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Appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, Mike Morath took office as Commissioner of Education in January 2016 and was unanimously confirmed by the Texas Senate (85th Legislature) in March 2017. As Commissioner, he heads the Texas Education Agency, which oversees pre-kindergarten through high school education for more than 5.5 million public school students enrolled in both traditional independent school districts and public charter schools.

Prior to becoming the state’s Education Commissioner, Morath served on the Dallas Independent School District board of trustees for more than four years. During that time, he focused on academic improvements. And by his final year on the board, DISD had seen improvement in various areas including a rise in kindergarten readiness, math proficiency and graduation rates.

A strong advocate of public education, Commissioner Morath graduated from Garland High School in the Garland Independent School District. And thanks to the great public school education he received in Texas, he went on to earn a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, summa cum laude, from George Washington University in two-and-a-half years.

While starting his first company, Commissioner Morath was asked to teach an advanced computer science class at his high school alma mater after the previous teacher resigned suddenly. He taught through the school year until a permanent teacher was hired and remains amazed at how difficult it is to teach and how important preparation and training is to the profession.

With a belief system that continually calls him to serve others, Commissioner Morath has participated in numerous volunteer activities, including church Missions Team, schools and juvenile justice facilities and serving as a mentor for the Big Brother program. While in Dallas, he helped organize a trip to orphanages in southern India to set up clean running water systems, and volunteered at an eye clinic in rural Mexico, where he met another volunteer, a doctor donating her time and talents to the clinic, who is now his wife. They are the proud parents of two daughters and two sons.

Alyssa Brown serves in the Arkansas House of Representatives, bringing a Gen Z perspective to public service. A passionate advocate for conservative values, she has sponsored and championed legislation advancing religious liberty, including Arkansas’s Ten Commandments Display Act, and pro-family restorative women’s healthcare. Outside the Capitol, Alyssa is devoted to ministry, strengthening the local church, and inspiring Christians to engage in government and culture.

Kelly J. Shackelford, Esq. is President and Chief Executive Officer of First Liberty Institute. Mr. Shackelford is a constitutional scholar who has argued before the United States Supreme Court, testified before the U.S. House and Senate and has won numerous landmark First Amendment and religious liberty cases, including the landmark religious liberty victory in the U.S. Supreme Court, American Legion v. America Humanist Association.

Mr. Shackelford was 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.

Mr. Shackelford is on the Board of Trustees of the United States Supreme Court Historical Society. He has been featured in the National Law Journal, Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Times, The L.A. Times, and many others.

He was an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas Law School and graduated cum laude from Baylor University (1985) and graduated from Baylor Law School (1988) with the highest unadjusted GPA in his graduating class.

Mark David Hall is a Professor in Regent University’s Robertson School of Government and Director of the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy’s Religious Liberty in the States.  He earned a BA in political science from Wheaton College and a PhD in government from the University of Virginia.  He has written, edited, or co-edited fifteen books, including Did America Have a Christian Founding? Separating Modern Myth from Historical Truth.