Texas Tribune Festival

Speakers

Aubree Adams

Director, Citizens for a Safe and Healthy Texas

Adams founded Citizens for a Safe and Healthy Texas, leading education and advocacy opposing the commercialization and further legalization of drugs, including marijuana and hemp-derived THC. A national public health advocate and licensed physical therapist assistant, she also directs Every Brain Matters, which provides education, compassionate support and advocacy for families affected by marijuana-related harm.

Steve Adler

Former mayor of Austin

Adler served as mayor of Austin from 2015 to 2023. He focused on equity, housing, public safety and initiated $25 billion in transportation projects. Adler is an adjunct faculty member at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, Huston-Tillotson University and St. Edward’s University.

Sarah Adler Hartman

CEO, The Texas Tribune

Adler Hartman is the chief executive officer of The Texas Tribune. She stepped into the role in December 2025, continuing the organization's legacy of visionary leadership. Before leading the Tribune, Adler Hartman was head of product, subscriber experiences at The New York Times, where she focused on engaging and retaining subscribers for the news subscription business, leading product development and innovation. Adler Hartman began her career as an entrepreneur, founding the food media company Spoon University before selling it to Scripps Networks Interactive.

Fahad Ahmed

Councilman, Irving City Council

Ahmed serves on the Irving City Council. A former Microsoft and Google strategist, he is now an entrepreneur and community leader focused on practical problem solving, economic opportunity and improving quality of life for residents.

Daniel Alders

State Representative, R-Tyler

Alders was first elected in 2024 to serve House District 6, which includes Tyler and southern Smith County. He previously worked as the East Texas regional director for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz. He serves on the Land and Resource Management and Delivery of Government Efficiency committees and the Healthcare Affordability Select Committee.

Lamar Alexander

Former U.S. Senator

Alexander has served in the U.S. Senate and as the governor of Tennessee, U.S. education secretary and president of the University of Tennessee. His most recent book, “The Education of a Senator: From JFK to Trump” was published in 2026.

Fernando Alfonso

Texas editor, The New York Times

Alfonso is the first Texas-based editor at The New York Times, based in Houston. He joined from the Houston Chronicle, where he devised a project memorializing the Hill Country flood victims that ran behind a shared front page at every Hearst paper in Texas. He led digital news at NPR and covered breaking news for CNN. He has taught journalism at Morehouse College and the University of Kentucky.

Carol Alvarado

State Senator, D-Houston

Alvarado was elected to serve Texas Senate District 6 in 2018. She previously served five terms representing District 145 in the Texas House of Representatives. Alvarado also serves as the chair of the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus.

Abdullah Antepli

President, Rothko Chapel

Antepli is the president of the Rothko Chapel in Houston, an independent, globally recognized institution dedicated to art, spirituality and human rights. He is a globally acknowledged scholar and leader in cross-religious and cross-cultural dialogue. His Muslim Leadership Initiative at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem helped young Muslim American leaders understand Judaic and Israeli studies and worked to cultivate compassion in the face of fear and hate.

Jodey Arrington

U.S. Representative, R-Lubbock

Arrington is a Republican serving the 19th Congressional District of Texas and chair of the House Budget Committee. His district covers Lubbock and Abilene as well as much of the South Plains, Big Country and surrounding region.

Annah Aschbrenner

Senior editor for news, The Washington Post

Aschbrenner is senior editor for news at The Washington Post. She previously served as The Post’s deputy white house editor, senior deputy campaign editor and Congress editor and was part of the team awarded the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news for coverage of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. She has covered Trump in some capacity since his first speech in Iowa in January 2015.

Lynnette Averill

Director of Research, The Menninger Clinic

Averill is the director of research at The Menninger Clinic. In addition to her roles at Menninger, she is an associate professor in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Neuropsychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine. A Fulbright scholar, her expertise includes suicidality, trauma and psychedelic medicines.

Jeremy Avins

Vice President of Career Pathways, Arnold Ventures

Avins leads Arnold Ventures’ career pathways portfolio, which invests in research and policy to help Americans access good jobs and economic mobility. Prior to AV, Avins managed workforce development programs in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, overseeing initiatives to build the next-generation energy and manufacturing workforce. He previously led the economic mobility practice at Redstone Strategy Group, a social impact consultancy.

Eva-Marie Ayala

Education editor, The Texas Tribune

Ayala is a veteran journalist who’s covered Texas education for more than two decades. She began her career at her hometown newspaper, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram before joining The Dallas Morning News. She previously was assistant managing editor of the Fort Worth Report where she coordinated reporting on Tarrant County’s growth and the state’s takeover of local districts. She joined The Tribune as education editor in spring of 2026 and is based in Fort Worth.

Jack Balagia

Exec. Dir., Kay Bailey Hutchison Energy Ctr.

Balagia graduated from the University of Texas School of Law and joined ExxonMobil’s law department in 1998. He was elected vice president and general counsel in 2010. In 2017, he returned to UT as an adjunct professor in oil and gas law and became executive director of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Energy Center in 2024.

James Barragán

Anchor, “Capital Tonight”

Barragán is the anchor for Spectrum News' statewide politics show, Capital Tonight — the only daily politics TV show in the state. He joined Spectrum News in 2025 after nearly a decade covering Texas politics for the Austin American-Statesman, The Dallas Morning News and The Texas Tribune. He has covered multiple elections and five legislative sessions.

Melissa Barragán Taboada

Editor-in-Chief, The Austin Current

Taboada is the editor-in-chief of Austin Current, a nonprofit news organization committed to community-centered journalism. She’s a veteran journalist who worked for more than 25 years as reporter and editor in Austin and at The Boston Globe. Taboada, who grew up in El Paso, previously served as an adjunct journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin, her alma mater.

Becky Bass

Executive Director, Fort Worth Community Land Trust

Bass is the inaugural executive director of the Fort Worth Community Land Trust, bringing more than 16 years of experience in housing policy, partnership development and program design. She is passionate about expanding homeownership opportunities for working families and ensuring that stable, attainable housing remains within reach in Fort Worth.

Michelle Basta

Vice President, Health Care Innovation, Morgan Health

Basta is vice president of health care innovation at Morgan Health, a division of JPMorganChase focused on improving the quality, affordability and equity of healthcare in the United States. She leads Morgan Health’s efforts to support small and mid-sized businesses in accessing more affordable, high-quality health care coverage. Her work spans strategy, partnerships and product development, bringing together Morgan Health portfolio companies, industry stakeholders and teams across JPMorganChase to advance innovative approaches in employer-sponsored health insurance.

Jerry Bauerkemper

Interim Board President, TXCPG

Bauerkemper has spent the last 40 years working in the field of problem gambling. He has provided training throughout the United States and multiple countries. He is a consultant for the Iowa Health and Human Services gamblers assistance program.

Ben Bayer

Senior Fellow, Ayn Rand Institute

David Becker

Exec. Dir. and Founder, CEIR

Becker leads the nonpartisan, nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research. Becker previously served as director of the elections program at The Pew Charitable Trusts and as a trial attorney in the voting section of the U.S. Department of Justice. He co-authored, with CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett, the book “The Big Truth: Upholding Democracy in the Age of The Big Lie.”

Maria Benzon

Trustee, Houston ISD School Board

Eric Berger

Senior space editor, Ars Technica

Berger is the senior space editor at the news website Ars Technica, and author of two books: “Liftoff,” about the rise of SpaceX; and “Reentry,” on the development of the Falcon 9 rocket. He previously worked at the Houston Chronicle for 17 years. A certified meteorologist, Berger founded Space City Weather and The Eyewall.

Nicole Bibbins Sedaca

Kelly and David Pfeil Fellow, George W. Bush Inst.

Lisa Bielamowicz

Chief Clinical Strategy Advisor and Board Member, Centivo

Bielamowicz is a healthcare strategist with deep experience advising industry executives about the future marketplace and impact on their organizations. She is the co-founder and former president of Gist Healthcare, a strategic advisory service providing guidance to healthcare industry leaders.

Gabby Birenbaum

Washington correspondent, The Texas Tribune

Birenbaum is the Washington correspondent at The Texas Tribune, where she covers the Texas congressional delegation and the impact of federal policy on Texas. Birenbaum previously covered Washington for the Nevada Independent, where she reported on the 2024 presidential election and competitive Senate race, and has worked at The Washington Monthly and Vox.

Deborah Birx

Professor, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Birx spent her first career serving the United States — as an Army Colonel and later, running some of the most high-profile and influential programs at the CDC, Department of State, and the White House as the COVID response coordinator. She is a Bush Institute senior fellow and a professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

Richard Blanco

Presidential Inaugural Poet; Memoirist

Blanco was selected as the fifth presidential inaugural poet in U.S. history and is the youngest and the first Latinx, immigrant, and gay person to serve in that role. In 2023, Blanco received a National Humanities Medal. Born to Cuban exile parents, cultural identity characterizes his many collections of poetry. Blanco serves as education ambassador for The Academy of American Poets and as professor and dean's fellow at Purdue University.

Nicola Blaque

Executive Chief and Owner, The Jerk Shack

David Blight

Professor of American history, Yale University

Professor of history at Yale, and director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery and Abolition, Blight is also the author or editor of more than a dozen books, including “Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory,” which won eight awards, and “Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom,” which also won eight awards, including the Pulitzer Prize in History.

Niala Boodhoo

Events Host, Religion News Service

Boodhoo is the host of Oh God Now What, a weekly PRX podcast and Substack where she talks to religious and spiritual leaders about how to live with the news. She’s an award-winning Washington D.C.-based journalist who also works for Religion News Service as their live journalism events host and executive producer. You can also hear her many Fridays on NPR stations hosting the Friday News Roundup on 1A.

