Women of the C-suite: Veronica V. Sopher of the Texas Schools Public Relations Association on
s g n i h T e v i F The e S a s a d e e c c Su by Candice Georgiadis Originally published on April 25, 2021, in Authority Magazine
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hank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this career path?
In high school, I tapped into my natural skill as a storyteller and thought law school would be my path. When I got to college, I found my tribe in the journalism department, and before I knew it, I was accepting internships in the public relations space. I felt like I had found my purpose. While I did enjoy journalism and had a passion for the legal system, public relations kept calling me and I knew that I could use my skills as a storyteller to craft messages. Once I graduated I did a stint in hospitality, finance and public health care. I learned and grew from each experience and landed in the education space. As a firm believer that education is the great equalizer, I found great joy and fulfillment in working in this space. I have loved every minute of the last 18 years in education. Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company? As a government public servant, so much of our work is public record and transparency is key to maintaining trust with stakeholders. One of the most interesting things that happened in my career was the discovery of 95 unmarked graves at the construction site of one of our schools. It was determined that the graves held the remains of 95 Black victims of the state-sanctioned convict leasing system, which was in effect following the abolishment of slavery. The discovery became known as the Sugar Land 95 and has proven to be one of the most profound projects I have ever been a part of. Because of the discovery, we know more about the harsh conditions in which these prisoners lived and how they died. Our team helped update laws in our state that made convict leasing a part of the state’s revised curriculum. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that? One of the funniest mistakes I’ve made, although it wasn’t funny at the time, was when I had a public notice placed in the local newspaper that indicated the proposed tax rate was going to be increased significantly more than
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Summer 2021 | www.TSPRA.org
