Chairman Dade Phelan was born and raised in Southeast Texas. His fourth generation commercial real estate development firm owns and manages retail, industrial and office property in Texas and Arkansas. He received his bachelor’s degree in Government and Business from The University of Texas at Austin. Phelan currently serves as Chair of the House Committee on State Affairs. He has previously served on the Natural Resources Committee as Vice-Chair, Calendars Committee, Appropriations Committee, Elections Committee and on the Select Committee on Ports, Innovation and Infrastructure. Representative Phelan is one of three house members appointed to the State Water Infrastructure Fund for Texas Advisory Committee. The panel oversees the operation, function and structure of the state water fund and assists the Texas Water Development Board in achieving its goal of providing $27 billion in state water plan projects over the next 50 years. Capitol Inside Magazine named Phelan one of the most outstanding freshmen in 2015 and in 2017 honored him again as the Most Valuable Sophomore member of the Legislature. Phelan has been named Legislative Champion by the Boys and Girls Club of Texas, Legislator of the Year by the Texas Apartment Association, Guardian of Small Business by the National Federation of Independent Business, Most Valuable Legislator by the Texas Association of Community Schools and a Fighter for Free Enterprise by the Texas Association of Business. The American Council of Young Political Leaders selected Representative Phelan as one of seven United States foreign delegates to China and Taiwan. He traveled to Asia for diplomatic exchanges with China and Taiwan’s next generation of political leaders. Mr. Phelan is two time Governor appointee to and former president of the Lower Neches Valley Authority. His board of director service includes the Texas Lyceum, Southeast Texas CASA, Golden Triangle Coastal Conservation Association, The Jefferson Theater, St. Anne Catholic Church and secretary of Catholic Charities of Southeast Texas. His wife, Kim, is a solo practitioner attorney and together they have four sons: Ford, Mack, Hank and Luke.

State Representative Dan Huberty was sworn in to serve District 127 in the Texas House of Representatives on January 11, 2011. He has been re-elected to this seat three times and has served in four legislative sessions. In the most recent 85th Legislature, Huberty was named the Chairman of House Committee on Public Education. He has been lauded as a fair, but firm chairman who runs efficient and effective hearings. He also serves on the House Committee on Pensions this session. Huberty has served on the Committee on Public Education each of his previous sessions and as the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Educator Quality in the 84th Session. In previous sessions, he was a member of the Committees on State Affairs and Calendars. He was also served on the Select Committee on Redistricting and a Select Committee on Transportation Funding, Expenditures & Finance. In his role as Chairman, Huberty carried several very important pieces of legislation relating to public education. The most important being a plan to begin to fix the antiquated public school finance system and the legislation to make necessary adjustments to the newly-implemented public school accountability system, which passed late in the session. Huberty was also instrumental in bringing the issue of annexation to the forefront of policy discussion. He fought valiantly for property owners to have a right to vote on whether or not they want to be annexed instead of the being forcefully annexed against their will. Huberty has passed meaningful legislation like this in each of his sessions. In the 84th Session, he was approached by Governor Abbott to carry House Bill 4, which created a high quality opt-in grant program for prekindergarten in Texas. He successfully passed the bill with overwhelming support in both the House and Senate. During the 83rd Session, Huberty was successful in passing more than fourteen bills that addressed over-testing of our students in grades 3 – 8; sales options for co-generation facilities, and prohibiting the use of Common Core Curriculum in Texas schools. He was also vital in the passage of The Foundation High School Program, which completely overhauled graduation requirements by setting students on real paths to employment and decreasing the number of end-of-year tests. In the 82nd Legislative Session, he passed five pieces of legislation, ranging from regulating the illegal sand-mining along the San Jacinto River to abolishing duplicative reporting for special education teachers. Huberty’s successes have earned him many honors. Capitol Inside named him one of the "Top Texas House Floor Fighters" in 2017 and a "Top Ten Legislator" in 2015. After his first session in 2011, the Texas Monthly Best & Worst Legislator List included him as the "Rookie of the Year". Also, the Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce honored him as the Dr. Hayden McKay “Citizen of the Year” in 2016. Additionally, he has received multiple awards for his individual achievements, including the 2017 "Legislator Appreciation Award" from the Fastgrowth School Coalition, the 2015 Associated Builders & Contractors "Free Enterprise Champion" award, the 2015 Texas Association for the Education of Young Children "Elected Official of the Year" award, the 2015 Houston Apartment Association "Distinguished Service Award", the 2015 Texas Association on Business "Champion for Free Enterprise", the 2015 & 2011 Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas "Best of the Texas House" award, the 2011 Academic Language Therapy Association "Champion for Children with Dyslexia" award and the 2011 Texas Council of Administrators of Special Education "Legislator of the Year" award. All of Huberty's achievements are indicative of his background in education and business. He served on the Humble ISD School board for five years before winning the election that sent him to the Texas Capitol Building. In his last year as a Trustee, he served as the Board President and as the Vice President and Chairman of the Finance Committee the year prior to that. Huberty currently serves as President of MVP REIT, a real estate investment trust where he works to acquire income-producing parking assets. His business expertise has allowed him to work across a variety of sectors, from oil and gas to local real estate. The majority of Huberty’s previous work was in the parking industry, most recently serving as an Executive Vice President for a large parking company, but he has also served as a Vice President for a natural gas fueling company. Active in his community, Huberty is a board member of the Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce; works with the Kingwood Chamber of Commerce and the Crosby-Huffman Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, and the Humble Intercontinental Rotary club; in addition, he is a board member of the Be an Angel Fund, and is active in organizations for each of his children’s schools and their extra-curricular activities. Dan and his wife, Janet, have been married 22 years. They live in Walden on Lake Houston with their three children, Brianna, Ryan and Dylan, and yellow labs, Rocky and Bullwinkle. They are active parishioners at Saint Martha’s Catholic Church.

As Vice President of Public Policy at the Greater Houston Partnership, Jenny leads the work of the policy team with a goal of ensuring both meaningful member engagement and substantive committee deliberations. Her policy work spans topics in education, flood resiliency, energy, transportation and health care. Jenny joined the Partnership in 2010 and previously served as director of the Research Division. She has been integral to several major economic development wins, has given more than two hundred presentations to member companies, economic development allies and chambers, along with national conferences and foreign trade delegations. Jenny received a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University. While in D.C., she conducted policy analysis at the Millennium Challenge Corporation and worked at the U.S. Department of Labor on identifying labor rights issues. She serves on the board of the Collaborative for Children and the Rice Design Alliance and was named a Woman to Watch by the Houston Business Journal. Jenny is a native Houstonian and graduated with a BBA from the University of Texas at Austin.