Kevin Brady

Advisor to Americans for Free Markets

Brady represented Texas’ 8th Congressional District in Congress for 26 years, including serving as chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. He authored the landmark 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and helped secure passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Brady is an advisor to Americans for Free Markets and advises clients on tax, trade, healthcare and energy policy.

H.W. Brands

Author, "American Patriarch"

Brands holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin. He has written more than a dozen biographies and histories, including “The General vs. the President,” a New York Times bestseller. Two of his biographies, “The First American” and “Traitor to His Class”, were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize.

Tabitha Branum

Superintendent, Richardson ISD

Branum, superintendent of Richardson ISD since 2022, brings more than 29 years of experience in Texas public education. A former teacher, campus leader and district administrator, she is recognized for advancing innovative, research-based practices that support student success. Branum serves on multiple education and community boards and has received numerous honors for her leadership.

Amber Briggle

Writer, entrepreneur and advocate

Briggle is a writer, entrepreneur and nationally recognized advocate for transgender youth and their families. After her son came out as transgender, she became a leading voice for policies that protect LGBTQ+ children, testifying before lawmakers, speaking nationwide and serving as a plaintiff in the landmark PFLAG v. Abbott lawsuit.

Anne Brown

Exec. Dir., Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation

At the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, Brown has helped raise and invest more than $300 million for conservation, including the acquisition of Powderhorn Ranch and the development of Palo Pinto Mountains State Park. Her experience also includes advancing conservation efforts for The Friedkin Group in the Serengeti ecosystem and serving as vice president of global initiatives for the National Audubon Society.

J.P. Bryan

Exec. Dir., Texas State Historical Association

Bryan is a Texas businessman, historian, preservationist and philanthropist. He has spent more than five decades preserving Texas history through civic service, historic restoration and museum leadership, and was appointed to the Texas Bicentennial Commission in 2026.

Dasha Burns

Co-author, Politico Playbook

Burns is a co-author of Politico Playbook, Politico’s flagship newsletter covering politics, policy and power in the United States. She also anchors the Playbook Podcast. Burns is the host and managing editor of The Conversation, Playbook's weekly interview show, and serves as Politico's global anchor.

Cynthia Cabrera

Chief Strategy Officer, Hometown Hero

Cabrera is chief strategy officer for Hometown Hero and past president of the Texas Hemp Business Council.

Yasmin Cader

Dep. Exec. Dir. for Program, Strategy and Culture, ACLU

Cader works closely with the executive director and senior leadership team of the ACLU to help lead the organization’s strategic direction, strengthen organizational culture and align its nationwide work to defend and advance civil rights and civil liberties. Previously, she served as the ACLU’s deputy legal director and director of the Trone Center for Justice and Equality.

Amber Capone

Co-founder and CEO, VETS

Amber Capone is CEO and co-founder of VETS, a nonprofit expanding access to psychedelic-assisted therapies for veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injury. Under her leadership, VETS has supported more than 1,100 veterans across 49 states, delivered over 7,200 hours of coaching and secured $3.6 million in grants. Named to Inc.’s Female Founders List in 2026, Capone co-founded the VALOR Coalition and secured bipartisan policy wins in Texas and California, advancing ibogaine research funding.

Marcus Capone

Co-founder, VETS

Capone, a former Navy SEAL, is chair and co-founder of VETS, a global nonprofit expanding access to psychedelic-assisted therapies for veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injury. He has helped raise over $25 million to advance innovative mental health treatments and clinical research. Capone champions policy reform and therapies like ibogaine, reshaping veteran care at the intersection of neuroscience, resilience and human flourishing.

Michele Carew

Elections Administrator, Bexar County

Carew is the elections administrator for Bexar County, overseeing voter registration and election operations for more than 1.3 million voters across 806 precincts. She previously served as president of the Texas Association of Elections Administrators — now the Texas Association of County Election Officials — where she represented and advocated for election professionals in statewide legislative discussions.

Joaquin Castro

U.S. Representative, D-San Antonio

Castro is in his seventh term representing San Antonio in Congress. He serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He was the 2013 co-president for the House freshman Democrats and the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus for the 116th Congress.

Iván Chaar López

Assistant Professor, UT Austin

Chaar López is an assistant professor in the department of social and cultural analysis, and the principal investigator of the Border Tech Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. His research examines the history and politics of computing and information infrastructures. He is the author of ”The Cybernetic Border: Drones, Technology, and Intrusion” and co-author of Precarity Lab's “Technoprecarious.”

Maurice Chammah

Staff writer, The Marshall Project

Chammah is a journalist at The Marshall Project, where he hosted "The Last 12 Weeks," a 2026 podcast series from Serial Productions and The New York Times. He's author of the book "Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty," and was on a team that won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting.

Julie Chang

Health and Human Services Editor, The Texas Tribune

Chang is an award-winning journalist overseeing coverage of the most pressing health policy impacts on Texans. She started her career at the Beaumont Enterprise and continued at the Austin American-Statesman, where she spent eight years. Her beats have included crime, education, social services and investigations. Prior to joining The Texas Tribune, Chang served as the managing editor of County magazine, a publication of the Texas Association of Counties.

Flora Charner

Journalism professor, Texas A&M University

Charner is an Emmy-award winning journalist and educator with more than two decades of news experience. She's currently a professor of practice in journalism at Texas A&M University. Charner previously worked for CNN as a director of coverage for international news and as a senior producer in their Brazil bureau. She also held various roles with the Associated Press and Al Jazeera English.

Emily Cicchini

Executive director, BookSpring

Cicchini is executive director of BookSpring and president of the National Book Access Association. She works at the intersection of book access, family reading and social innovation. Under her leadership, BookSpring has expanded print and digital reading opportunities for children and families across Texas.

Jeffrey Clark

President, Advanced Power Alliance

Clark has led the Advanced Power Alliance for 15 years, championing renewable and other advanced energy resources to lower costs, strengthen reliability and secure U.S. energy leadership. APA is active in Texas/ERCOT, the Southwest Power Pool and across the Southeast. He has spent 30 years in public policy, leading advocacy for the American Electronics Association and other industry trade groups.

Paul Cobler

Economy and industry reporter, The Texas Tribune

Cobler covers the socioeconomic and political forces that impact Texans’ pocketbooks and upward mobility. Before joining the Tribune, he was a politics reporter for the Houston Landing and covered Baton Rouge City Hall for The Advocate in Louisiana.

Celia Cole

CEO of Feeding Texas

Cole is CEO of Feeding Texas, where she has led the state’s network of food banks since 2012. With over 20 years of experience in nutrition policy and government relations, she brings deep expertise in federal programs, responsible stewardship of resources and building effective partnerships across sectors.

Pamela Colloff

Author, "Catch the Devil;" Reporter, ProPublica

Colloff is a reporter for ProPublica and a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine. Previously, she was a staff writer at Texas Monthly. Her first book, “Catch the Devil: A True Story of Murder and Deception on the Gulf Coast,” was published this summer and became a New York Times bestseller. A two-time National Magazine Award winner, she lives in Austin.

Eric Cooper

President and CEO, San Antonio Food Bank

Cooper is president and CEO of the San Antonio Food Bank. Through his dual strategy of feeding the line and shortening the line, Eric has earned national recognition for his holistic approach to addressing hunger and poverty. He serves on the boards of Feeding Texas and Feeding America, championing food security, housing, employment and community partnerships.

John Cowen

Mayor, City of Brownsville

Cowen is a sixth-generation Brownsvillian, businessman, and public servant serving as Mayor since 2023. He is president of Cowen Group, Ltd. and a licensed U.S. Customs Broker. He serves in key regional and national leadership roles and is committed to advancing economic development, regional growth and investment in Brownsville.

Holly D'Andrea

Immigration Judge, Conroe Immigration Court

D’Andrea is an immigration judge at the Conroe Immigration Court in Texas and the president of the National Association of Immigration Judges. Appointed by Attorney General William Barr in 2019, she previously spent eight years as an assistant U.S. attorney along the southwest border.

Drew Darby

State Representative, R-San Angelo

Darby represents 10 West Texas counties across the Big Country, Concho Valley and Permian Basin. He chairs the House Committee on Energy Resources and serves on several other committees. He owns Surety Title and works of counsel at Jackson Walker.

Oliver Darcy

Founder and lead author, Status

Darcy is the founder and author of Status, the nightly briefing that informs readers about what is really happening in the corridors of media power. Status is widely read by those in the media industry, including news chiefs, Hollywood studio bosses and technology executives.

Eric Deggans

Critic at large, National Public Radio

Deggans is NPR’s first full-time TV critic and media analyst. He is also an adjunct instructor at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and chair of the Media Monitoring committee for the National Association of Black Journalists. Prior to NPR, he worked at the Tampa Bay Times for nearly 20 years. He is author of “Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation.”

Colleen DeGuzman

Reporter, The Texas Tribune

DeGuzman is a general assignment reporter for the Texas Tribune and has been following developments of Corpus Christi's water security since the city began enforcing emergency protocols.

Kathleen deLaski

Founder, Education Design Lab

Kathleen deLaski is the author of the best-selling book “Who Needs College Anymore?” and founder and board chair of the Education Design Lab, which has worked with 1,200 colleges, states, and employers to design shorter, more targeted forms of higher education. She serves as senior advisor for Harvard's Project on the Workforce and teaches AI literacy at George Mason University.

Rachana Desai Martin

Chief program officer, US, Ctr. for Reproductive Rights.

