SERVING TEXAS SINCE 1946
The YMCA Youth and Government program was established in 1936 in New York by Clement “Pete” Duran, then a director of the Albany YMCA. Duran coined the motto of the program: “Democracy must be learned by each generation.”
YMCA Texas Youth and Government (YG) is part of a nationwide, youth-led, civic engagement and academic enrichment program for high school and middle school students. YMCA Texas Youth and Government was organized in 1946. The judicial section of Youth and Government began in Texas in 1960. Since then, other program sections have been added including lobbyists, middle school legislature, media, and Model United Nations. Thousands of teens have participated in the program and have grown up to be responsible citizens and future leaders of our nation.
In 2000, the American Bar Association became a supporter of Youth and Government, creating a policy requesting that lawyers become involved in the program and stressing the importance of engaging and educating students about the United States legal process. About this issue, Sandra Day O’Connor and Roy Romer said in 2006:
“Most young people today simply do not have an adequate understanding of how our government and political system work, and they are thus not well prepared to participate as citizens.”
As of 2018, the Youth and Government program operated in 41 states and the District of Columbia, serving 47,000 high school students around the country. View the Youth and Government state program directory here.
YMCA Youth and Government Fact Sheet
Mabie/Kaempf/Theiss Award
JOHN KAEMPF HONOREES AND BIL THEISS HONOREES – These awards recognize former Youth and Government State Directors John Kaempf (’73-’84) a former CEO of the Ft. Worth YMCA and Bill Theiss (’84-’93) (a former CEO of Waxahachie YMCA). Both of these gentlemen retired from full-time service at local YMCA’s to give further outstanding service to Texas Youth and Government. Their servant leadership embodies all that YG teaches and is modeled by recipients of these awards.
SUZANNE MABIE AWARD – This award recognizes Suzanne Mabie, former YMCA Youth and Government State Director in Louisiana and Texas and while State Director for Texas, Ms. Mabie created the YMCA Texas Junior Youth and Government Program. Additionally, Ms. Mabie later worked with YMCA of the USA as a Technical Advisor for Youth Events as well as Youth and Government support. Her dedication, kindness and passion for serving youth and teens have positively impacted program participants, YMCA staff and volunteers throughout the country. In her honor, we present this award to an outstanding YMCA Staff or Volunteer of the YMCA Texas Junior Youth and Government Program who embodies outstanding servant- leadership.
JOHN KAEMPF HONOREES
| VOLUNTEER | YEAR |
| James D. Cole (Washington D.C.) | 1984 |
| Vernon Steward (Wichita Falls) | 1985 |
| Johnnie Hyde (Cleburne) | 1986 |
| Rex Aymond (Dallas) | 1987 |
| Ms. J.L.(Jeree) Barnett (Odessa) | 1988 |
| Kathleen Vincent (Dallas) | 1989 |
| Forrest Lykins (Ft. Worth) | 1990 |
| Mrs. J.M. (Ruth Ann) Hill | 1991 |
| Kevin Dinnin (San Antonio) | 1992 |
| Dave Lewis (Denton) | 1993 |
| Ray Farabee (Austin) | 1994 |
