Lloyd’s love of older Americans led him to form a community-based hospice, Sonder Hospice, in 2019. Outside of his service with Sonder Hospice, look for Lloyd on Lake Austin and Lake Travis with his wife, Claire, and two boys. Lloyd graduated from Washington & Lee University and obtained a Master’s in Health Administration from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Who We Are
Emmie Knox, Board Member
Emmie Knox is a Licensed Master Social Worker and native Austinite. She and her husband, Louis, own and operate Assisting Hands West Austin, a caregiving and home care agency that has served the Austin community for over 10 years.
Emmie earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in social work from The University of Texas and brings an extensive background in medical social work and healthcare administration, with a particular focus on the older adult population.
Her experience navigating care for older adults drew her to the Memory Caregiver Academy of Austin, where she is passionate about supporting continuing education and community awareness around providing high-quality care for loved ones, neighbors, and clients in need.
In her spare time, Emmie enjoys being outdoors and spending time with her husband and their two boys.
Julie Latson, Board Member
Julie Latson is a native of Bay City, Texas and brings more than two decades of experience in healthcare to the Memory Caregiver Academy of Austin board. She currently serves as the Director of Assisted Living and Memory Care at Querencia and has worked in healthcare since 2001 in a wide range of settings, including hospitals, home health, hospice, home care, care management, and senior living.
Julie was drawn to MCAAustin through her deep admiration for the work Debbie has done in the field. Through her own career in healthcare, Julie has seen firsthand the growing need for skilled caregivers who are specifically trained to support individuals living with dementia and their families.
Outside of work, Julie enjoys spending time with her family — her husband, Shane, and their two sons, Hank (9) and Wyatt (11). Much of her free time is spent cheering on her boys at sporting events, enjoying the outdoors through walks and hikes, and playing with their dogs, Tucker and Murphy.
Julie is excited to join MCAAustin’s board and looks forward to helping expand the organization’s impact and support caregivers throughout the Austin community.
Todd Wehner, Board Member
Todd is a financial executive with 45 years of professional experience across four industries. Each position included management responsibilities for Finance, Risk Management, Human Resources and Information Systems, along with other roles. He is a CPA with a degree from the University of Texas and an MBA from the University of Houston.
Todd has participated in community leadership with board and committee positions with preschool, grade school, church and homeowners’ associations. These roles primarily focused on grade school kids, which drew him to the work of MCAAustin.
He recognizes the rapidly-growing need for caregivers for the elderly as the population ages and the need to introduce young people to a viable vocation at the start of their career search. He looks forward to joining a proven leader in Debbie Wilder to help guide the formative launch of the organization.
Lloyd Wilson, Board Member, Resources & Recruiting
As a native Austinite, Lloyd’s heroes growing up were his grandparents. Many of his best childhood memories came from spending time with them swimming at Barton Springs and exploring the ranches and rivers of Central Texas. Their love, stories, and wisdom shaped his character and drove his interest in helping older Americans.
Lloyd is concerned about memory care caregivers burnout, workforce shortages, and inexperience, especially as more families require this extra level of care for their loved one’s safety and independence. Any way we can promote caregivers and support this profession is a worthy and necessary cause.
Lloyd’s love of older Americans led him to form a community-based hospice, Sonder Hospice, in 2019. Outside of his service with Sonder Hospice, look for Lloyd on Lake Austin and Lake Travis with his wife, Claire, and two boys. Lloyd graduated from Washington & Lee University and obtained a Master’s in Health Administration from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Emmie Knox, Board Member
Emmie Knox is a Licensed Master Social Worker and native Austinite. She and her husband, Louis, own and operate Assisting Hands West Austin, a caregiving and home care agency that has served the Austin community for over 10 years.
Emmie earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in social work from The University of Texas and brings an extensive background in medical social work and healthcare administration, with a particular focus on the older adult population.
Her experience navigating care for older adults drew her to the Memory Caregiver Academy of Austin, where she is passionate about supporting continuing education and community awareness around providing high-quality care for loved ones, neighbors, and clients in need.
In her spare time, Emmie enjoys being outdoors and spending time with her husband and their two boys.
Julie Latson, Board Member
Julie Latson is a native of Bay City, Texas and brings more than two decades of experience in healthcare to the Memory Caregiver Academy of Austin board. She currently serves as the Director of Assisted Living and Memory Care at Querencia and has worked in healthcare since 2001 in a wide range of settings, including hospitals, home health, hospice, home care, care management, and senior living.
Julie was drawn to MCAAustin through her deep admiration for the work Debbie has done in the field. Through her own career in healthcare, Julie has seen firsthand the growing need for skilled caregivers who are specifically trained to support individuals living with dementia and their families.
Outside of work, Julie enjoys spending time with her family — her husband, Shane, and their two sons, Hank (9) and Wyatt (11). Much of her free time is spent cheering on her boys at sporting events, enjoying the outdoors through walks and hikes, and playing with their dogs, Tucker and Murphy.
