Meet the 2025-2026 FNA Board!
Meet the Fairmount Neighborhood Association Board for the 2025-2026 term—a dedicated group of volunteer leaders who care deeply about our community and work hard to make Fairmount the amazing place it is. To learn more about each board member, click the link to our website below.
We’re always looking for more hands and volunteers!
If you have questions or want to help bring ideas and initiatives to life, feel free to reach out via email or connect with us at the next general meeting. We’d love to get you involved!
Bryant Haertlein - President
Bryant moved to Fairmount in 2021 after googling "neighborhoods where cats outnumber humans," and he has not been disappointed. For the last 25 years, he has lived exclusively in historic neighborhoods. He was first introduced to preservation through the efforts of Lenwood Johnson and others to save Allen Parkway Village and Houston's Fourth Ward in the mid-1990s. These experiences have led him to value the social fabric and character of a neighborhood as highly as the historic structures within. He has worked the longest in oil and gas, but he has also spent time in real estate, journalism, software, film production, and the art world. He enjoys darkroom photography and the outdoors, traveling to the Big Bend region whenever possible. Bryant looks forward to contributing to the community and culture that have made this neighborhood such a great place to live.
Jen Kindschi - Director of Promotions
Fairmount is such a special place and I feel so lucky that I get to live here! I moved here with my family in 2020 after being initially drawn to the neighborhood for the tree lined streets, the character of the homes, and the many local businesses. What we got here is so much more than that! From the diversity of the Fairmount residents and welcoming sense of community....to the walkability, the many events and the stellar holiday decorations, we really do have it all. As the new Director of Promotions I am thrilled to help continue to show people just how wonderful and unique our neighborhood truly is!
Taylor Staniforth - Director of Communication
Taylor has lived in Fairmount since 2020, but spent several years before taking long walks with her dog through the neighborhood hoping one day she could sneak into one of its cozy houses. Legally. So she picked a guy in Fairmount and married him. Happily ever after! Taylor is a photographer, artist, and was the associate artistic director & marketing director for Circle Theatre for six years. When she's not doing that, she's running Fairmount Bites! She loves a big idea and Avoca's Bourbon Butterscotch oat milk Latte and her rescue mutts, Llana and Birdie. And she really does like the guy she married. Thrilled to help teach everyone how to communicate!
Natalie Trimble - Director of Membership
Natalie and her family have called Fairmount home since 2022. She loves living in a walkable community and you will frequently see her competing with her oldest son to count cats and squirrels on walks. She is an extroverted freelance writer who is excited to help plan fun events for all Fairmounters. *About 70% of her communication includes a pun. When in doubt, please laugh.
Richard Schrade - Director of Public Safety
My wife Meghan and I moved to Fairmount in the Summer of 2024, relocating from Atlanta, GA and before that Nashville, TN. I am an industrial engineer and work in the industrial automation market, remotely. Away from work, I enjoy running and evening walks with our golden retriever, Lucy. We fell in love with Fairmount for the warm neighborhood feel, beautiful historic houses and proximity to the charming Magnolia Avenue. I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve our neighborhood and help keep it the safe and welcoming place that it is!
Hao Tran - Director of Finance
Hao has been a Fort Worth resident since 1991, raising two daughters in the city. She appreciates the unique character of the Fairmount neighborhood, its diversity, and its edginess without pretentiousness. Hao teaches culinary arts at Trimble Technical High School and owns Hao's Grocery & Cafe in the Near Southside, where you can find unique culinary treasures worth a visit.
Kathryn McCarthy - Co-Director of Historic Preservation
I was a resident of Austin the first time I came to Fairmount. It was for a Christmas Eve party thrown by Fran McCarthy, a friend of a friend who I had not yet met. I was immediately blown away by the vibrant array of people gathered for that party, many of them neighbors. By the next Christmas Eve Fran and I were engaged and in June 2015 we were married and I officially became a Fairmount resident. Did the fact that Fran lived in this amazing neighborhood have some bearing on the attraction? Of course it did!! As long time Fairmount residents know, Fran was passionate about Fort Worth and particularly the near Southside, and he transferred that passion and love to me. When he passed away unexpectedly in 2019 people asked me if I was going to stay here. What a silly question. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else at this time in my life. As an aging Boomer it's vital to me to live in a diverse environment and Fairmount fits the bill perfectly.
Michael Tucker McDermott - Co-Director of Historic Preservation
I'm a Fort Worth native who moved to Fairmount in 1984, since the area was only known as the Near Southside, before it was called Fairmount.😁 I was on the committee that founded the historic district in 1990. I have a passion for the neighborhood, the historic district, and our unique and often very historic old homes, and for preserving them. I've spent the last 40 years learning all there is to know about our early 20th Century domestic architecture. I admit it, I'm obsessed with Fairmount!
Ben Eppstein - Director of Infastructure
Ben is a Fort Worth native who has been in the neighborhood since 2021. His community involvement has included the Fairmount Ferals softball team, the Fairmount Community Library, Fairmount Bites, and he is a proud Fairmounty. Ben is excited that his professional experience in water resources civil engineering has been tapped to troubleshoot the neighborhood park's sprinkler system as the new infrastructure chair.
Jess Eppstein - Director of Administration
Jess lives in Fairmount. She has a cat and a dog.