Texas ABA – 2025 Chapter Update – Inside Behavior Analysis

By Rachel Kramer

TxABA Mission

The Texas Association for Behavior Analysis (TxABA) continues to be guided by the mission to advance the science of behavior analysis to improve the world in which we live by disseminating knowledge from the science and providing resources to the behavior analytic community and the public in Texas in an ethical and high-quality manner. For more information on TxABA please visit www.txaba.org.

TxABA Membership

Membership in TxABA is a 365-day membership from the date of payment; individuals may join anytime during the year. Voting/affiliate membership is $60 and student/RBT membership is $30. Members receive discounts on conference registration as well as free registration and CEUs for the TxABA webinar speaker series. Members may serve on TxABA Committees to help shape behavior analysis in Texas and participate in TxABA SIGs. Voting members may vote in TxABA elections and those meeting all requirements may be nominated to serve on the executive council.

TxABA Executive Council (EC)

The 2024-2025 Executive Council consisted of President Jeffrey Dillen, President-Elect Dr. Berenice de la Cruz, Council Member Dr. Joseph Dracobly, Council Member Dr. Leslie Neely, Council Member Dr. Janet Sanchez Enriquez, Council Member Morgan Nichols, Senior Student Representative Michelle Castillo, Junior Student Representative Cha Yong Patterson (non-voting), TxABA Executive Director Rachel Kramer (non-voting), and TxABA Secretary-Treasurer Jennifer Hines (non-voting). The TxABA Executive Council (EC) gathered together in July to review progress on the 2023 – 2026 Strategic Plan and set the annual budget. The EC continued to meet monthly to discuss strategic plan progress, monitor the budget, discuss upcoming events, oversee TxABA Committees, approve SIGs, appoint TxABA PPG officers, and discuss current events/issues in the field.

TxABA Strategic Plan

During the Spring of 2023, we conducted a SWOT analysis with the Executive Council followed by a member survey for input on short-term goals relevant to the organization’s long-term goals. The TxABA Executive Council met in person in July 2023 to set the TxABA Strategic Plan for the next 3 years. As we grow, TxABA has set short-term goals to reach our overarching long-term goals: 1) Develop the organizational infrastructure for committees, special interest groups (SIGs), the executive council, and administration; 2) Support the quality and growth of the science and practice of behavior analysis through expansion of funding opportunities for science, practice, and research, and through the expansion of service offerings beyond the annual conference; 3) Increase the visibility and awareness of behavior analysis and TxABA among the public, and; 4) TxABA will engage in activities that promote diversity, inclusion, and equity as it pertains to its members, constituents, and conference attendees. The majority of short-term goals will be implemented through TxABA Committees, supported by the Secretary-Treasurer and Executive Director.

TxABA Annual Conference and Awards

TxABA hosted its 40th Annual Conference in Dallas, TX, on April 24-27, 2025. It was a hybrid conference with BehaviorLive streaming the conference and providing asynchronous viewing for most presentations after the conference. TxABA continued this year to offer pre-conference workshops on Thursday. The conference consisted of nine tracks with all invited presentations: Neurodevelopmental Disorders Track (Dr. Samantha Bergmann), Neurodevelopmental Disorder Track – Adults (Dr. John Guercio), Professional Track (Rany Thommen), General Track (Dr. Joseph Dracobly), Education Track (Dr. Kathleen Strickland-Cohen), Social Issues Track (Dr. Lee Mason), Organization Behavior Management Track (Dr. Jason Hirst), Research Track (Dr. April Becker), and Niche Areas Track (Dr. April Becker). We expanded both the NDD-Adults and Education Tracks to include a presentation and networking event on the Sunday morning of the conference.

In celebration of our 40th Annual Conference, Ryan O’Donnell chaired a panel on the History of TxABA with Deborah Grossett, Dorothea Lerman, Berenice de la Cruz, and Rachel Kramer. The panel focused on TxABA’s history through the lens of TxABA’s mission. In lieu of an awards ceremony, we held a commemorative event to highlight past TxABA leaders and share conference memories from our membership. The history of TxABA was sprinkled throughout the conference. Thank you to everyone who made the 2025 TxABA Conference a success! The 41st Annual Conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency in San Antonio, TX, on April 9-12, 2026.

TxABA Regional Conference El Paso, TX

TxABA hosted its first regional conference in El Paso, TX, on November 16, 2024. It was an in-person-only conference that focused on the local community by partnering with local behavior analysts who served on the Regional Conference El Paso Committee. The one-day conference offered two tracks with invited workshops and presentations. The BCBA Track with BACB CEUs featured Dr. Samantha Bergmann, Dr. Andrew Gardner, Dr. Amanda Kelly, Dr. Amy Foxman, and Dr. Ben Seifert. The RBT/Student Track with no CEUs featured Dr. Andrew Gardner and Dr. Janet Sanchez Enriquez. The first conference welcomed 73 attendees, 9 exhibitors, and 1 sponsor. TxABA is planning to return to El Paso in the Fall of 2026.

Other Activities

We continue to update the functionality, content, and style of our website to increase ease of use across platforms. We are growing our resources page on the website with contributions from two different committees. As we continue to update, you will find different Texas landscapes on our website, symbolizing TxABA’s commitment to being an organization for the science and practice of behavior analysis for the entire state from the piney woods and coastal regions across the hill country and plains regions to the desert and mountain regions. TxABA values the diversity that makes Texas beautiful and unique.

TxABA continued to increase dissemination beyond the annual conference with the TxABA Speaker Series webinars that are free to TxABA members. TxABA will continue the webinar series in 2025.

TxABA currently has nine standing committees that were created to implement the strategic plan. TxABA standing committees are the Awards Committee, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity for Everyone Committee, Grants and Funding Committee, Professional Issues and Development Committee, Program Committee, Public Dissemination Committee, Special Interest Group Committee, and Student Committee. TxABA has three Special Interest Groups (SIGs): Alamo City Behavior Analysts, Austin Area (ATX) ABA, and Severe Behavior.

TxABA Public Policy Group (PPG)

The TxABA PPG, a separate 501c6, is the sister organization of TxABA that focuses on legislative issues and lobbying. The 2024-2025 TxABA PPG officers consisted of President Mariel Cremonie-Fernandez President-elect Ellen Rhoads, Treasurer Lupe Castaneda, Secretary Anna Sciarillo, and Communications Chair Christina Martin. The TxABA PPG had a busy legislative year working with their new lobbyist and hosting a TxABA Day at the Capitol on April 17, 2025. They offered their 2024 workshop on Texas Medicaid for purchase on Behavior Live. The TxABA PPG officers provided a workshop at our annual conference and donated their instructor revenue to the TxABA PPG. They were invited speakers on the topic of why legislative issues matter to behavior analysts and their clients. For more information, please visit https://behavioranalysispu.wixsite.com/txabappg.