Desai Martin is the chief program officer with the Center for Reproductive Rights. After previously working on the Center’s federal advocacy team in 2018, she re-joined the Center in May 2023 to lead advocacy with the United Nations, multilateral institutions and government bodies in support of the Center’s mission to advance reproductive rights as fundamental human rights around the world. She is a former litigator and seasoned leader with two decades of experience in government, law, organizational management, and politics. She held several senior positions both on Capitol Hill and across multiple Cabinet agencies during the Biden and Obama administrations.

Zach Despart

Reporter, ProPublica-Texas Tribune Investigative Unit

Despart is a reporter with the ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigative unit, focusing on the intersection of business, politics and government. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and a winner of the Collier Prize for State Government Accountability.

Sneha Dey

Education reporter, The Texas Tribune

Dey is an education reporter for The Texas Tribune, working in partnership with Open Campus. Her coverage looks at the school-to-work pipeline and who gets access to postsecondary education in Texas through the lens of college readiness, community colleges and career and technical training.

Austin Dickson

CEO, Community Fdn. of Texas Hill Country

Dickson is chief executive officer of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country. He has led the foundation’s response to the July 2025 Texas Hill Country floods, overseeing more than $150 million in charitable giving to support housing, mental health, economic recovery and long-term resilience across the region.

Robert Downen

Senior Writer, Texas Monthly

Downen is a Texas Monthly senior writer focused on the intersection of politics and religion. He previously covered threats to democracy for The Texas Tribune, where his investigations into the far right won or placed in numerous national awards. Before that, he led the Houston Chronicle's 2019 coverage of sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention, work that prompted major reforms and a Justice Department investigation.

Renzo Downey

Lead writer, The Blast, The Texas Tribune

Downey is the lead writer of The Blast, The Texas Tribune’s premium politics newsletter. Prior to joining the Tribune in February 2023, he worked as a government and politics reporter and a newsletter editor for Florida Politics.

Robert Draper

Domestic correspondent, New York Times

Draper is a domestic correspondent for The New York Times and the author of several books. A native Texan, he now lives in Washington, DC.

Kristin Du Mez

Author, "Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made"

Du Mez is a New York Times bestselling author and professor of history at Calvin University. She is currently a senior democracy fellow with the Public Religion Research Institute. She has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Religion News Service and Christianity Today.

Harold Dutton

State Representative, D-Houston

Dutton is a state representative representing Houston. He sits on the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence and Public Education committees and the Academic and Career-Oriented Education Select Committee. He is chair of the Family and Fiduciary Relationships Select Committee.

Sarah Eckhardt

State Senator, D-Austin

Eckhardt, the Democratic nominee for Texas comptroller, is a third-term state senator for District 14. She has served as a prosecutor, county commissioner and Travis County Judge.

Jaden Edison

Public Education Reporter, The Texas Tribune

Edison reports on K-12 education for The Texas Tribune. He previously covered justice at The Connecticut Mirror, where he primarily wrote about how state policy impacted incarcerated people. He graduated from Texas public schools and now lives in Austin.

Carlos Eduardo Espina

Founder, Migrantes Unidos; Content Creator

Espina is a 27-year-old nonprofit director, activist and content creator who works to uplift the Latino community through content, organizing and charity. Espina received his bachelor’s from Vassar College in 2020 and his juris doctor from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2024. He has over 23 million followers on social media.

Stephanie Elizalde

Superintendent, Dallas ISD

Elizalde was selected in June 2022 to serve as superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District. Elizalde is a third-generation public school educator. She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in educational leadership from UT-San Antonio, and holds a doctorate in educational leadership and policy from UT-Austin.

Rahm Emanuel

Former White House chief of staff

Emanuel most recently served as the U.S. Ambassador to Japan. Previously, he was the 55th mayor of Chicago, President Barack Obama’s chief of staff and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois’s 5th Congressional District.

Carla Espinoza-Grcic

Managing attorney, EZG Immigration Law

Espinoza-Grcic has a wealth of immigration experience with a long career in private practice and judicial service. She was appointed to serve as an immigration judge at the Chicago Immigration Court by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in July 2023. As an immigration judge, she presided over thousands of cases in the detained and nondetained dockets until July 2025.

Matt Ewalt

Sr. Director of Events, The Texas Tribune

Joining the Tribune in 2023, Ewalt is responsible for the strategic vision and execution of the Tribune’s live journalism. He previously worked at Chautauqua Institution in Western New York in various roles, including vice president and Emily and Richard Smucker Chair for Education and editor of The Chautauquan Daily.

Jon Favreau

Co-host, "Pod Save America"

Favreau is a co-founder of Crooked Media and co-host of “Pod Save America”, a popular political podcast with over 1 billion downloads. He’s also host of “Offline with Jon Favreau,’’ “The Wilderness,” and co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller “Democracy or Else.” Prior to founding Crooked Media, Favreau was President Barack Obama’s head speechwriter from 2005-2013.

Joshua Fechter

Urban affairs reporter, The Texas Tribune

Fechter is the Dallas-based urban affairs reporter for The Texas Tribune, covering policy — including housing affordability, housing and property taxes, evictions, policing and transportation — and politics in Texas' major metropolitan areas. Before joining the Tribune in August 2021, Joshua covered City Hall for the San Antonio Express-News.

Elizabeth Findell

Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

Findell is a Texas-based reporter for The Wall Street Journal covering national politics and U.S.-Mexico border issues. Prior to joining the Journal in 2019, she covered local government for the Austin American-Statesman, the Dallas Morning News and for the Monitor in the Rio Grande Valley.

Lizzie Fletcher

U.S. Representative, D-Houston

Fletcher represents Texas' Seventh Congressional District in the greater Houston area. Elected in 2018, she's a Kenyon College and William & Mary Law School graduate. In the 119th Congress, she serves as Vice Ranking Member of Energy & Commerce, Chair of the Texas Democratic Delegation, and a member of Democratic Steering & Policy. She also leads key caucuses: vice Chair and whip of reproductive freedom and vice chair of equality.

Mei Fong

Chief narrative officer, Windfall Trust

Fong is chief narrative officer at Windfall Trust, which works to prepare societies for AI's economic disruption and ensure its transformative effects strengthen rather than erode democracy. A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, former chief communications officer at Human Rights Watch and author of an acclaimed work on China's one-child policy, she focuses on how sweeping policy decisions reshape societies for generations, for better or worse.

Emily Foxhall

Climate reporter, The Texas Tribune

Foxhall is The Texas Tribune's climate reporter. She's been a reporter in Texas for more than a decade, starting at the Houston Chronicle, where she was part of the 2017 team named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of Hurricane Harvey. She joined the Tribune as an energy reporter in 2022 and completed a year-long Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2025.

Rodney Franklin

Division director, Texas State Parks

Franklin started his career with Texas Parks and Wildlife, working seasonally at the Sam Bell Maxey House, a historic site in his hometown, Paris. After graduating from Texas A&M University, he managed that site. He was promoted at various TPWD parks before becoming a regional director, deputy division director and eventually division director where he's served since 2018. Franklin leads over 1400 employees at more than 90 Texas state parks.

David French

Opinion columnist, The New York Times

French is a columnist for The New York Times. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he was previously a senior editor at The Dispatch and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. He is a former major in the U. S. Army Reserve and is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he was awarded the Bronze Star.

Jennifer Frey

Visiting Dir. of Classical Liberal Arts, Univ. of Va.

Frey is director of programs in classical liberal arts at the University of Virginia, where she is also a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture. She was previously the inaugural dean of the Honors College at the University of Tulsa. Her public writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Chronicle of Higher Education and many other venues.

Berenice Garcia

Rio Grande Valley reporter, The Texas Tribune

Garcia is a reporter on the Texas Tribune's Regions team covering the Rio Grande Valley. She previously covered local government, crime, healthcare and general assignments for The Monitor in McAllen.

Sergio García-Ríos

Assistant professor, LBJ School of Public Policy

Dr. Garcia-Rios was born and raised in Durango, México, but considers El Paso, Texas, his second home. His research investigates the formation and transformation of Latino identities as well as the political implications of these transformations. He also examines voter turnout, political participation and public opinion, especially among Latino immigrants. He previously served as director of polling and data at Univision News.

Rochelle Garza

President, Texas Civil Rights Project

Garza, an attorney and Brownsville native, currently serves as president of the Texas Civil Rights Project and chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. In 2022, Garza was the first Latina in Texas history to serve as a major party nominee for attorney general. Her work has broad impacts on civil rights, including the “Garza Notice,” a federal requirement that ensures teens in immigration detention control their reproductive healthcare choices.

Barbara Gervin-Hawkins

State Representative, D-San Antonio

Gervin Hawkins represents House District 120. She serves on the Appropriations, Ways and Means, and Redistricting committees.

Shariq Ghani

Executive Director, Bridges

Ghani is the executive director of Bridges, a multi-faith organization helping people of faith become better neighbors. Beyond dialogue, Bridges convenes faith communities to collaborate on projects that create tangible impact and stronger communities. Ghani holds a master's degree in negotiation and conflict resolution from Columbia University, focused on peacebuilding.

Jeremy Gilbert

Knight Chair in Digital Media Strategy, Northwestern Univ.

Gilbert works at the intersection of journalism and emerging technologies, especially artificial intelligence. He leads the Knight Lab and founded the Data-Driven Reporting Project and Next Gen News. He co-directs the Generative Artificial Intelligence for Newsrooms project. Gilbert was The Washington Post's director of strategic initiatives and helped lead digital strategy for National Geographic.

Sigrid Gonzalez

Program coordinator, The Encuentro Project

Gonzalez is a Mexican-American who grew up along the U.S.-Mexico border. She currently provides humanitarian migrant assistance, supporting initiatives that offer hospitality to migrants. She served as an advisor for U.S. Customs and Border Protection during the Obama and Biden administrations. She has been part of the World Central Kitchen relief operations team providing food aid to vulnerable populations throughout the world.

