Parent board of the Texas Observer
In 1994, Ronnie Dugger, founding editor and the publisher of the Texas Observer for 40 years, transferred ownership to the Texas Democracy Foundation, which was established as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to publish and promote the Observer.
Current board members
LIZE BURR, President
Lize Burr is president of the Texas Democracy Foundation. (It’s pronounced “Lizzie.”) She holds two advanced degrees in theology, the first from Seminary of the Southwest, the second from Union Theological Seminary in New York. Her theological writing explores the ethics of bearing witness. Prior to entering seminary, Lize spent a decade in Texas politics, including two years as president of Capital Area Democratic Women and five long years blogging as “Prematurely Grey,” where she tracked the influence of her haircuts over the fate of Tom DeLay. She lives in Austin with her husband Chris Hyams and has two daughters, Emma and Mazie.
Mark Horvit
Mark Horvit is a professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, where he teaches investigative reporting, and is director of the school’s State Government Reporting Program. He previously served as executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR), where he conducted training in investigative reporting and data journalism throughout the world. Horvit worked as a reporter and editor for 20 years before joining IRE.
Kathleen McElroy
Kathleen McElroy is a professor in the School of Journalism and Media at The University of Texas at Austin. She received her Ph.D. from the School of Journalism in December 2014, after nearly 30 years as a professional journalist. At the New York Times, she held various management positions, including associate managing editor, dining editor, deputy sports editor, and deputy editor of the website. She previously worked for The National, an all-sports daily, and Newsday on Long Island as well as the Austin American-Statesman, The Huntsville Item, and the Bryan-College Station Eagle in Texas.
Skye Perryman
Skye Perryman is the President and CEO of Democracy Forward, a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress. Perryman previously served as General Counsel of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the nation’s leading association of physicians dedicated to the health of women, and has held litigation roles in two elite law firms. Ms. Perryman has developed and led groundbreaking legal and policy strategies, including those that have enhanced access to Medicaid for millions of postpartum women, enabled the distribution of mifepristone (abortion pill) by mail during the COVID-19 pandemic, and restored federal funding to evidence-based community programs. She is presently representing the generic manufacture of mifepristone in a number of matters aimed at preserving and expanding access to reproductive health care post-Dobbs. Skye grew up in Texas and is a proud product of its public schools. She holds a Juris Doctor with honors from the Georgetown University Law Center and a Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude from Baylor University.
Ashley Thomas
Ashley Thomas is a corporate attorney of 22 years who started her career at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP and has since moved on to found her own law firm. She advises clients in all manner of corporate matters from board governance, executive compensation, mergers and acquisitions, and capital raising activities. She has a passion for serving on boards of directors, and she currently serves on the boards of LifeWorks (Past Chair), Zach Theatre (Executive Committee), in addition to the Texas Democracy Foundation, as well as several other for-profit boards of directors. When not busy serving her clients or engaged in board service, Ashley likes to spend time with her wife and sons. They like to spend time sailing, scuba diving, and surfing. On her own, Ashley is a competitive tennis player and flyfishing addict. Ashley and her wife enjoy nice wine, and they are avid travelers and art collectors. If that’s not enough, she also enjoys sneaking off to a mid-week University of Texas baseball game to cheer on the Longhorns.
Gabriela Resto-Montero
Gabriela Resto-Montero is a journalist who currently leads the newsroom at Rocky Mountain PBS in Colorado. Despite not being in Texas, Resto-Montero champions the Observer’s in-depth, unflinching, and committed investigative reporting and proudly served as judge for the magazine’s “Molly” awards. As a freelancer writing for places including Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Vox, Mic, Forbes, and others, Resto-Montero focused on stories showing the impact of policy decisions on women and communities around the country. That lens, people first and local stories above all, continues to drive her work at RMPBS.
Bob Libal
Bob Libal is an Austin-based, nationally recognized civil rights advocate and community organizer who serves as Senior Campaign Strategist for The Sentencing Project, a national criminal justice reform organization. A former executive director of Grassroots Leadership, Bob has spent his entire adult life fighting for criminal justice and immigration reform. He has led successful campaigns to close troubled private prisons, stood alongside communities impacted by deportation and mass incarceration, and challenged powerful interests—from private prison executives to ICE’s deportation forces. He has authored numerous reports on immigrant detention and mass incarceration, and his work has been featured in The New York Times, NPR, Businessweek, and numerous other national, state, and local media outlets.
Maud Beelman
Maud Beelman, a professor of practice at Arizona State’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, was the founding director and executive editor of the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and currently serves as the center’s collaborations editor. She also co-administers the Roy W. Howard fellowship program for center graduates, and she directed and edited a team of students reporting in collaboration with The Associated Press on an investigative series that was a finalist for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting. She has been a domestic, foreign, and war correspondent and, for nearly three decades, an investigative editor. She was the founding director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and served as the U.S. Investigations Editor for The Associated Press and the deputy managing editor for investigations at The Dallas Morning News. She also serves on the boards of directors of the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the Institute for Nonprofit News’ Rural News Network Advisory Council.