as policy advisor for an Austin City Council Member focusing on community development, housing and neighborhood issues. She also applied what she learned from her time as Texas Monthly’s publicity director and as VP for marketing for a national market research firm. Most recently, Mary developed the Haskell House docent program and established the Haskell House Advisory Group, which provides the decedents of early Clarksville residents, like Charles Clark and Hezikiah Haskell, an opportunity to plan and participate in activities at the Haskell House and create greater awareness of the House within Austin’s Black community. Also last year, she helped established the quarterly speakers series “Clarksville Conversations: Sundays at the Haskell House” and revamped the CCDC’s website to make it more engaging and informative.


    Mary is proud of all that the CCDC does – its 46 year-old affordable housing program, its community events, and its efforts to preserve the neighborhood’s rich history, including the organization’s active membership in the Austin Museum Partnership. She is grateful for everything that the CCDC’s board of directors and its volunteers do to ensure that Clarksville remains a welcoming and vibrant place for people from all walks of life, and values the opportunity to give back to her neighborhood.


    Mary was a member of the working group that drafted a new equity-based Historic Preservation Plan for the City of Austin. In 2022, Preservation Austin recognized her work on behalf of the Clarksville neighborhood by honoring her with a Special Recognition for Public Service Award.

  • Chris will be celebrating his 20th year on the board this July and would love to continue serving on the board, and serving the needs of Clarksville, for a long time to come. In the 20 years Chris has been on the board, he has served many roles: including Vice President (current role), President (2007), creator of the original CCDC website, head of the Tenant Selection Committee, and of course “the guy with the truck,”helping to coordinate many CCDC events over the years.

    Chris has lived in Clarksville since 2000 and both of his children have attended Mathews. At Mathews, Chris has served as the Building and Grounds Coordinator and his wife Jaime has served as the PTA president. Chris and his family love Clarksville, the CCDC, and everything they stand for.

  • BJ is a committed CCDC volunteer, acting as Treasurer, a member of the Finance and Operations Committee, and responsible for the annual audit and development of the annual budget. She also volunteers for CCDC’s special events, helps with fundraising activities, and procured a landscaping plan for CCDC’s new house on West 10th.

    BJ moved to Austin in 1978 to attend graduate school at the University of Texas and never left. That’s because she loves where she lives. She and her husband, Stan, and son, Ivan, always lived in neighborhoods near Clarksville and fell in love with Clarksville when they rented a house on Woodlawn while students at UT. In 1992, they were lucky to buy a lot on Patterson and build their house, the one with the red neon street numbers.

    What attracted BJ to Clarksville was the diversity of the people who live here. She’s sad to see that some of that diversity has been lost due to the soaring property values. But she saw that CCDC is committed to preserving the history of the neighborhood and to its mission to promote the economic diversity of the neighborhood by offering affordable housing. And so she volunteered to be a board member to help to preserve the unique history and diversity of Clarksville.


  • Kim has lived in the neighborhood for forty-plus years, moving here shortly after finishing her graduate studies at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. She has been on the CCDC Board of Directors for twenty years, serving most of that time as the Board’s Secretary. Kim’s two now-adult children are proud Mathews alums, a school she and her husband John came to love when they took an Italian class at the evening Community School that operated there long before their children were born. Being included in the Mathews Hall of Honor a few years back is one of her proudest achievements.

    Kim’s recent CCDC activities include: grant writing, last year securing $40,000 of funding for housing repairs and construction; coordinating CCDC’s fundraising participation in Amplify Austin Day, which raised $11,000 in 2023; working on “Clarksville Conversations,” CCDC’s quarterly public interest speaker series; and serving as the Board’s liaison with the Austin Housing Finance Corporation and American YouthWorks on the construction of the CCDC’s most recent affordable housing unit. She also is a member of the Old West Austin Neighborhood Association zoning committee.


  • Aubrey received a Master’s degree in Architecture from Yale University after attending the Career Discovery program at Harvard University and The Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York City. Today, although not an architect, Aubrey runs a multi-discipline design studio in Austin.

