11:15am-12:05pm Preserving Natural Resources

• Blair Fitzsimons, CEO of the Texas Agricultural Land Trust
• Marilu Hastings, vice president for sustainability at the Cynthia & George Mitchell Foundation
• State Rep. Kyle Kacal, R-College Station
• Roel Lopez, director of the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute
• Moderated by Andrew Sansom, executive director of the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University

12:05pm Lunch will be provided. 

12:45-1:35pm The View from Rural Communities

• Donnie Allred, Oldham County judge
• Shelley Brophy, mayor of Nacogdoches
• Alma Moreno, San Patricio County commissioner
• Ramiro Rodriguez, mayor of Palmhurst
• Moderated by Evan Smith, co-founder and CEO of The Texas Tribune

1:45-2:15pm The State of the Rural Economy

• Glenn Hegar, Texas comptroller of public accounts

2:25-3:15pm Building an Economic Future

• Becky Garlick, executive dean of Blinn College
• Arleene Loyd, executive director of the Gainesville Economic Development Corporation
• Joe Outlaw, professor and extension economist in the department of agricultural economics at Texas A&M University
• Ines Polonius, CEO of Communities Unlimited
• Moderated by Alana Rocha, multimedia reporter for The Texas Tribune

3:25-4:00-  Group Discussion

“This is an independently organized event inspired by reporting from The Texas
Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and
engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.”