| Texalee Kyle (San Angelo) | 1995 |
| Sarah Jane Freeman (Palestine) | 1996 |
| Sue Montgomery (Garland) | 1997 |
| Dr. Ron Rea (Houston) | 1998 |
| Carol Cameron (Houston) | 1999 |
| Robert Burger (Ft. Worth) | 2002 |
| Carla Weathersby (Odessa) | 2003 |
| Sue Six (Ft. Worth) | 2004 |
| Sue Johnson (Odessa) | 2005 |
| Shirley Womack (Dallas), Mary Whitbeck (Ft.Worth) | 2006 |
| Chris Connolly (Ft Worth) | 2007 |
| Scott Cunningham (Dallas) | 2008 |
| Annette Kasparian (Dallas) | 2009 |
| Jillanne Johnson (Ft. Worth) | 2010 |
| Jan Van Eman (Midland) | 2011 |
| Ashley Myrick (Ft. Worth) | 2012 |
| Chris Johnson (Ft. Worth) | 2013 |
| Dario Ganic (Dallas) & Jennifer Moody | 2014 |
| Shara Michalka (Dallas) | 2015 |
| Chris Britton (Ft Worth) | 2016 |
| Debbie Talley (Ft Worth) | 2017 |
| Greg Hooser (Austin) | 2018 |
| Tim Sinnott (Austin) | 2019 |
| Carolyn Storm-Kettenacker (State) | 2020 |
| Suzanne Mabie (State) | 2022 |
| Becca Pel (Houston) | 2023 |
| Katherine Willis (Dallas) Tyler Atkinson (Ft. Worth) Azim Hussain (Ft. Worth) |
2024 2025 2026 |
BILL THEISS HONOREES
| YMCA STAFF MEMBER | YEAR |
| Robert T. Schriener (Lubbock) | 1991 |
| Kathy Hamilton (Dallas) | 1992 |
| Bob Flemming (Houston) | 1993 |
| Wendy Barber (Dallas) | 1994 |
| Loli Gonzales (San Antonio) | 1995 |
| Brad Kimura (Ft. Worth) | 1996 |
| Curt Hazelbaker (Dallas) | 1997 |
| Lisa Olvey (Ft. Worth) | 1998 |
| Johnny Mayberry (Dallas) | 1999 |
| Shelley Snyder (Ft. Worth) | 2000 |
| Pam Atkins (Dallas) | 2003 |
| Omar Santos (Austin) | 2004 |
| Barbara Trachte (Baytown) | 2005 |
| Ligia Gutierrez (Dallas) | 2006 |
| Dave Faulk & Ken Harris | 2007 |
| Suzanne Mabie (State) | 2010 |
| Jenna Hodges (Amarillo) | 2011 |
| Terri Eley (Dallas) | 2012 |
| Kendra Yanchak (Dallas) | 2013 |
| Azim Hussain (Ft. Worth) | 2014 |
| Thom Parker (Austin) | 2015 |
| Patricia Osborn (Houston) | 2016 |
| Andrew Wiggins (Austin) | 2017 |
| Jacquelyn Kotar (Ft. Worth) | 2018 |
| JaMonica Washington (Dallas) | 2019 |
| Holli Winn (Ft. Worth) | 2020 |
| Emilie Shiffler (Ft. Worth) | 2022 |
| Missy Garcia (State) | 2022 |
| Jessica Bruda (Ft. Worth) | 2023 |
| Samantha Buehler (Dallas) AJ Rea (Ft. Worth) Loletha Horton (Dallas) |
2024 2025 2026 |
SUZANNE MABIE HONOREES
| VOLUNTEER/YMCA STAFF | YEAR |
| Judith Anderson Bruess (Dallas) | 2017 |
| Carolyn Searles (Dallas) | 2019 |
| Cameron McVay (Dallas) | 2022 |
| Jessie Searles (Austin) | 2023 |
| Amanda Puent (Austin) | 2024 |
| Cassie L McKee (Dallas) Maria Charles (Dallas) Kayla Ruleaux (Austin) |
2024 2025 2026 |
YMCA Texas Youth Governors
The YMCA Texas Youth Governor represents the highest level of student leadership within the YMCA Texas Youth and Government program. Each year, students campaign for this position and are elected by their peers to serve as the voice of the program and help lead the State Conference. Youth Governors embody the values of the YMCA—caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility—while demonstrating outstanding leadership, dedication to civic engagement, and a commitment to serving others. Through their leadership, Youth Governors inspire fellow delegates to actively participate in democracy and carry forward the mission of Youth and Government.
