On May 9-11, we visited sunny Texas and enjoyed reconnecting with advocates across the state who have been supporters of diversity and the NAA for years. Special thank yous to GCM Grosvenor, NEPC, Employees’ Retirement Fund of the City of Dallas, San Antonio Fire and Police, CPS Energy, Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS), Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), Texas State Representative Donna Howard, and Texas State Representative Justin Rodriguez.  View our Texas photo gallery HERE

We kicked off our visit at the Employees’ Retirement Fund of the City of Dallas to discuss the fund’s Next Generation initiative, which CIO Cheryl Alston and her team are dedicated to growing. Day two started off in San Antonio with a visit to San Antonio Fire and Police & CPS Energy, where we discussed the latest updates regarding the San Antonio Fire and Police emerging manager program.

Next up, we stopped at the Texas State Capitol and had the pleasure of meeting with the Honorable Donna Howard, who spoke about her work on the Appropriations and Healthcare Committees.

Mario Modiano, LM Capital Group, LLC; Amira Strasser, Applied Research; Texas State Representative Donna Howard; Carmen Ortiz McGhee, Aon; Danielle Beyer, New America Alliance; Avinash Amin, Madryn Asset Management, LP

After spending time at the Capitol, we headed to the Westlake Highlands for a beautiful gathering to celebrate the work of diversity advocates in Texas, and the impact their work has had on the diverse-owned managers community. Thank you to Board Member Gabriel Rodriguez of Empiric Institutional for letting us take over his home for the evening!

Gabriel Rodriguez, Empiric Institutional; Javier Montemayor, TXMX; Danielle Beyer, New America Alliance; Lauren Coffelt, Empiric Institutional	Sengal Selassie, Brightwood Capital Advisors, LLC; Tom Soto, Latimer Partners, LLC; Mark Coffelt, Empiric Institutional

Tom Soto, Latimer Partners; Pablo Perez, LEAP Global Partners; Rory Patrick McNeill	Sam Austin, NEPC, LLC; Avinash Amin, Madryn Asset Management, LP; Manny Gonzalez, CGI Investment Management, LLC; Mike Keilty, CGI Investment Management

To close out our visit, ERS hosted the NAA and TRS for a series of Thought Leadership and Roundtable discussions.

Ashley Hartman Alson, Northern Trust; Tom Tull, ERS; Sharmila Kassam, Esq., ERS; Sengal Selassie, Brightwood Capital Advisors, LLC,  Sylvia Bell, TRS	Carmen Ortiz McGhee, Aon; Amira Strasser, Applied Research; Gabriel Rodriguez, Empiric Institutional; Danielle Beyer, New America Alliance; Manny Gonzalez, CGI Investment Management