Vikki Goodwin

State Representative, D-Austin

Goodwin is currently serving her fourth term in the Texas Legislature. She is the Democratic nominee for Texas lieutenant governor.

Sherri Greenberg

Assistant Dean, LBJ School of Public Affairs

Greenberg is the assistant dean for state and local government engagement and a professor of practice at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT Austin. She is a primary researcher for, and past chair of Good Systems, Ethical AI at UT Austin. Greenberg serves on the Austin Forum on Technology & Society Board. She was a Texas state representative from 1991 to 2001.

Kayla Guo

Politics reporter, The Texas Tribune

Guo covers state government and politics for The Texas Tribune, with a focus on the Legislature, governor's office and U.S. Senate race. Previously, she covered Congress for The New York Times as a reporting fellow in Washington, D.C. She also had stints at Politico and The News and Observer. She graduated from Brown University, where she served as editor-in-chief and president of the independent student newspaper.

Garrett Haake

Chief White House Correspondent, NBC News

Haake joined NBC in 2017 and is NBC News’ chief White House Correspondent. He covers the Trump campaign and national politics. His reporting from Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021, contributed to NBC News and MSNBC receiving national Emmy and Peabody awards for breaking news coverage.

Maggie Haberman

Author, “Regime Change"

Haberman is a White House correspondent for The New York Times. Before joining the Times in 2015, she reported for the New York Post, New York Daily News and Politico. She has covered six U.S. presidential elections, shared in a 2018 Pulitzer Prize for reporting on President Trump’s advisers and their ties to Russia and is the author of “Confidence Man.”

Carine Hajjar

Opinion journalist, The Washington Post

Carine Hajjar is an opinion journalist for The Washington Post's Opinion section. Before joining The Post in 2025, she was a columnist and editorial board member at the Boston Globe.

Shannon Halbrook

Director of Invest in Texas, Every Texan

Halbrook is the director of the Invest in Texas team at Every Texan, overseeing the organization’s fiscal policy research and advocacy. He joined Every Texan in March 2023. Previously, he worked for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and the Department of Information Resources as a policy researcher and data analyst. He holds a master’s degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT Austin.

Kate Hamill

Award-winning playwright

Hamill is an actor and playwright. Regularly appearing on Theatre Communications Group’s most produced playwrights list, she was the Wall Street Journal Playwright of the Year in 2017 and received the Einhorn Award in 2023. Her plays include “Pride and Prejudice,” “Sense and Sensibility,” “Vanity Fair,” “Mansfield Park,” Little Women,” “Emma,” “Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson, Apartment #2B,” “Dracula,” “The Scarlet Letter,” “The Odyssey,” “The Light and the Dark” and many more.

Erin Harkey

CEO, Americans for the Arts

Harkey has over 20 years of experience helping individuals and communities succeed through the arts. Previously, she served as commissioner of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. In her dual role as senior policy advisor for arts in culture in the mayor’s office, she advised on cultural policy and arts strategy across all city departments and agencies.

Katharine Harris

Fellow, Baker Institute for Public Policy

Harris is the Alfred C. Glassell, III, Fellow in Drug Policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. She analyzes local, state and national drug laws. Her current research focuses on cannabis regulation, emerging drug trends and overdose mitigation strategies.

Tyler Harris

CEO, Breakthrough Oil & Gas

Harris is an energy executive with over 20 years of experience across the upstream oil and gas, investment banking and public accounting industries. He founded and led two Permian Basin oil and gas companies. He previously worked in investment banking at Lehman Brothers and BofA/Merrill Lynch and practiced public accounting at KPMG and Ernst and Young.

Sara Hebel

Editor-in-chief, Open Campus

Hebel is co-founder and editor-in-chief at Open Campus, a nonprofit news organization that partners with more than 20 local newsrooms across the country to cover college and workforce issues for their communities. Before starting Open Campus in 2019, Hebel spent two decades as an editor and reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Astead Herndon

Host, "America, Actually"; Editorial director, Vox

Herndon is a podcast host and editorial director at Vox, where he created and hosts "America, Actually," an audio and video podcast about national elections. He is also a political analyst for CNN and a former political reporter and podcaster for The New York Times.

Gina Hinojosa

State Representative, D-Austin

First elected to the Texas House in 2016, Hinojosa is a former Austin ISD trustee and a longtime public education advocate. She sits on the Land and Resource Management committee and the Public Education committee. She is running for Texas governor in 2026.

Lauren Hough

Author, "Monster of a Land"

Hough is the author of the New York Times bestselling essay collection, “Leaving Isn't the Hardest Thing.” Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Granta, Texas Highways, Huffpost and The Guardian. She's a writer at large for Texas Highways. She lives in Austin with a dog named Woody Guthrie.

Angel Huang

Partnerships Director, Texas Students for DEI

Huang is a recent University of Texas at Austin graduate who studied sociology and Asian American studies. Now, she works for Texas Students for DEI, which formed in 2023 when graduate students at UT-Austin united against Senate Bill 17.

Dolores Huerta

Labor leader and civil rights activist

Huerta is a civil rights activist and community organizer who has championed social justice for over 50 years. In 1962, she co-founded the United Farm Workers of America and served as vice president, playing a vital role in securing critical labor rights for farmworkers. In 2002, Huerta used the $100,000 Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship to establish the Dolores Huerta Foundation, which empowers grassroots leadership and advocates for educational equity, LGBTQ+ rights, infrastructure improvements and civic engagement in underserved communities. In 2012, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Jess Huff

East Texas reporter, The Texas Tribune

Huff is the Tribune’s East Texas Reporter, and is based in Lufkin. Previously, she worked for The Lufkin Daily News. Her work has been published by the Associated Press, the LA Times, NPR and a number of local outlets across Texas.

Jessica Huseman

Editorial director, Votebeat

Huseman is the founding editorial director of Votebeat, a nonprofit newsroom covering election administration and voting rights. She was previously the lead elections reporter for ProPublica. She is a frequent commentator on election issues for national television outlets including CNN, MSNBC and Fox News. She also teaches public records reporting at American University and data journalism at St. Bonaventure University.

Thomas Hushen

Cameron Co. Emergency Management Coordinator

Hushen is a retired law enforcement commander with more than 30 years of public safety leadership. He leads regional emergency preparedness, public safety communications and critical infrastructure resilience. Hushen advises government, industry and education partners on emergency management, security and crisis response.

Chris Hyams

Board Member, Guardrails Alliance

Hyams stepped down as CEO of Indeed in 2025 to focus full-time on responsible AI. He is a visiting lecturer at Huston-Tillotson University, an HBCU, where he teaches on the intersection of technology, power and justice. Hyams is a board member of Guardrails Alliance, fighting the AI industry’s efforts to buy Congressional influence and block meaningful regulation.

Ann Johnson

Texas State Representative, D-Houston

Johnson is a Houston native, former chief human trafficking prosecutor, attorney, educator and small business owner. Elected to the Texas House in 2020 and re-elected in 2022 and 2024, she serves as vice chair of the House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee and on the Calendars and Public Health committees. Johnson has passed bipartisan legislation to improve public safety and expand access to healthcare and mental health services.

Brad Johnson

Co-founder and reporter, Texas Bullpen

Johnson is a co-founder and reporter with Texas Bullpen. He has covered Texas politics and the state legislature since 2019, previously with The Texan. Brad, a graduate of the University of Cincinnati, is a native Ohioan.

Jeremiah Johnson

Executive Vice President, National Association of Immigration Judges

Johnson served as an immigration judge for three administrations. Prior to public service, Johnson practiced immigration law representing migrants and asylum seekers. He is currently counsel at Johnson Law and Consulting. Johnson also serves as the executive vice president of the National Association of Immigration Judges. He has traveled and met with migrants, refugees, government officials and humanitarians.

Peniel Joseph

Barbara Jordan Chair, UT Austin

Joseph is the Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values and the founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and a distinguished service leadership professor and professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author and editor of eight award winning books and a 2025 Andrew Carnegie Fellow.

Olivia Julianna

Program manager, Chorus

Julianna is a Texas-based digital strategist and political media expert with more than 1.6 million followers. She rose to national prominence after dismantling a Texas abortion whistleblower site and raising over $2.2 million for abortion funds. In 2024, she became one of the first members of her generation to take the stage at the DNC.

Marisa Kabas

Independent journalist, The Handbasket

Kabas is an independent journalist who publishes The Handbasket, a site she founded in 2022 that has become a nationally recognized news outlet. She takes a human-centered approach to covering America's crumbling institutions. Kabas has extensively covered the second Trump administration, with scoops about federal grants, ICE, DOGE, FEMA and the State Department.

Julie Kay

Founder and CEO, Reproductive Futures

Kay is a legal expert, author and strategist. A pioneering voice on access to telemedicine abortion and emergency room abortion care nationwide, she co-authored Controlling Women: What We Must Do Now to Save Reproductive Freedom. Kay also designed and litigated the landmark case ABC v. Ireland before the European Court of Human Rights, playing a vital role in abortion legalization in Ireland.

Harrison Keller

President, The University of North Texas

Keller has led the University of North Texas since 2024. At UNT, he has launched the Look North 2030 strategic plan and the Texas Talent Accelerator. In his previous role as Texas Commissioner of Higher Education, he led development of Building a Talent Strong Texas and outcomes-based funding reforms. A sixth-generation Texan, he holds a Ph.D. from Georgetown University.

