Merrill Matthews, Ph.D., was for 25 years a resident scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation. He is a public policy analyst specializing in health care, entitlements and energy issues and is...

Kelly Shackelford, Esq., has been president and CEO of Liberty Institute since 1997. Mr. Shackelford is a constitutional scholar who has argued before the United States Supreme Court, testified before...

Kelly Shackelford, Esq., has been president and CEO of Liberty Institute since 1997. Mr. Shackelford is a constitutional scholar who has argued before the United States Supreme Court, testified before the U.S. House and Senate on constitutional issues, and has won three state landmark First Amendment and religious liberty cases in the past few years alone. He was recently named one of the 25 greatest Texas lawyers of the past quarter century by Texas Lawyer, and is the recipient of the prestigious William Bentley Ball Award for Life and Religious Freedom Defense for his leadership and pioneering work protecting religious freedom.

Konni was elected in 2014 to represent Tarrant County’s Senate District 10 in the Texas Senate, succeeding Democrat Wendy Davis. At the time, SD-10 was one of the most competitive districts in Texas —...

Konni was elected in 2014 to represent Tarrant County’s Senate District 10 in the Texas Senate, succeeding Democrat Wendy Davis. At the time, SD-10 was one of the most competitive districts in Texas — essentially a 50/50 seat. Konni flipped the district, returning it to Republican leadership, and went on to serve two legislative sessions in Austin.Her strong record of standing firm on conservative principles earned her 100% ratings from the National Federation of Independent Business, National Right to Life, Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, and Young Conservatives of Texas. She was also named a Taxpayer Champion by Empower Texans following both the 84th and 85th legislative sessions.A lifelong activist, Konni has been driven by a commitment to limited government, individual liberty, and free-market principles — a passion that continues to shape her work today.In 2019 — after losing the SD-10 seat during the “Beto wave” midterms — Konni chose not to step away from the public arena. Instead, she turned that moment into motivation to create The Texan, where she now serves as CEO. Determined to strengthen civic engagement and improve access to reliable political information, she built a statewide multimedia newsroom committed to fact-driven reporting.

Genevieve Collins built and led Texas's largest policy and grassroots operation as State Director for Americans for Prosperity Texas, where she spent five years designing and executing legislative and...

Genevieve Collins built and led Texas's largest policy and grassroots operation as State Director for Americans for Prosperity Texas, where she spent five years designing and executing legislative and grassroots strategy at scale. Under her leadership, she helped legislators pass statewide school choice, advance major healthcare access and affordability reforms, and enact transformational housing reforms. In her political action work, she helped change 30% of the Texas House and Senate floors.Before AFP-TX, Genevieve was the Republican nominee for Congress in Texas's 32nd Congressional District and spent over a decade building Istation, a Dallas edtech company, from 36 employees to nearly 300 as Senior Vice President and Head of Corporate Strategy, opening two international offices along the way. A seventh-generation Texan and Dallas native, she earned her MBA from the Cox School of Business at SMU and competed at the NCAA Championship level as a Division I rower at the University of Tennessee.Today, as Founder and CEO of Chester Dallas Consulting, Genevieve brings strategy, policy expertise, political acumen, and execution to clients across various sectors, connecting everyday Texans and taxpayer-focused businesses with the public policy that shapes their future.