In addition to raising her two loving sons, she continued to work with the University of Texas. There, she founded the UTeach Institute in order to replicate the UTeach science and math teacher preparation program at universities around the country.
But she has also found a new passion: The Texas Tribune, a non-profit, community-based, members-only digital media news organization in Austin that is one of a growing number of non-profit digital news operations that have sprung up around the country as newspapers have been dying.
“When I first heard about it, and the concept behind it, I had the same feeling about it as I did about the Internet,” she said. “So, I went online and made a really large donation, for me. It was completely unsolicited. I put it all on my credit card.
“I don’t know what was driving me, but I was like, this is going to disrupt journalism, and I don’t know how… but they were all about innovating, so I got it.”
Today, LaQuey Parker serves on the board of The Texas Tribune, which, in addition to news reporting, holds an annual festival that brings together national policy leaders, authors, journalists and others for a weekend of debate and dialogue each year.
