Grace Yocum of Round Rock is a student at Texas A&M University and is a management major with a minor in nonprofit and public service studies. She is a student intern at the Texas A&M Foundation, student program coordinator for The REACH Project, and chair of Client and Community Affairs at 180 Degrees Consulting.

Ernest Aliseda of McAllen is the Chief Operating Officer and Associate Vice President of the Texas A&M University Higher Education Center at McAllen. He is a former Regent of the University of Texas System, a retired State District Judge, and a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the U.S. Army, where he last served as a Military Judge. He continues to serve as a Flotilla Commander in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and as a board member of Senator Ted Cruz’s U.S. Military Academy Selection Board. Aliseda received a Bachelor of Arts from Texas A&M University, a Juris Doctor from the University of Houston Law Center, and a Master of Laws in Health Law from Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

William “Bill” King of Wimberley is co-owner of Mithril Defense and a Navy SEAL veteran. He is an advisory board member for the Navy SEAL Foundation and the Navy SEAL Museum. King received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Commercial Photography from Art Center College of Design and a Master of International Public Policy from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in May of 2023, after 32 years of service.

Marcos Delgado of El Paso is Executive Vice President for the Borderplex Alliance. His responsibilities include the business recruitment, retention and expansion efforts, economic development and strategic partnerships. He also oversees the organization’s operations management. He has over 20 years in the engineering and business fields in both the United States and Mexico. He has held various engineering and engineering management positions with companies such as Rockwell International, TI Automotive Group and the Whirlpool Corporation. Delgado served as Vice President at Neologic International, a United States based manufacturing firm with operations in Cd. Juarez Mexico. After his tenure with Neologic International, he served as Vice President at SLI Engineering, a privately held engineering, project management land development company. At SLI Engineering, he managed the firm’s U.S. and Mexico business development efforts and business operations functions. Delgado has served on the board of directors of the Notre Dame Club of El Paso, National Society of Hispanic MBAs, and KCOS public television and on the advisory board of the Lone Star Emerging Business Fund. He is a member of the Texas Economic Development Council and the International Economic Development Council. Delgado received a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from The University of Texas El Paso and a Master of Arts in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame.

Michelle Brewer of Silsbee is the Executive Director of Jefferson County Long Term Recovery Group in Beaumont, TX. She serves in various capacities including the Texas Department of Emergency Management Incident Support Task Force, Disaster Leadership Team, Texas Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, Southeast Texas Organizations Active in Disaster, Lamar University Center for Resiliency Advisory Board, and the SETX Urban Integrated Field Laboratory Task Force.

James Senegal, BSN, RN, of Spring, is the Co-Founder and Lead Instructor of ProResponder Training, LLC, a Texas-based public safety training and consulting company specializing in leadership development, crisis response, and organizational resilience. He brings more than two decades of experience in law enforcement and public safety leadership. James previously served as Director of Professional and Leadership Development at the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT). His law enforcement career includes service as a patrol officer, SWAT team lead, criminal investigator, and police captain. In addition to his public safety career, James currently serves as a pediatric ICU nurse at Children’s Memorial Hermann Heart Institute in the Texas Medical Center. In this role, he provides highly specialized, evidence-based care to critically ill pediatric patients with complex cardiovascular conditions, collaborating within multidisciplinary teams to support advanced life-sustaining therapies and optimize patient outcomes. James received a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Sam Houston State University and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Baylor University.

Gene Seaman of Corpus Christi is owner of Seaman Financial, and is a real estate developer in the Coastal Bend area and former State Representative, where he served as vice chair on the Calendars and Insurance committees. Additionally, he is a former guberantorial appointte to the Texas State Technical College System Board of Regents and a former member of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association Board. He is a member of the Ingleside Rotary and immediate past president of Corpus Christ Symphony. Seaman earned a Charted Life Underwriter degree, a Masters in Financial Services, and a Masters in Management from The American College. He served in the Marchant Marines, and went to Officer Candidate School and Flight School to become an Army Liaison pilot. He was honorably discharged from the United States Army at the rank of Captain.

Mike Morath of Austin is the Commissioner of the Texas Education Agency, he was appointed by Governor Abbott in 2016. He is a former board member of the Texas Association of School Boards and Dallas Independent School District Board of Trustees. Morath received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from George Washington University.

Annette Juba of Austin is the deputy director for AGE of Central Texas, a regional non-profit organization serving older adults and their family caregivers. She is former co-chair of the Aging Services Council and a University Field Affiliate in The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work. Juba received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and a Master of Science in social work from The University of Texas at Austin.

Ronnie Hagerty, Ph.D. of Houston is assistant vice president of community relations and talent management for the United Way of Greater Houston. She is an adjunct professor at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University and former lecturer at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. She serves as a board member for The Rose, and as an advisory committee member for the Houston Arts Alliance, Nonprofit Leadership Alliance, Career Gear, and University of Houston Downtown Master’s in Nonprofit Management program. She is a member of the PowerTools for Nonprofits Advisory Board and is a sustaining member of the Junior League of Houston. She was previously a member of Renewing our Communities Advisory Committee and the American Diabetes Association. Hagerty received a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Saint Mary’s College – Notre Dame, Master of Business Administration from the University of Houston, and Doctor of Philosophy in leadership and change from Antioch University.