Ibram X. Kendi

Author, “Chain of Ideas”

Kendi is one of the world’s foremost historians of racism and a leading antiracist scholar. He is the Carter G. Woodson Endowed Chair in History at Howard University, and the inaugural director of Howard’s Institute for Advanced Study. He is the National Book Award-winning author of “Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America,” and his book “Stamped from the Beginning” was adapted into highly acclaimed books for young readers and an Emmy-nominated documentary on Netflix.

Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau

Managing Dir., George W. Bush Institute

Trudeau is the managing director of global policy at the Bush Institute. She leverages decades of experience as a senior member of foreign service and knowledge of international relations to lead the global policy portfolio. As a diplomat, Trudeau served in Iraq, Pakistan, South Africa, NATO and the United Kingdom, as well as acting assistant secretary for global public affairs and principal deputy assistant to the secretary of defense.

Yasmeen Khalifa

Newsletter writer, The Texas Tribune

Khalifa, originally from Egypt and now based in Austin, is The Texas Tribune’s newsletter writer. Previously, Khalifa worked for The Houston Chronicle as an audience producer, The Washington Post as an audience intern and theTribune as an audience fellow. She is passionate about audience-centered journalism, which she believes can highlight the stories of underrepresented communities.

Ron Kirk

Senior of Counsel, Gibson Dunn

Kirk is Senior Counsel at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He previously served as United States trade representative and a member of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet, as well as mayor of Dallas and Texas secretary of state. Beyond his legal practice, he serves as a trustee of Austin College, the LBJ Presidential Library Foundation and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and is a board member of Dallas Citizens Council.

Jay Kleberg

Executive director, Gulf Trust

Kleberg is the founding executive director of the coastal and marine conservation organization, the Gulf Trust. He co-produced the films “Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story,” “The River and the Wall,” and “Chasing the Tide.” He previously served as associate director of Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation and founded Explore Ranches, a private lands travel company.

Eleanor Klibanoff

Law and Politics Reporter, The Texas Tribune

Klibanoff is the law and politics reporter, based in Austin, where she covers the the Texas Legislature, the Office of the Attorney General, state and federal courts and politics writ large. She also co-hosts the weekly politics podcast, TribCast. Eleanor previously spent three years as the Tribune’s women’s health reporter, covering abortion, maternal health and LGBTQ issues. Before coming to Texas, Eleanor worked for the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, where she reported, hosted and produced the Peabody-nominated podcast, “Dig.” Eleanor was born in Philadelphia and raised in Atlanta, and attended The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Carol Klocek

CEO, Ctr. for Transforming Lives

Klocek is a nationally recognized leader in poverty disruption and family economic mobility. As CEO of one of Fort Worth's oldest nonprofits, she has spent 17 years transforming the Center for Transforming Lives into a model for comprehensive, trauma-informed, two-generational services that serves more than 4,000 individuals annually.

Terri Langford

Health services reporter, The Texas Tribune

Langford is the Tribune’s health services reporter based in Austin. Langford is a veteran journalist, having worked at the Florida Times Union, The Associated Press, The Dallas Morning News, the Houston Chronicle, WNYC, Honolulu Civil Beat and Texas Standard/KUT. Langford has a bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin. She has covered various city and state agencies, criminal justice and health and human services for the Houston Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, The Associated Press, WNYC and Texas Standard at KUT.

Jeff Leach

State Representative, R-Allen

Leach is in his seventh term of serving the citizens of House District 67 in Collin County. He serves as chair of the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence committee and sits on the Calendars and Public Education committees.

Amanda Lenhart

Senior Fellow, Joan Ganz Cooney Center

Lenhart is a senior fellow at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and a long-time mixed methods researcher who has spent the bulk of her career studying young people and mental health, social media, smartphones and generative AI. She is a technology policy fellow at Princeton University and serves as an advisor to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Previously, Amanda was the head of research at Common Sense Media.

Doug Lewin

Author, Texas Energy and Power Newsletter

Lewin is the author of the Texas Energy and Power Newsletter and the host of the Energy Capital Podcast. He founded Stoic Energy in 2018. Previously, he led government and regulatory affairs work for CLEAResult, an energy efficiency program implementer for over 250 utilities in 40 states and provinces.

Lisa Limeri

Adjunct professor, Texas Tech University

Limeri is a former tenured faculty member in biology at TTU and at-large member of the executive committee of the Texas Tech Chapter of the American Association of University Professors. She taught introductory biology at TTU for 5 years before resigning her full-time position at TTU due to censorship concerns.

Mitch Little

State Representative, R-Lewisville

Little is a business attorney with Scheef and Stone, LLP. He was tapped to join the team of lawyers who defended Attorney General Paxton against the impeachment advanced by House leadership. In 2024, he was elected to his first term in the Texas House of Representatives.

Joseph Locke

Author, "One State Under God"

Locke is an associate professor of history at the University of North Texas, where he specializes in the history of moral politics in Texas and the broader South and Southwest. He is the author, most recently, of “One State Under God: A History of Religion in Texas.”

Abraham Loeb

Dir., The Galileo Project, Harvard Univ.

Loeb is the head of The Galileo Project, former director of Harvard's Black Hole Initiative, the Institute for Theory and Computation and chair of Harvard's astronomy department. He served as a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in the White House and chaired the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies. Loeb is the bestselling author of “Extraterrestrial” and "Interstellar."

Sarah Longwell

Publisher, The Bulwark

Longwell is CEO and publisher of The Bulwark. She has decades of experience leading some of the nation’s most high-visibility targeted persuasion campaigns, including Republican Voters Against Trump, the Republican Accountability Project and Home of the Brave.

Jon Lovett

Co-host, "Pod Save America"

Lovett is a co-founder of Crooked Media, co-host of “Pod Save America” and host of the comedy show “Lovett or Leave It.” His first book, “Democracy or Else,” which he co-authored alongside his Crooked Media co-founders Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor, was released in 2024 and was a New York Times #1 bestseller. Before starting Crooked Media, he served as a presidential speechwriter in the Obama White House and speechwriter for Hillary Clinton.

Joanna Lydgate

President and CEO, States United Democracy Ctr.

Lydgate is the CEO of the States United Democracy Center, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to protecting free, fair and secure elections. Before launching States United, Lydgate served as chief deputy attorney general of Massachusetts. In that role, she coordinated multistate litigation and oversaw criminal enforcement, coordinating daily with local, state and federal law enforcement partners.

Corrie MacLaggan

Exec. Editor, KUT News and the Texas Newsroom

MacLaggan is executive editor of KUT News, Austin’s NPR station, and The Texas Newsroom, a public radio journalism collaboration. Previously, she was managing editor of The Texas Tribune, a national correspondent for Reuters and a state Capitol reporter for the Austin American-Statesman. She has also worked in El Paso and Mexico City.

Julia Marsh

Executive editor, Washington, Politico

Julia Marsh oversees POLITICO's coverage including the White House, Congress, Playbook, Legal and Politics teams. Previously editorial director for California, she led expansion in the nation's most populous state. Her first assignment was New York editor. She came following a decade at the New York Post as legal correspondent and City Hall bureau chief.

Alejandra Martinez

Environmental reporter, The Texas Tribune

Martinez is a Fort Worth-based environmental reporter. She’s covered the state's data center boom, water supply crisis, historic flooding and the expansion of state parks. She's also covered the impacts of petrochemical facilities, including investigating a chemical fire at an industrial complex and how the state's air monitoring system has failed Latino communities.

Jorge Martinez

Strategic director, The Libre Initiative

Martinez has worked on Hispanic outreach in South Texas since 2012, when he joined The LIBRE Initiative, where he is now Texas strategic director. A frequent commentator in English- and Spanish-language national media, he has been appointed to state boards by Gov. Greg Abbott and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, and serves as vice-chair of the Produce Recovery Fund Board.

Jeremy Mazur

Director of Infrastructure & Natural Resources Policy, 2036

Colleen McCain Nelson

Executive editor and VP, The Dallas Morning News

Nelson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and executive editor of The Dallas Morning News. She previously served as The Sacramento Bee’s executive editor, McClatchy’s national opinion editor, The Kansas City Star’s editorial page editor and as a Wall Street Journal White House correspondent. Nelson also was a reporter and editorial writer at The Dallas Morning News, where she and two colleagues won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing.

Michael McCaul

U.S. Representative, R-Austin

McCaul represents Texas' 10th Congressional District and serves as chair emeritus of both the Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs committees. Prior to Congress, McCaul served as chief of counterterrorism in the U.S. Attorney's office, as Texas's deputy attorney general and as a federal prosecutor.

Lauren McGaughy

Texas Politics Correspondent, New York Times

Kate McGee

Investigative editor, Open Campus

McGee leads Open Campus' community college accountability project, working with local newsrooms across the country to produce investigative stories about local two-year schools. Prior to that, she spent 15 years as a print and radio reporter, primarily covering education. For the last five years, she was an investigative and higher education reporter at the Texas Tribune.

Andrea Mendoza

Photographer, Texas Monthly

Mendoza began her career in film and editing, developing an appreciation for rhythm, emotion, and the details that make a story feel human. Now both a photographer and editor, Andrea is drawn to people, places and the moments in between. Her approach centers on curiosity and connection. Her work has appeared in Texas Monthly and The New York Times, alongside commercial work for leading brands.

Christian Menefee

U.S. Representative, D-Houston

Menefee represents Texas’s 18th Congressional District. Before coming to Congress, Menefee made history as the youngest person and first Black attorney ever elected Harris County Attorney, the chief civil law officer for the largest county in Texas. In Congress, Menefee serves on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

Cade Metz

Technology reporter, The New York Times

Metz is a technology reporter for The New York Times, writing about artificial intelligence, driverless cars, robotics, virtual reality and other emerging areas. He has covered technology for 30 years at The Times, Wired Magazine and other publications. He is the author of “Genius Makers: The Mavericks Who Brought A.I. to Google, Facebook, and The World,” the story of the people, ideas and companies behind the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.

