Bee Moorhead, Executive Director

Bee Moorhead has been Texas Impact's executive director since April 2000. During her tenure, Texas Impact's membership has more than quadrupled and the organization has received national recognition for its work on issues of the environment and criminal justice.

Before coming to Texas Impact, Bee spent seven years as a senior state fiscal policy analyst for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. In that position, Bee was responsible for the Comptroller's attention to public policy issues related to health and human services. She represented the Comptroller in workgroups on health care reform, children's health insurance, and aging issues, served as a resource to several legislative committees, and spoke on the Comptroller's behalf to elected officials, taxpayers and members of the press throughout Texas.

Bee was the chief architect of Family Pathfinders, a unique program linking Texas congregations and civic organizations with families on public assistance. Bee also was the Comptroller's principal liaison with other states and federal officials during the federal block grant debate. She helped to develop the Comptroller's groundbreaking Fair Share Plan, which ensured that federal funding formulas counted poor children in Texas equally with poor children in other states.

As a key member of the Comptroller's Texas Performance Review, Bee provided members of the Legislature with numerous recommendations for strengthening health and human services in Texas. Many of these recommendations are now law, including expansion of community-based living alternatives for older and disabled Texans, increasing the supply of affordable housing in the Texas-Mexico border area, and improving housing services for Texans receiving public assistance.

Bee earned a Master's Degree from the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, where she completed a thesis comparing child care systems in Sweden, Germany and the U.S.. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Drama from UT-Austin, and spent four years as a freelance theatrical costume designer and staff costumer at the UT Performing Arts Center before enrolling in the LBJ School.

An ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Bee has been a member of University Presbyterian Church in Austin since 1983. In 1986 she married Robert Moorhead, a multi-media developer and long-time staff member of the award-winning PBS television show "Austin City Limits." Bee and Rob are the proud parents of three Texas public school children: Owen (19), Ethan (16), and Oona (9). They also are the humble housemates of three cats.

James Mason, Policy Eduction Director

James joined the Texas Impact Staff in the spring of 2008. As policy education director, James is working to unify and motivate the Texas faith community to impact public policy by drawing attention to the shared social concerns transcending religious differences. 

A Native Texan, born and raised in Houston, James moved to Austin from Sewanee, Tennessee where he graduated from the University of the South with a degree in political science and pre-med. While attending university James served for two years as the elected student member on the University Board of Trustees, four combined years as an Emergency Medical Technician in Sewanee and Galveston, and 1 year as the director of the Sewanee EMS student service. Upon graduation, James and his best friend Dylan rode bicycles across the United States to raise money and awareness for the disease Lupus. Completing the bike ride in September of 2007, James and fellow musician Dylan Trakas, combined their musical talents and moved to Austin to try their luck as the Eagle Pritchard Murray Band. After a four month stint as an office manager for a primary care physician in Dallas and an even shorter stint selling used cars in Dripping Springs, James meet Bee Moorhead with Texas Impact and hit the ground running by assisting former Texas State Board of Insurance member Deece Eckstein in producing “A New Diagnosis.” (Texas Impact’s assessment of and recommendations for Texas’ private health insurance market)

As an Episcopalian, James is excited by the potential within the faith community to influence public policy as we unite in our aspirations for social justice. 

Janet Dewey, IPL Outreach Coordinator

Janet Dewey joined Texas Impact and Texas Interfaith Power & Light in the summer of 2008 as Texas Interfaith Power and Light Outreach Coordinator. Her work focuses on raising awareness within faith communities about global warming and air pollution. Janet coordinates TXIPL’s programs that provide training, products and services to congregations and their members. She holds degrees from St. Lawrence University (B.A 1986) and American University’s Washington College of Law (J.D. 1990).

Prior to coming to work with Texas Impact/TXIPL, Janet worked as an attorney with the State of Texas in a variety of capacities. As an attorney with the Office of Public Insurance Counsel and then the Texas Department of Insurance she litigated insurance rate matters and handled various insurance matters and health insurance policy issues. She then served with the State Office of Administrative Hearings as an Administrative Law Judge presiding over environmental, utility, and health/medical matters.

Janet lives in Austin with her husband Bob Ozer and two children Ben (3) and Nora (8).

Leighton Copley, Intern

Leighton Copley joined the Texas Impact staff as in Intern in May of 2008. Before joining Texas Impact he worked as a Senate Messenger in the 80th Legislature. Leighton currently is a senior at St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas, pursuing an undergraduate degree in Political Science with secondary studies in pre-Law. His hobbies include playing and teaching tennis as well as participating in acting classes at The State Theatre School of Acting. After graduation in August he plans to take some time off of school and continue to work at Texas Impact.

Emily Shelton, Intern

Emily Shelton will intern at Texas Impact for Summer and Fall 2008. She is currently a senior at the University of Texas at Austin and will graduate in December with a B.A. in Sociology. After graduation, Emily plans to attend grad school to get her Master's in Public Policy.

As an active member of University United Methodist Church, Emily participates in the Student Advisory Board for Campus Ministries and enjoys the numerous volunteer opportunities that he church provides. She is a member of University UMC's Amos Commission and will be starting an internship with this organization over the summer. Additionally, Emily is a manager at Deutsches Haus, an international co-op.

In her spare time, Emily enjoys swimming, curling up with a good book, and learning about social justice issues.