Welcome
Caroline Willard, President/CEO, Cornerstone League

Guest Speaker: Evan Smith, Senior Advisor, Emerson Collective

Evan will discuss the national political landscape, the state political landscape and the legislative session as it's unfolding. Details will be relevant to the most up-to-date happenings at the time of the event. 

Evan Smith is a senior advisor at Emerson Collective, working closely with journalists and funders around the country to address the crisis in local news. He’s also a professor of practice at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches a course on the politics and issues of the moment. He previously spent more than thirteen years at The Texas Tribune, which he co-founded and led as CEO, and nearly eighteen years at Texas Monthly, including nine years as editor in chief and a year as president. Evan is the host of “Overheard with Evan Smith,” a weekly half-hour interview program that airs on PBS stations from coast to coast. He serves on the boards of St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, the Austin Film Society, and the LBJ Foundation. A native of New York, he's a graduate of Hamilton College, which awarded him an honorary degree in 2023, and Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, which inducted him into its Hall of Achievement in 2006.