Jeannie Meza-Chavez

Superintendent, San Elizario ISD

Meza-Chavez is a 29-year educator with 12 years of superintendent experience. She is a two-time ESC Region 19 Superintendent of the Year and previously led Tornillo ISD. She holds a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction and has served in roles ranging from teacher to human resources director. Meza-Chavez is president-elect of the Texas Association of School Administrators and past president of Council of Women School Executives.

Mike Miles

Superintendent, Houston ISD

Miles has devoted his career to public service as a military officer, diplomat and educator. He previously led Dallas ISD, Harrison School District and Third Future Schools, driving significant gains in student achievement and school performance. Miles served in the U.S. Army Ranger Battalion and as a U.S. diplomat in Poland and Russia.

Nick Mitchell-Bennett

Chief Executive, Come Dream, Come Build

Eddie Morales

State Representative, D-Eagle Pass

Morales is the vice chair of the House Committee on Energy Resources, an attorney and the owner of his family's tortilla factory.

Dorina Murgulet

Director, Center for Water Supply Studies

Murgulet is a professor of hydrogeology and director of the Center for Water Supply Studies at Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi. Her research examines groundwater, including surface water interactions, coastal aquifers, water quality, contaminant transport and regional water supply resilience. She works with communities, agencies and students across South Texas to translate hydrogeologic science into practical strategies.

Matt Murray

Executive Editor, The Washington Post

Murray is executive editor of The Washington Post. During his first two years, the newsroom won three Pulitzer Prizes: the 2026 awards for public service and feature photography, and the 2025 prize for breaking news coverage. Murray served as editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires from 2018-2023.

Melissa Murray

Stokes Professor of Law, NYU School of Law

Murray is a writer and professor of law at NYU School of Law. She was previously a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Murray is an expert on family law, constitutional law and reproductive rights and justice. She is a legal analyst for MSNBC and is a co-host of “Strict Scrutiny,” Crooked Media’s Supreme Court podcast.

Alex Nguyen

General assignment reporter, The Texas Tribune

Nguyen is a general assignment reporter at The Texas Tribune. Before joining the newsroom in 2025, she was a breaking news reporter at The Dallas Morning News, a reporting fellow for the Tribune and a reporting intern at Bloomberg News. She graduated from Columbia University’s Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism. She speaks Vietnamese and conversational Spanish.

John Nielsen-Gammon

Texas State Climatologist, Texas A&M Univ.

Nielsen-Gammon earned his doctorate in meteorology from MIT in 1990 and joined the faculty of Texas A&M University in 1991, becoming the Texas state climatologist in 2000. He now also directs the Southern Regional Climate Center. His research focuses on drought and extreme rainfall in Texas and elsewhere.

Ron Nirenberg

Former Mayor of San Antonio

Nirenberg is the Democratic nominee for Bexar County Judge and former mayor of San Antonio. As mayor, he worked to expand Pre-K 4 SA, launch mass transit initiatives, grow the airport, and create a nationally recognized workforce and housing strategy. He recently released his first book, “Nirenberg: The Education of a Texas Public Servant.”

Carlos Nogueras Ramos

Permian Basin reporter, The Texas Tribune

Ramos is a regional reporter for The Texas Tribune based in Odessa. He joined The Texas Tribune in 2023 in partnership with Report for America. Ramos tells the stories of Texas from the vast energy-rich Permian Basin region. Before the Tribune, Carlos spent time in Philadelphia writing about local politics, including the city’s 100th mayoral election.

Jane Norman

Washington bureau chief, States Newsroom

Norman directs coverage and manages a staff of six as the Washington bureau chief for the nation's largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. Before joining States Newsroom in 2020, she was an editor at Politico and CQ Roll Call, the Washington correspondent for The Des Moines Register and an Iowa statehouse reporter for the Register.

Nicole Nosek

Founder, Texans For Reasonable Solutions

Nosek is co-founder and chair of Texans for Reasonable Solutions, a group advancing housing reforms to improve affordability in Texas. The organization has helped pass major state and city measures, including minimum lot size reforms.

Krish O'Mara Vignarajah

President and CEO, Global Refuge

Vignarajah is the president and CEO of Global Refuge, where she leads the organization in providing resources, guidance and community to help forge a way forward for new Americans. Vignarajah previously served as policy director for First Lady Michelle Obama and at the State Department.

Eloy Oakley

CEO, College Futures Foundation

Oakley is president and CEO of College Futures Foundation, a philanthropic and advocacy organization focused on improving economic mobility for underserved learners through postsecondary credential attainment. A leading voice on equity in higher education and the future of learning and work, Oakley previously served as chancellor of the California Community Colleges, leading the nation’s largest and most diverse system of higher education.

Alice Miranda Ollstein

Author, "Side Effects: How Abortion Bans Impact Everyone's Health"

Ollstein is a senior health care reporter for Politico. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, La Opinión, All Things Considered and Talking Points Memo. She is a past winner of the Association of Health Care Journalists Fellowship and was named one of the New Media Alliance’s “Rising Stars” under 30.

Amir Omar

Mayor of Richardson

Omar serves as the 24th mayor of Richardson, bringing decades of civic, business, and community leadership to the role. A tech executive by profession, Omar was first elected in 2009 to Richardson’s City Council. A first-generation American, Omar was born in Milwaukee, Wisc., and raised in Texas.

Gina Ortiz Jones

Mayor of San Antonio

Ortiz Jones is the mayor of San Antonio, which has the seventh largest population in the United States and is one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities. She was elected as mayor on June 7, 2025.

David Pakman

Robin Paoli

Executive Director, HRA Council

Eli Pariser

American tech expert and entrepreneur

Pariser is an author, activist and entrepreneur. He has served as president of MoveOn.org, wrote the bestselling 2011 book “The Filter Bubble” and co-founded the media startup Upworthy and the global citizen movement Avaaz. With Deepti Doshi, he currently co-directs New_Public, a nonprofit research and development lab bringing together community entrepreneurs, researchers, engineers and designers to envision, architect and scale digital public spaces.

Imani Perry

Professor, Harvard University; Author

Perry is the Henry A. Morss Jr. and Elisabeth W. Morss Professor of African American Studies at Harvard University and the Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor at Harvard Radcliffe Institute. She is the author of nine books including "Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People" and the 2022 National Book Award-winning title, “South to America: A Journey Below the Mason Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation.” Perry is a 2023 MacArthur Fellow.

Dan Pfeiffer

Co-host, "Pod Save America"

Pfeiffer is a former White House communications director, political and digital strategist, writer of the Message Box newsletter and best-selling author. One of President Barack Obama’s longest-serving advisors, Pfeiffer joined his presidential campaign at the outset, serving first as traveling press secretary and eventually, as the campaign’s communications director. He entered the White House as deputy communications director and had risen to communications director by the end of 2009. Pfeiffer held that post until his appointment as senior advisor in early 2013.

Norma Pimentel

President and CEO, Catholic Charities of the RGV

Pimentel serves as the president and CEO of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, the second largest Catholic Diocese in the United States. With over two decades of experience, she oversees a wide range of ministries and social services.

David Pogue

Author, "Apple: The First 50 Years"

Pogue is a seven-time Emmy-winning correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning. He’s also a five-time TED speaker, host of 20 NOVA science specials on PBS and a former Broadway conductor. From 2000-13, he was The New York Times weekly tech columnist.

Ramesh Ponnuru

Editor, National Review

Ponnuru is editor of National Review, where he has covered politics and policy for more than 30 years. He is also a columnist for the Washington Post and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Trevor Potter

President, Campaign Legal Center

A Republican former chair of the Federal Election Commission, Potter served as general counsel to John McCain’s 2000 and 2008 presidential campaigns and as adviser to the drafters of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. He is perhaps best known for his recurring appearances on “The Colbert Report” as the lawyer for Colbert’s super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, during the 2012 election. Potter founded Campaign Legal Center in 2002. "

Gideon Powell

CEO, Cholla Inc

Powell is the CEO of Cholla Inc. From 2013-17, Powell was the director of acquisitions and new ventures at Cholla, where he led the company's entrance into the Permian basin of West Texas, leading to a step change in growth for Cholla and later a substantial exit.. Powell serves on the advisory board of the MIT Energy Club.

Jessica Priest

Higher education reporter, Texas Tribune

Priest covers higher education for The Texas Tribune in partnership with Open Campus. She reports on political influence over curriculum, campus speech and university governance and how those decisions affect students and faculty. She previously worked in the Tribune's investigative unit with ProPublica, contributing to a series named a 2024 Pulitzer finalist in explanatory reporting. Her work has exposed prosecutor misconduct and prompted reforms at public agencies.

Bobby Pulido

House District 15 Congressional candidate

Pulido is a two-time Latin Grammy-winning Tejano music star running for Congress in Texas' 15th District. After 30 years as a singer and songwriter, he decided to run for office.

Octavio Quintanilla

Professor, Our Lady of the Lake University; Artist

2025 Texas Poet Laureate, Quintanilla is the author of “If I Go Missing” and “The Book of Wounded Sparrows.” He was longlisted for the National Book Award and is a 2026 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award finalist. His latest book, “Las Horas Imposibles / The Impossible Hours,” won the Academy of American Poets’ Ambroggio Prize.

Jennifer Rabb

President, Texas Taxpayers and Research Association

Rabb is president of the Texas Taxpayers and Research Association. Prior to joining the TTARA, she was a fellow at the Baker Institute for Public Policy and previously served as tax policy advisor to the lieutenant governor, clerk of the Texas House Ways and Means Committee and tax policy director for the Texas comptroller. Rabb holds a juris doctor from UT School of Law and a master of laws in taxation from SMU's Dedman School of Law.

