San Antonio Area

Elysia Petru Hulings, President 
[email protected]

Originally from San Antonio, Elysia Petru Hulings graduated from Clark High School and received a Fine Arts degree from The University of Texas at San Antonio. She served as the Executive Director of a San Antonio-based grassroots non-profit organization before moving to Washington D.C. with her husband, where she spent four years as a political fundraiser for Senators, Members of Congress, and several non-profit think tanks.

Elysia and her husband returned to Texas and spent 2 years on the border in Del Rio, where Elysia served as the Marketing Director and Sponsorship Coordinator for Laughlin AFB. In the evenings, Elysia taught dance and began her own ballet company, Border Ballet, through which she organized and produced community productions of the Nutcracker.

Through Del Rio's animal rescue organization A Pet's Wish, Elysia and her husband adopted Sam, a 2 year-old black Labrador who instantly stole their hearts. On their last day in Del Rio, Elysia and her husband rescued 2 three-week old kittens, who made the move with Elysia and family back to San Antonio. Elysia and her husband later volunteered as fosters through SAPA! and adopted their "foster fail," a brown Labrador mix named Willy.

During the day, Elysia is the Development Director for a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit. At night, Elysia is completing her Masters in Public Administration and continues to teach ballet.

Elysia started volunteering with the South Central Texas Chapter in 2014, working closely with former Chapter President Melissa Lesniak. During the 2015 Texas Legislative Session, Elysia participated in Humane Lobby Day and tabled for THLN in the San Antonio area. Melissa will stay on as the South Central Texas Chapter Legislative Chair, and she eagerly welcomes Elysia into the President’s role.