Learning from Leaders in Public Policy and Advocacy
The Public Policy and Advocacy Certificate connects participants with respected, accomplished local practitioners through guest speaker sessions. These experts share firsthand insights from their work in the field, offering valuable real-world perspectives while creating opportunities for participants to build meaningful professional connections.
Fall 2026
Read more about some of our speakers below; additional guest speakers will be featured throughout the program.
Mignon McGarry
Mignon McGarry and Associates is widely regarded as one of the most reputable and savvy legislative consulting firms working at the Texas Capitol today.
Mignon and her team have been instrumental in affecting the top issues faced by Texans over the past 25 years, including landmark legislation for tort reform, patient protection, utility regulation, and pre-k education for Texas public school students. The firm also consistently plays a role in impacting commercial development and property rights policy.
Mignon and her team carefully follow state issues beyond a legislative session, monitoring the execution of new state laws and regulations and helping clients navigate the state agency process.
Mignon began building experience and relationships in Texas politics by serving as Chief of Staff to the Dean of the Texas Senate and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. Prior to opening her own firm, Mignon used the knowledge and skills she gained in the Texas Senate while lobbying for Brown McCarroll & Oaks Hartline, Austin’s largest law firm at the time.
Mignon has earned accolades for her political savvy and negotiation skills from Texas Monthly, the Austin Business Journal, and the Austin-American Statesman.
Curt Seidlits
Seidlits is one of Austin’s premier government affairs and lobby strategists. Before founding Focused Advocacy, Seidlits was Senior Vice President of Public Affairs for Energy Future Holdings, formerly TXU Corp. He oversaw federal, state, and local governmental advocacy, as well as public policy and political action committees. Before joining TXU, Seidlits was the president and CEO of the Association of Electric Companies of Texas, a group representing the investor-owned electric companies in Texas. During Seidlits’ thirteen-year tenure in the electric industry, he helped engineer the public policy change establishing competition in the electric industry and led the ensuing debates over several legislative sessions.
Seidlits served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1986 - 1996. He served on a variety of House Committees including Judiciary, Ways and Means, and Elections and Redistricting. In 1993, he was appointed chairman of the House State Affairs Committee and during his tenure he oversaw many diverse issues, including tort reform, ethics, utility regulation, public information and procurement. Seidlits sponsored legislation that substantially rewrote the state’s electric and telecommunications regulations.
Seidlits earned both his law degree and bachelor’s degree in political science from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He began his legal career as a prosecutor and has spent more than forty years in legal practice.
Demetrius G. McDaniel
Demetrius McDaniel is Senior Vice President, Regional Operating Shareholder of Texas, and Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig's Government Law & Policy Practice. In this capacity he also leads the Texas Government Law & Policy Practice. Demetrius counsels and provides advocacy to large private and public sector clients on federal, state and local legal and public policy matters. His broad knowledge of federal and state government allows him to collaboratively develop strategies to help clients address complex problems that have a government origin or nexus. Demetrius consults with clients on their strategic objectives and provides advice on important issues that may impact their business opportunities, increase their compliance with laws and regulations, and assist them in building internal systems to proactively address potential problems with all levels of government. His long tenure in working with federal and state officials has provided him with exceptional knowledge and skills to represent clients on a wide variety of issues.
Demetrius is a member of the firm’s Tariff Task Force, a multidisciplinary initiative that draws on the firm’s global platform to guide our clients through what comes next in regards to tariffs, including tariff refund matters, tax, litigation, and M&A activity spurred by these global shifts.