Emily Ramshaw

Co-founder and CEO, The 19th*

Ramshaw is the co-founder and CEO of The 19th*, the nation’s first independent nonprofit newsroom at the intersection of gender, politics and policy. The 19th* aims to elevate the voices of women and LGBTQ+ people at the margins of American media with free-to-consume and free-to-republish daily journalism, newsletters and live events. Prior to The 19th, Ramshaw was editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune.

Diane Ravitch

President, Network for Public Education

Ravitch is a historian of education. Born and raised in Houston, she now lives in Brooklyn, NY. Two of her books were national bestsellers: "The Death and Life of the Great American School System" and "Reign of Error." She worked in the administration of President George H.W. Bush, and was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the federal National Assessment of Educational Progress testing.

Rob Reid

Education Data Developer, The Texas Tribune

Reid is the Tribune’s education data developer. He started in 2024 after completing Columbia University’s Lede Program for Data Journalism. He previously supported the investigative reporting program at Northwestern University’s Medill School as a data consultant and contributing reporter and also completed a data journalism internship at the Jacksonville Tributary in Florida.

Joshua Rhodes

Research scientist, UT Austin

Rhodes is a research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin, a nonresident fellow at Columbia University, CTO of IdeaSmiths and a co-host of The Energy Capital Podcast. He has authored over 125 scientific articles, columns, op-eds and journal publications that have been cited over 2,500 times.

Jonathan Richie

Co-founder and reporter, Texas Bullpen

Richie is a co-founder and reporter with Texas Bullpen. Having previously covered Texas politics for state and national outlets, he most recently served as press secretary and deputy director of communications at the Texas Attorney General's Office.

Kate Rogers

Former Exec. Director, Alamo Trust

Rogers is founder and principal of Next Chapter Advisors, a strategic advisory firm that helps mission-driven organizations navigate growth, transition and transformation. A former CEO and executive leader with more than 30 years of experience, she advises boards and leadership teams on strategy, governance, communications and organizational development. She served as executive director of the Alamo Trust until 2025.

Ramón Romero Jr.

State Representative, D-Fort Worth; Chair, Mexican American Legislative Caucus

Romero is serving his sixth term representing House District 90 in Fort Worth. He also serves as chair of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus. The son of Mexican immigrants, he became Tarrant County’s first Latino state representative in 2014.

Jeffrey Rosen

CEO Emeritus, National Constitution Center

Rosen is the CEO Emeritus of the National Constitution Center, a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and a senior fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. Rosen is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, including “The Pursuit of Happiness.” His latest book is “The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America.”

Jon Rosenthal

State representative, D-Houston

Rosenthal is a mechanical engineer, four-term Texas legislator and energy industry veteran. While working in engineering, he focused on improving safety and accountability in the oil and gas industry. He was elected to the Texas House in 2018.

Karl Rove

Former White House deputy chief of staff

Rove was senior adviser to President George W. Bush and deputy chief of staff from 2004-07. At the White House, he oversaw the offices of Strategic Initiatives, Political Affairs, Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs and was deputy chief of staff for policy, coordinating the White House policymaking process.

Ben Rowen

Senior editor, Texas Monthly

Rowen is a senior editor at Texas Monthly, editing and writing about news and politics.

Stephanie Rubin

CEO, Texans Care for Children

For over 25 years, Rubin has worked on advancing children's policy initiatives focusing on early education and other public policies that contribute to school success and family well-being. Previously, she coordinated advocacy strategies across the early education, health and justice initiatives at The Pew Charitable Trusts. In 2019, Governor Abbott appointed Rubin to the Texas Early Learning Council, and she currently serves as its vice chair.

Cameron Samuels

Exec. dir., Students Engaged in Advancing Texas

Samuels is co-founder and executive director of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas , a movement demonstrating youth visibility in policymaking. Directing SEAT's digital and legal strategies, Samuels has spearheaded grassroots opposition to anti-LGBTQ+ mandates in Texas school districts and testified to the U.S. Senate on book bans. Samuels was named one of Teen Vogue's 21 Under 21 and received the Trailblazer Award from the Human Rights Campaign.

Stacie Sanchez

Director, No Kid Hungry Texas

As director of No Kid Hungry Texas, Sanchez-Hare unites communities around practical, bipartisan solutions to childhood hunger. Through grantmaking, partnerships and advocacy, her leadership has connected thousands of kids to nutritious food, including expanding no-cost school meals to 146,000 Texas students.

Julie Scelfo

Founder, Mothers Against Media Addiction

Scelfo is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Mothers Against Media Addiction, a grassroots movement of parents fighting back against media addiction and creating a world in which real-life experiences and interactions remain at the heart of a healthy childhood. Under her leadership, MAMA has established 50 chapters across 23 states and secured landmark AI safety legislation in California and New York.

Emmett Schelling

Exec. Dir., Transgender Education Network of Texas

Schelling is the executive director of the Transgender Education Network of Texas. He has been leading the charge for trans equity in Texas for over a decade. His community-focused approach has created a vehicle for trans Texans to transform the extent of their advocacy work across the state. In 2022, his work was honored in TIME’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Deirdre Schifeling

Chief political and advocacy officer, ACLU

Schifeling leads the ACLU’s national political advocacy department, which houses the organization’s national and state-level policy and campaigns teams, national grassroots organizing infrastructure and electoral programming. Schifeling brings an extensive political, organizing and coalition-building background to the ACLU, having held key leadership positions in the Biden White House, at Planned Parenthood and the Fight Back Table.

Vivian Schiller

Incoming CEO, The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation

Schiller is a longtime executive at the intersection of media and technology in the public interest. Prior to joining PJMF, Schiller served as vice president at the Aspen Institute, president and CEO of NPR, global chair of news at Twitter, general manager of NYTimes.com, chief digital officer of NBC News and head of CNN’s documentary and long form divisions.

Cassi Schredder

Editor, Texas Bullpen

Schredder is a co-founder and editor at Texas Bullpen. She previously reported on the Texas Legislature for The Texas Tribune and most recently served as press secretary to Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan.

John Schwartz

Prof., School of Journalism & Media, UT Austin

Schwartz worked for more than 35 years as a reporter for The New York Times, The Washington Post and other publications. He is the author of several books, including "Oddly Normal" and "This Is the Year I Put My Financial Life in Order."

Alejandro Serrano

Politics reporter, The Texas Tribune

Serrano writes about Texas politics and government for The Texas Tribune. Since joining the Tribune in 2022, he has helped investigate the Uvalde school shooting, lived for half a year in Eagle Pass during a temporary assignment covering immigration and documented a variety of major occurrences in the state from Houston.

Adam Serwer

Staff writer, The Atlantic

Serwer is the author of the New York Times best-seller "The Cruelty Is the Point." He has previously been a recipient of the 2021 Moment Magazine Robert S. Greenberger Journalism award, the 2019 Hillman Prize for opinion journalism and the 2019 Salute to Excellence Award for commentary from the National Association of Black Journalists.

Pete Sessions

U.S. Representative, R-Waco

Sessions was first elected to Congress in 1996. He also served as chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee from 2009 through 2012. He is currently a senior member on the House Financial Services Committee and is the chair of the Subcommittee on Government Operations on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Mikie Sherrill

Governor of New Jersey

Sherrill serves as New Jersey’s 57th governor. She is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, former Navy helicopter pilot, and former federal prosecutor. She previously represented New Jersey's 11th District in the U.S. House.

Stephen Simpson

Houston regional reporter, The Texas Tribune

Simpson is the Houston-region reporter, where he covers the fast-growing city and its surrounding areas. He joined the Texas Tribune in 2023 and previously served as the mental health reporter. Prior to that, he was a politics reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, where he covered the state’s Supreme Court, House of Representatives and correctional system. Stephen’s earliest career experiences include reporting and copy editing at The Jonesboro Sun and The Pine Bluff Commercial. He earned a degree in online and print journalism with a minor in filmmaking from the University of Central Arkansas.

Sara Slane

Head of corporate development, Kalshi

Slane has more than 20 years of experience in gaming, sports betting, sports and entertainment. Previously, she led her own advisory firm, served as SVP of Public Affairs at the American Gaming Association and spent seven years at MGM Resorts International.

Shelby Slawson

State Representative, R-Stephenville

Slawson represents House District 59. She serves on the Appropriation Committee and the Human Services Committee.

Scott Smallwood

CEO, Open Campus

Smallwood is the co-founder and CEO of Open Campus, a national nonprofit media organization dedicated to local reporting on higher education. Before founding Open Campus in 2019, Smallwood spent nearly two decades at The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Evan Smith

Managing director of events, The Atlantic

Smith is managing director of events at The Atlantic, overseeing the magazine's live journalism and other public programming. He’s also a senior advisor at Emerson Collective, working closely with journalists and funders around the country to support local news.

Miguel Solis

President, The Commit Partnership

Solis is president of The Commit Partnership, the nation’s largest collective impact education backbone organization. He has dedicated his career to serving Dallas through work in education, housing and transportation, including as Dallas ISD school board president.

Tiffany Spicer

Superintendent, Waco ISD

Spicer joined the district in October 2024 and brings over 20 years of experience. She works to ensure every student has the opportunity to succeed and reach their full potential.

Kathy Spillar

Executive editor, Ms. magazine

Spillar leads a national organization working for women’s equality and empowerment. As one of the founders, she has been a driving force in executing the organizations’ diverse programs since 1987. She is also the executive editor of Ms. magazine and the editor of “50 Years of Ms: The Best of the Pathfinding Magazine that Ignited a Revolution.”