YMCA TEXAS YOUTH GOVERNOR
| YEAR | NAME | DISTRICT |
| 1947 | Robert Schmidt | Lubbock |
| 1948 | William Henry | Houston |
| 1949 | Charles Thompson | Amarillo |
| 1950 | Sue Ethchison | McAllen |
| 1951 | Ray Farabee | Wichita Falls |
| 1952 | Walter Wink | Dallas |
| 1953 | Lowell Stone | Wichita Falls |
| 1954 | John Reese | Amarillo |
| 1955 | Angelo Soffos | Houston |
| 1956 | Ronald Silverman | Dallas |
| 1957 | Morris Sheats | Lubbock |
| 1958 | Bruce Stratton | Beaumont |
| 1959 | Wilson Mason | Beaumont |
| 1960 | George Peinado | El Paso |
| 1961 | John Wilson Beasley | Dallas |
| 1962 | Don Eggleston | Houston |
| 1963 | Johnny Walker | Lubbock |
| 1964 | Greg Hooser | Austin |
| 1965 | Russel Richardson | Houston |
| 1966 | Robert Simmons | Dallas |
| 1967 | Steve Watson | Beaumont |
| 1968 | Ron Donaldson | San Antonio |
| 1969 | Rex Aymond | Dallas |
| 1970 | Raymond E. Williams | Houston |
| 1971 | Steve Chapman | Austin |
| 1972 | Transition Year | |
| 1973 | Brad Winegar | Austin |
| 1974 | Tracy Lyn Clyburn | Odessa |
| 1975 | Clarke Lowenfield | El Paso |
| 1976 | Vance Mason | Dallas |
| 1977 | Ben Leonard | Cleburne |
| 1978 | Ronnie Grimm | Cleburne |
| 1979 | Felicia Young | Dallas |
| 1980 | Jay Juba | Dallas |
| 1981 | Jeffrey Peterson | Galena Park |
| 1982 | Bonnie Bailey | Lubbock |
| 1983 | Gary Rosen | Lubbock |
| 1984 | Andy Karsner | Fort Worth |
| 1985 | Matt McCarty | Cleburne |
| 1986 | Patrick Donley | Lubbock |
| 1987 | Bill Miller | Cleburne |
| 1988 | Art Hall | Lubbock |
YMCA TEXAS YOUTH GOVERNOR con’t
| YEAR | NAME | DISTRICT |
| 1990 | Joshua Allen | Cleburne |
| 1991 | Kathy Stipeche | Houston |
| 1992 | Phoung Le | Houston |
| 1993 | Chris Applegate | Cleburne |
| 1994 | Stephen Mason | Houston |
| 1995 | Sallu Massaquoi | Houston |
| 1996 | Alisha Parrish | Odessa |
| 1997 | Scott Cunningham | Dallas |
| 1998 | Lauren Six | Fort Worth |
| 1999 | Taylor Newsom | Odessa |
| 2000 | Luke Appling | Fort Worth |
| 2001 | Frank Prior | San Antonio |
| 2002 | Trevor Heaney | Odessa |
| 2003 | Gina Bullock | Fort Worth |
| 2004 | Nathan Gonzalez | Fort Worth |
| 2005 | Hunter Patterson | Dallas |
| 2006 | Michael Admire | Fort Worth |
| 2007 | Dave Harris | Fort Worth |
| 2008 | Max Kutz | Fort Worth |
| 2009 | Lexi Gibson | Houston |
| 2010 | Taylor Pruitt | Dallas |
| 2011 | Jared McCluskey | Fort Worth |
| 2011 | Micah Petersen | Houston |
| 2012 | Robby Moore | Dallas |
| 2013 | Zaverie Harris | Dallas |
| 2014 | Daniel Hayworth | Fort Worth |
| 2015 | Quentin Keller | Houston |
| 2016 | Kennedy Montgomery | Fort Worth |
| 2017 | Sharif Long | Dallas |
| 2018 | Aayush Dave | Houston |
| 2019 | Tadiwa Mujokoto | Fort Worth |
| 2020 | Vivienne Garner | Dallas |
| 2022 | Jaalen Robinson | Dallas |
| 2023 | Daniel Gonzalez | Dallas |
| 2024 | Vennela Mallampati | Dallas |
| 2025 | Preston Lee | Dallas |
| 2026 | Emory Miramontes Eldredge | Ft Worth |
| 2027 | Anvika Jain | Austin |
YMCA TEXAS JUNIOR YOUTH GOVERNOR
| Year | Name | District |
| 2010-2011 | Kire Jackson – Speaker of the House
**No Governor position this year** |
Dallas |
| 2011-2012 | Mandy Wallner | Dallas |
| 2012-2013 | Lexi Thorson | Dallas |
| 2013-2014 | Riley Milliken | Dallas |
| 2014-2015 | Michael Brown | Dallas |
| 2015-2016 | Sterling Pruitt | Dallas |
| 2016-2017 | Griffin White | Fort Worth |
| 2017-2018 | Peyton Childs | Dallas |
| 2018-2019 | Davis Winn | Dallas |
| 2019-2020 | Diya Hedge | Dallas |
| 2020- 2021 | Scout Sowers | Austin |
| 2021- 2022 | Meika Kuns | Dallas |
| 2022-2023 | No Governor | |
| 2023-2024 | Andrew Wooten | Dallas |
| 2024-2025 | Arman Singh | Dallas |
| 2025-2026
2026-2027 |
Joshua Mugisha
Luke Benton |
Ft. Worth
Ft. Worth |