2025 Annual Conference Speakers

Coleen McCarthy is a Director II/Senior Advisor to the Medicaid/CHIP Services Deputy Executive Commissioner of Operations at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). She has almost 28 years of experience working in Health and Human Services agencies, including HHSC, the Department of State Health Services, and the Department of Family and Protective Services. McCarthy holds a Master of Science in health services/health promotion and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology/sociology. She is a Certified Health Education Specialist, Certified Mental Health First Aider for adults and youth, and Certified in Basic Investigations/Inspections.

McCarthy is the 2025-2026 EWTG President and previously served on the EWTG Board as the 2023-2024 President-Elect and the 2022 Communications Director. She is also a member of Leadership Women (LW) and graduated from the LW America Class of 2023 and the LW Texas Class of 2022. McCarthy also participated in the LW Encore program in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2022.

McCarthy is a proud mom of an adult son. She enjoys reading, writing, binge-watching Netflix, and spending time with her fiancé, family, and friends. McCarthy also enjoys working as a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant. She is passionate about helping others and enjoys volunteering at various places.

Lisa Craven has over 38 years of state service, having worked in both the executive and legislative branches. Craven began her career as a tour guide at the State Capitol in 1986. She previously worked in the Texas House of Representatives and Texas Senate. She moved over to Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts in January 2015 when Comptroller Glenn Hegar was elected. In September 2018, she was first appointed chief clerk and was reappointed in July 2025 by Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock. In her role as the deputy comptroller and chief clerk, she serves as the agency’s administrative head.

Craven has a Bachelor of Science degree in speech from the University of Texas at Austin. She serves on the State Water Implementation Fund’s (SWIFT) advisory committee, on the executive committee for the National Association of State Chief Administrators, and an advisory council member for the Annette Strauss Institute for Civic Life in the Moody College of Communication at University of Texas at Austin. Craven was honored with the 2022 Outstanding Women in Texas Government Award for outstanding leadership by Governor Greg Abbott’s Commission for Women and the 2025 Legacy Award from the Pink Granite Foundation, recognizing an experienced professional in the Texas Capitol community who has notably championed fellow women around the pink dome while making substantial contributions to the State of Texas.

Craven and her husband are the proud parents of two daughters, and she recently added her most important title, Grandma, with the birth of her first grandchild, in 2024.

Heidi Murray serves as Chief Operating Officer of Leadership Women, where she also directs the organization’s suite of programs—Leadership Texas, Leadership America, Leadership Pipeline, Leadership Encore, and Leadership International. Through these experiential programs, participants gain a deeper understanding of key issues affecting Texas and its communities, develop self-awareness and leadership purpose, strengthen resilience and problem-solving skills, and build the confidence needed to navigate change and drive positive impact.

For Murray, this work is more than a career—it is her calling. She considers her role at Leadership Women to be “her work in the world,” a privilege that allows her to operate at the intersection of her skills and her passion for developing leaders.

A Certified Meeting Professional since 2001, Murray is active in the meeting planning community and frequently lectures for Meeting Planners International. She is a member of the Association of Leadership Programs, serves on the Board of Dallas Black Theatre, contributes to the VisitDallas Diversity & Inclusion Committee, and currently holds the title of President of her homeowners’ association—her self-proclaimed “most challenging role.”

Murray is a graduate of the 2015 class of Leadership Dallas and the 2010 class of Leadership Arts. She earned her honors degree in Media Communications with a minor in Psychology from the University of North Florida.

Steve Pier is the Deputy Executive Director of the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) and Deputy Chief Information Officer for the state of Texas, bringing more than three decades of politics and government experience into these roles. At DIR, Pier’s areas of responsibility include oversight of external relations, outreach, compliance, and risk. He works closely with the Executive Director on overall agency management, fostering solutions to strategic, finance, and human resources issues.

Before joining DIR, Pier served as the Director of Governmental Relations at the Office of Attorney General. This role quickly expanded to include strategic initiatives, allowing him to assist in large-scale efforts such IT modernization and the agency’s zero-based budgeting initiative.

In addition to his public service with the state of Texas, Pier spent five years as the Country Director for the International Republican Institute’s Arabian Gulf and Pakistan programs where he worked to build civil society organizations, develop political parties, and conduct public opinion research. Following that, Pier launched OxOr Development, which provided consultative services to foreign political parties, candidates, and non-governmental organizations, as well as other political entities in developing democracies across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

Pier has a bachelor’s degree from Miami University with a double major in Philosophy and Political Science.

Dr. Shuford currently serves as the Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Under her leadership, the agency strives to achieve the vision of “A Healthy Texas” and fulfill the mission of improving the health, safety, and well-being of all Texans.

Dr. Shuford worked in Austin, Texas, as an infectious disease physician in private practice prior to joining DSHS in 2017. Before becoming Commissioner, Dr. Shuford served DSHS as the Chief State Epidemiologist.

Dr. Shuford graduated from Colorado College in Colorado Springs with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. She received her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. She completed an internal medicine residency at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, where she served as chief resident. She completed an infectious disease fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and earned her Master of Public Health degree from Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Shuford serves on the faculty of the DSHS Preventive Medicine and Public Health Residency Program. She is a member of the Travis County Medical Society, the Texas Medical Association, and the Infectious Disease Society of America.

Jennifer Sims is the Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). She rejoined DFPS in this role in January 2023, reprising a role she held at DFPS from 2011-2016. Sims has served in state government for 25 years and has held multiple leadership positions.

Prior to her recent appointment as Deputy Commissioner, Sims served as the Deputy Commissioner at the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) for seven years, leading up to her state retirement in August of 2021. As DSHS Deputy, she was responsible for program oversight and agency operations, including financial services, external relations, strategic planning, public health data, and policy oversight.

Sims helped lead DSHS through the COVID-19 public health crisis and the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, just two of the highest-profile events under her watch. She has also served as Associate Commissioner of the Department of Aging and Disability Services and, in a prior engagement with DFPS, she was the Director of External Relations and Executive Operations. Sims also has experience as both a Court Appointed Special Advocate and a foster parent.

Sims holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Texas at Arlington and a bachelor’s in psychology. She also holds professional certifications in change management, mediation, and dispute resolution.