Will Steakin

Co-author, Politico Playbook

Steakin is a co-author of Politico’s flagship newsletter, covering politics, policy and power in the United States. His reporting focuses on the future of the Republican and Democratic parties, emerging political coalitions and the forces reshaping American politics. Before joining Politico, he spent nearly eight years at ABC News covering the White House, Congress and national elections.

Brian Stelter

Chief media analyst, CNN

Stelter is the chief media analyst for CNN Worldwide and the lead author of the Reliable Sources newsletter. He is also the host of Vanity Fair's weekly podcast Inside the Hive. He is the author of three books.

Kevin Stitt

Governor of Oklahoma

Stitt serves as governor of Oklahoma. He was elected in 2019. Before serving as governor, Stitt founded Gateway in 2000 and transformed it into one of Oklahoma’s largest banks. Stitt secured $1.6 billion in tax cuts and championed Oklahoma’s economy globally. He made record investments in education and championed universal education freedom.

Patrick Svitek

Politics reporter, CNN

Svitek covers the midterms and the 2028 presidential race for CNN. He previously covered national politics for The Washington Post. Before that, he covered Texas politics for nearly a decade, mostly for the Texas Tribune.

Gretchen Sween

Attorney

Before becoming a lawyer, Sween worked as a writer, actor, theater director and college professor. After obtaining a law degree at the University of Texas, she clerked for a federal district judge and then practiced civil trial and appellate law, working on numerous death penalty appeals pro bono. Since 2015, she has devoted her practice to representing individuals threatened by the death penalty full time, often pro bono.

James Talarico

State Representative, D-Austin

Talarico is the Democratic nominee to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate. A former public school teacher and education nonprofit leader, he was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2018. He served on the Public Education and House Administration committees and is vice chair of the Trade, Workforce and Economic Development Committee.

Marjorie Taylor Greene

Former U.S. Representative, R-Georgia

Greene spent two decades owning and operating a family construction business, before taking her business experience to the U.S. Congress. She served in Congress for five years representing Georgia’s 14th district.

Jeffrey Temple

Assoc. dean of clinical research, UTHealth Houston

Temple is a professor, licensed psychologist and associate dean for clinical research at UTHealth Houston’s School of Behavioral Health Sciences, where he holds the Betty and Rose Pfefferbaum Chair in Child Mass Trauma and Resilience. He directs the Texas Violence and Injury Prevention Research Center.

Morgan Thompson

Content creator

Thompson is a Dallas-based content creator and civic engagement advocate focused on voting rights and political education in Texas. She creates accessible content that moves people from awareness to action, centering everyday Texans in conversations about democracy, representation and the power of their vote. She’s also a public relations professional with experience in thought leadership and brand storytelling.

Sony Ton-Aime

Poet and essayist

Ton-Aime is executive director of Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures, and previous director of Literary Arts at Chautauqua Institution. He is the author of a chapbook, “LaWomann,” and the Haitian Creole translation of “Olympic Hero: The Story of Lennox Kilgour.” His newest poetry collection, “Konbit”, was published in 2026. He is the co-founding editor of ID13.

Zahira Torres

Texas Editor, ProPublica-Texas Tribune Investigative Initiative

Torres is the Texas editor for the ProPublica-Texas Tribune Investigative Initiative. Torres previously worked at the El Paso Times, Los Angeles Times and The Denver Post before joining ProPublica in 2019.

Eddie Treviño

Cameron County Judge

Treviño has served as Cameron County judge for the past decade. As the leader of Texas’ only coastal border county, he has helped elevate Cameron County to national and international prominence through economic development, infrastructure investment and regional growth.

Perla Trevizo

Reporter, ProPublica/Texas Tribune Investigative Unit

Trevizo is an award-winning journalist with the ProPublica-Texas Tribune Investigative Unit. She has written about immigration and the border from across the U.S. and more than half a dozen countries. She's a native of El Paso, where she began her career about 20 years ago.

Brian Trusty

Chair, TPW State Parks Advisory Committee

Trusty’s 31-year-long career in parks and recreation, land management, tourism and economic development includes managing international adventure tour programs, systems of parks and nature centers and serving as vice president for National Audubon Society. He has chaired the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative, the University of North Texas Advanced Environmental Research Institute Advisory Board and currently chairs the Texas State Parks Advisory Committee.

Jason Tyszko

Senior VP, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Fdn

Tyszko is a senior vice president at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, where he advances policies and programs that enhance the career readiness of youth and adult learners and strengthen economic competitiveness. Tyszko oversees the Chamber Foundation’s workforce development portfolio, including the Talent Pipeline Management initiative as well as JEDx, the T3 Innovation Network, JobSIDE, EPIC, Talent Finance and Pathways with Purpose.

Jazmine Ulloa

Author, "El Paso: Five Families and One Hundred Years of Blood, Migration, Race, and Memory"

Ulloa is a national reporter for The New York Times. She previously reported for The Boston Globe, where she was part of a team that won the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting, and the Los Angeles Times. A native of El Paso, she started out as a journalist in Texas, where she worked for newspapers in Brownsville, San Antonio and Austin.

Andrea Valdez

Managing editor, The Atlantic

Valdez is the author of “How to Be a Texan: The Manual.” Before joining The Atlantic in 2021, she was the founding editor in chief of The 19th. She also previously held positions at the Texas Observer, Wired and Texas Monthly.

Stephanie Valencia

President, Equis Research

Valencia is a national leader in Latino civic engagement, media and research. She co-founded Equis, a Latino research firm, and co-founded Latino Media Network, one of the largest Latino-owned media acquisitions in U.S. history. She's worked in Congress, the White House, the commerce department and Google, and advised Reid Hoffman and Penny Pritzker.

Tommy Vietor

Co-host, "Pod Save America"

Vietor is a co-founder of Crooked Media, co-host of “Pod Save America”, and co-host of the foreign policy-focused “Pod Save the World.” In 2017, he co-founded Crooked Media, alongside his White House colleagues Jon Lovett and Jon Favreau. Prior to founding Crooked Media, he worked for President Barack Obama for nine years, including a stint as White House national security spokesman.

Jason Villalba

Chair and CEO, Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation

Villalba is a former three-term Texas state representative and chair and CEO of the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation , a nonpartisan organization advancing data-driven analysis of Latino political trends. He also leads the Texas Lobbying and Government Affairs Practice at FBT Gibbons LLP.

Denise Villalobos

State Representative, R-Corpus Christi

Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Villalobos was elected to the Texas House of Representative in 2024. During the 89th Legislative Session she served on the Appropriations, Natural Resources, Local and Consent Calendars committees, and the Select Committee on Health Care Affordability.

Elisa Villanueva Beard

President and CEO, Houston Endowment

Beard is president and CEO of Houston Endowment, leading the foundation’s vision to create a vibrant region where all have the opportunity to thrive. A South Texas native, she spent 27 years at Teach For America, including 12 as CEO, guiding significant organizational transformation. Her experience — from the classroom to communities nationwide — has shaped her belief in the power of local leadership and strong systems that support families and neighborhoods.

Jordan Vonderhaar

Photographer

Vonderhaar is an independent photographer and photo professor at Texas State University. His photos have been featured in Time Magazine’s top 100 photos of 2023.

John Warner

Author, "More Than Words"

Warner is the author of “More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI”. His previous books include “Why They Can’t Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities” and “The Writer’s Practice: Building Confidence in Your Nonfiction Writing”. He is a weekly columnist at the Chicago Tribune and Inside Higher Ed.

Raphael Warnock

U.S. Senator, D-Georgia

Warnock serves as a United States senator from Georgia and the senior pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta. Warnock holds degrees from Morehouse College and Union Theological Seminary and several honorary doctorate degrees in recognition of his ministry and public service. He is the author of the new book, “The Crooked Places Made Straight: Reflections on the Moral Meaning of America.”

Matthew Watkins

Editor-in-chief, The Texas Tribune

Watkins began serving as editor in chief of the Tribune in September 2024. He’s spent two decades in Texas journalism, and previously worked at The Eagle in Bryan-College Station and The Dallas Morning News. Watkins joined the Tribune in 2015, and has held various roles, including higher education reporter, breaking news editor, politics editor and managing editor.

Amy Webb

CEO, Future Today Strategy Group

Webb is a quantitative futurist who advises leaders of the Fortune100, three White House administrations and heads of state across four continents. Her books, including international bestseller “The Big Nine,” are translated into 23 languages. She was ranked the #3 Most Influential Management Thinker in the World on Thinkers50’s 2025 list.

Chad West

Council Member, City of Dallas

West represents Dallas District One. A former plan commissioner, West helped draft Dallas’ live-work, accessory dwelling unit and inclusionary zoning ordinances. He has championed walkability, housing affordability, parking reform, and the expansion of trails and bike infrastructure while balancing growth with neighborhood preservation.

Lawrence Wright

Staff writer, The New Yorker

Wright is the author of numerous books, plays and screenplays. He has won three National Magazine Awards for The New Yorker, two Emmys, and the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Austin and plays keys for the blues band WhoDo.

Sarah Xiyi Chen

Voting rights attorney, Texas Civil Rights Project

Chen is the senior supervising attorney for voting rights at the Texas Civil Rights Project, where she litigates redistricting, voter suppression and election administration cases, advocates for democracy at every level of government and leads Texas' efforts to protect against election threats. She also serves as board president of Asian Texans for Justice and as a commissioner on the City of Austin's Asian American Quality of Life Commission.

Erin Zwiener

State Representative, D-Driftwood

Zwiener is currently serving her fourth term in the Texas House of Representatives. She serves as the vice chair of the House Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs. She is also a member of the Committee on Natural Resources, Local and Consent Calendars, and the Permanent Standing Subcommittee on County and Regional Government.