Cheryl Newcomb is a fundraising professional with more than 25 years of leadership experience advancing mission-driven organizations through strategic resource development. She brings a strong track record of building sustainable fundraising programs that connect people to purpose and drive long-term impact. Prior to joining Houston Audubon, Cheryl led development efforts at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and the ACLU of Texas. Raised in Houston and beginning her career at the Children’s Museum of Houston, Cheryl and her family also lived in Chicago and Austin before returning to her hometown in 2015. Cheryl is passionate about engaging communities, donors, and partners in protecting the natural environment and ensuring that future generations can experience the Gulf Coast’s vital ecosystems and bird habitats.
Cheryl answered a few questions so we can get to know her better.
1. What is your favorite bird?
The Brown Pelican. I grew up in Houston and remember when you could go to Galveston and hardly see any pelicans. Witnessing that population return and thrive makes me happy.
2. What was your first experience connecting to nature (that you can remember)?
After college graduation, I went on several primitive camping excursions around Central Texas with a group of friends. We hiked and camped together at Enchanted Rock, Pedernales Falls, Canyon Lake, and other locations with primitive campsites. While my camping days are behind me, we raised our daughter, Jet, to love and appreciate nature. When she was in elementary and middle school in Austin, we made it an annual tradition to visit one of Central Texas’s natural swimming holes every day the week after school ended – Hamilton Pool, Blue Hole, Pedernales Falls, Blanco River, and of course Barton Springs were all on the itinerary.
3. What are you most excited about in your new role?
I am so excited to join Houston Audubon at this particular moment. It seems to be an extraordinary time in the organization’s history—I’m thrilled and honored to have a part to play in that. I get to expand my interest in and knowledge of the natural world AND I get to work out of a nature sanctuary with a group of passionate and brilliant colleagues and volunteers? There’s no place I would rather be.
4. What is your proudest accomplishment?
My proudest accomplishment is raising our daughter and supporting her to the finish line of getting her undergraduate degree this year (2026)! I’m so proud of her for following her dreams of attending university overseas. She’s graduating from the University of Plymouth in England. The school mascot is the pelican. Serendipity!
5. What is your favorite book to read?
My favorite book since childhood is “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeline L’Engle. I am a big fan of historical fiction as a genre. Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of Madeline Miller and Natalie Haynes (re-telling of ancient Greek tales from the points of view of the women and/or side characters in the familiar myths and stories). I am also working my way through a series on Boudicca, the warrior queen of the Britons at the time of Roman conquest.
6. What’s your favorite movie?
Three favorites I could watch again and again: Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge” is one my favorites. I love how it incorporates modern music, the sets are gorgeous, and the melodrama is turned up to 11. “Roxanne” by The Police re-worked as an Argentinian Tango? Brilliant. The second is a movie called “Adaptation” by Charlie Kaufman, about a screen writer who is hired to adapt the book “The Orchid Thief” into a screenplay and fails spectacularly. Nicolas Cage plays twins, it has Meryl Streep in it, and Chris Cooper as the titular thief will break your heart. And finally, “The Green Knight”. This recent take on the Arthurian tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is innovative and beautifully rendered.
7. What did you want to be when you were young?
For me, the path not taken is academia. I would have gotten my PhD in Classical and Medieval literature and taught university. Niche interests include ancient Greek literature/mythology and Arthurian/Medieval literature and legends.
8. What would you sing at Karaoke night?
“One Way or Another” by Blondie
9. What are your hobbies?
My hobbies are reading, traveling, and going to concerts. Getting outside for hikes and walks when it’s not 1 million degrees outside. I take belly dance lessons for fun and fitness.
Please join us in welcoming Cheryl to the team and be sure to introduce yourself if you see her at a Houston Audubon sanctuary or event!
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