The Houston Astros have hired Paula Harris as the club’s new Astros Foundation executive director and senior vice president, community affairs.
Harris brings over 33 years of experience in the Houston area, both in the professional arena as an executive with Schlumberger Ltd and in the community with civic interest and volunteerism. She is a former HISD Board of Education trustee and president.
“I am honored to be joining the Houston Astros as the executive director of the Astros Foundation,” said Harris. “Working throughout the Houston community I have always respected the work of the Astros Foundation with their five pillars of youth baseball and softball, military, childhood cancer awareness, homelessness and domestic violence awareness, and I can’t wait to continue to foster our relationships in the community while extending our reach to help more Houstonians.”
On the hiring of Harris, Astros owner and chairman Jim Crane said, “Harris stood out to us during our search for this position because of her extensive work and dedication to the Houston community over three decades. We are proud to have her join our team and continue to champion our longstanding commitment to this community.”
Harris currently serves on the boards of Chart Industries (GTLS), the Vantage Group, Houston Children’s Museum, Petroleum Club of Houston, Independent Petroleum Association of America’s Energy Education Center and Energized for STEM Charter School.
She is a founding member of the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy, an all-girl’s engineering school serving primarily minority students in Houston with the goal of preparing girls to attend top engineering universities. Harris has a particular passion for advancing STEM education and career opportunities, especially among women and underrepresented minorities.
She previously served on the boards of the Permian Strategic Partnership in Midland, Space Center Houston and numerous other education and outreach associations. In 2020, Harris received the Women Who Mean Business Lifetime Achievement award from the Houston Business Journal and in 2019, the United Nations Global Citizenship Award and the Women on the Move award from Texas Executive Women.
In her over 33 years in the international oilfield services with Schlumberger, Harris, educated as a petroleum engineer, worked in many roles. She worked her way up from field engineer, working on offshore rigs, to leadership positions such as director of community affairs from 2010-2015 and most recently, director of global stewardship.
A native Houstonian, Harris graduated with a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University and a Master’s of Education in Technical Instruction and Learning from Abilene Christian.
The owner of her own publishing company, Harris has authored, published and distributed four books, including “When I Grow Up I want to be an Engineer.” The book was translated into four languages and over 150,000 copies were distributed globally to schools, museums and non-profits.