New Member Profiles: Maria Harper and Chris Varney

Maria Harper and Chris Varney were formally inducted into our club on Friday evening. They were sponsored by Raymond Miller.

Maria grew up in the metro-Detroit area where she was involved with the Michigan District Key Club serving as a Lt. Governor and District Bulletin Editor. She then went to the University of Missouri for her undergraduate degree in Journalism and German where she was involved with CKI at the club level. Most recently, though, she moved to Austin from Boston where she’s now working at a small digital advertising agency and getting re-introduced to the Kiwanis family! She has a passion for community impact, specifically involving education of underserved areas. Through the Kiwanis Club of Austin-Northeast she hopes to be able to bridge some of the gaps in the community to provide equal chances for all kids.

Chris moved to Austin from Boston in the summer of 2017. He’s from central Illinois and went to school in Missouri and is currently working in marketing. He is looking forward to spending a lot of time outside in the state parks around Austin as he discovers Texas. He has a particular interest service projects that address nutrition and food security, and is looking forward to getting involved in any way that he can.

We’re very excited to welcome them to our club and we value their ideas and the skills that they bring to the club as we work together to improve our community.