Lady Bird Lake - Trails Foundation by Susan Rankin

The Heart of Austin: The Evolution of the Butler Trail at Lady Bird Lake

Susan Plettman Rankin is the Executive Director of the Trail Foundation, the nonprofit that enhances and protects the Butler Trail at Lady Bird Lake in Austin. Susan’s career has spanned environmental law, field botany, and fundraising.

She has worked as the General Counsel of the Texas Department of Water Resources and has worked with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, UT Austin College of Natural Sciences, the UT System General Counsel’s Office, and The Texas Nature Conservancy.

She is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law with a J.D. with Honors and the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in Botany, Summa Cum Laude.

Susan has been with The Trail Foundation for nine years and has led successful projects and grown the organization. She has a background in botany, environmental law, fundraising, and government relations. Susan has managed multiple landscape enhancements at the Trail. She leads TTF’s successful Boardwalk Trail Completion public-private partnership project including fundraising, communications, coordination with City departments, and City Council relations.

We order meals based on your reservations and must pay for them even if you do not show up. Please keep this in mind if your plans shift and cancel your reservation so we can adjust the headcount.