Julie is excited to join MCAAustin’s board and looks forward to helping expand the organization’s impact and support caregivers throughout the Austin community.
Todd Wehner, Board Member
Todd is a financial executive with 45 years of professional experience across four industries. Each position included management responsibilities for Finance, Risk Management, Human Resources and Information Systems, along with other roles. He is a CPA with a degree from the University of Texas and an MBA from the University of Houston.
Todd has participated in community leadership with board and committee positions with preschool, grade school, church and homeowners’ associations. These roles primarily focused on grade school kids, which drew him to the work of MCAAustin.
He recognizes the rapidly-growing need for caregivers for the elderly as the population ages and the need to introduce young people to a viable vocation at the start of their career search. He looks forward to joining a proven leader in Debbie Wilder to help guide the formative launch of the organization.
Debbie Wilder, Founder & (Acting) Executive Director
Debbie has a master’s in pediatric nursing but for the last 34 years she has pursued volunteer passions while raising two children, and now helping with 3 grandchildren. She and her husband, Fred, live with a very cute Aussie doodle named Lily. Debbie started volunteering with Austin Smiles in 1988 as a recovery room nurse, helping infants and children after cleft lip and palate operations in third world countries.
In 2001, Debbie started “The Gathering”, a weekly respite program for people with Alzheimer’s disease and similar dementias. This came about in part after watching her sweet grandmother develop dementia after a fall and head injury. She also started “New Connections” (now re-banded as Memory Connections), to address a community need for meaningful, purposeful programming for people experiencing the early-stage dementia.
Volunteering with the Gathering and New Connections made Debbie extremely aware of the need for well-trained dementia caregivers. The need became even more acute in 2020 when families were isolated at home with their relatives with dementia, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This awareness led to the desire to help train people to become excellent dementia care specialist caregivers.
Lloyd Wilson, Board Member, Resources & Recruiting
As a native Austinite, Lloyd’s heroes growing up were his grandparents. Many of his best childhood memories came from spending time with them swimming at Barton Springs and exploring the ranches and rivers of Central Texas. Their love, stories, and wisdom shaped his character and drove his interest in helping older Americans.
Lloyd is concerned about memory care caregivers burnout, workforce shortages, and inexperience, especially as more families require this extra level of care for their loved one’s safety and independence. Any way we can promote caregivers and support this profession is a worthy and necessary cause.
Lloyd’s love of older Americans led him to form a community-based hospice, Sonder Hospice, in 2019. Outside of his service with Sonder Hospice, look for Lloyd on Lake Austin and Lake Travis with his wife, Claire, and two boys. Lloyd graduated from Washington & Lee University and obtained a Master’s in Health Administration from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Emmie Knox, Board Member
Emmie Knox is a Licensed Master Social Worker and native Austinite. She and her husband, Louis, own and operate Assisting Hands West Austin, a caregiving and home care agency that has served the Austin community for over 10 years.
Emmie earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in social work from The University of Texas and brings an extensive background in medical social work and healthcare administration, with a particular focus on the older adult population.
Her experience navigating care for older adults drew her to the Memory Caregiver Academy of Austin, where she is passionate about supporting continuing education and community awareness around providing high-quality care for loved ones, neighbors, and clients in need.
In her spare time, Emmie enjoys being outdoors and spending time with her husband and their two boys.
Julie Latson, Board Member
Julie Latson is a native of Bay City, Texas and brings more than two decades of experience in healthcare to the Memory Caregiver Academy of Austin board. She currently serves as the Director of Assisted Living and Memory Care at Querencia and has worked in healthcare since 2001 in a wide range of settings, including hospitals, home health, hospice, home care, care management, and senior living.
Julie was drawn to MCAAustin through her deep admiration for the work Debbie has done in the field. Through her own career in healthcare, Julie has seen firsthand the growing need for skilled caregivers who are specifically trained to support individuals living with dementia and their families.
Outside of work, Julie enjoys spending time with her family — her husband, Shane, and their two sons, Hank (9) and Wyatt (11). Much of her free time is spent cheering on her boys at sporting events, enjoying the outdoors through walks and hikes, and playing with their dogs, Tucker and Murphy.
Julie is excited to join MCAAustin’s board and looks forward to helping expand the organization’s impact and support caregivers throughout the Austin community.
Todd Wehner, Board Member
Todd is a financial executive with 45 years of professional experience across four industries. Each position included management responsibilities for Finance, Risk Management, Human Resources and Information Systems, along with other roles. He is a CPA with a degree from the University of Texas and an MBA from the University of Houston.
Todd has participated in community leadership with board and committee positions with preschool, grade school, church and homeowners’ associations. These roles primarily focused on grade school kids, which drew him to the work of MCAAustin.
He recognizes the rapidly-growing need for caregivers for the elderly as the population ages and the need to introduce young people to a viable vocation at the start of their career search. He looks forward to joining a proven leader in Debbie Wilder to help guide the formative launch of the organization.