    During his many years of service on the CCDC board of directors, the organization has benefited from Aubrey skills and knowledge and saved significant amounts of money. He has also helped the CCDC negotiate win-win solutions with developers and homeowners who wanted to demolish old Clarksville homes because they wanted more living space than the homes provided, and he has spent many long nights with fellow board members at City Council and Landmark Commission meetings waiting to speak on issues affecting the neighborhood. Aubrey also worked with RuthAnn Brown on the design of the iconic Clarksville family tree tee-shirts.

    Aubrey has lived in Austin since 1972. During his early years in Austin, he attended UT. Later he lived in France with the idea of playing pro or semi-pro soccer and also worked as an au pair. After returning to Austin, Aubrey started a small construction business, but quickly realized that he wanted to design buildings more than build them.

    Aubrey values the opportunity to serve on the CCDC board because he loves Clarksville and all the that the CCDC does.

  • Encouraged by Mary Baylor and Pauline Brown, in 1984 Malcolm joined with eight of his neighbors and formed the CCDC to prevent developers from gentrifying Clarksville and destroying its unique character. Besides being the longest serving Board member, Malcolm has been the CCDC’s pro bono attorney. In a multi-year litigation, Malcolm prevented a renegade group of Board members from selling CCDC properties and pocketing the proceeds and then legally evicted them and their attorney from the CCDC housing where they had been squatting.

    In his 50-year private law practice, Malcolm has represented numerous racial, disability health, multi-national and police accountability advocacy groups. He successfully tried the first sexual harassment and age discrimination jury trials in Texas and was a co-founder of the Texas Employment Lawyer’s Association, a statewide organization of attorneys representing primarily employees.

    Malcolm has also been a board member of several non-profit organizations including Hands on Housing, which rehabbed Austin homes, Earth and Sky, a nationwide radio service that presented information about science and nature and Austin Bat Cave, a student creative writing program. He also served on the Austin Community Development Commission, which advises the Council on programs designed to serve the poor and community at large.


  • Paula has been a resident of the neighborhood since 1991 and a CCDC board member for ten years. Since joining the board, she has helped support the CCDC’s missions by contributing her time as well as money to the organization. For example, Paula has underwritten repairs to the organization’s properties; was instrumental in organizing the first annual CCDC/OWANA Christmas Caroling party and has played a lead role in organizing the party ever since; and has been an active volunteer at other CCDC events.

    Paula also serves as a docent at the Hezikiah Haskell House, has been active in the Austin Museum Partnership on behalf of the CCDC, and worked with the Austin Parks Foundation to improve the pickle ball and basketball courts at Mary Baylor Park.

    Paula is a member of the OWANA Steering Committee, serving as a bridge between OWANA and the CCDC.


  • Thomas began his involvement with the CCDC as a member of its Tenant Selection Committee, working to find the right families for the organization’s affordable housing program. (The Committee no longer exists.) Later, he became a member of the CCDC Board of Directors and among other things, is it’s unofficial handyman, helping with small projects at the Hezikiah Haskell House. He has also served as a docent there.

    Thomas and his wife are committed to preserving Clarksville’s history and demonstrated their dedication by purchasing the Mary Baylor House in 2014, which was in a bad state of disrepair. After restoring it with the help of friends, the house was designated historic by the City of Austin and Preservation Austin recognized the hard work of Thomas and his wife by giving them a preservation award.

    Thomas spent his youth at the now famous 9th Street BMX jumps so he has been riding around and living off and on in the Clarksville area since the 90's. These days, he can be seen riding his bike in the neighborhood with his kid in tow or with a nice loaf of bread.

  • Gregory was born and raised in Texas and has lived in Austin off and on since the 1990’s. While looking for a neighborhood to settle down in, he fell in love with the history and architecture of Clarksville, and has lived there with his family ever since. Greg runs a real estate team, the Gregory Group, which specializes in residential sales in the central Austin area.