TML Midyear Conference Speakers

Mike has been providing motivational and inspirational presentations to groups and organizations for over 20 years. His background includes working for a Fortune 500 company, serving as an elected official, owning, and operating private businesses, serving on several volunteer boards, and wearing the uniform of the United States Army through his service in the South Dakota Army National Guard. Mike is a Combat Veteran serving in both Operation Iraqi Freedom in Kuwait and Iraq, and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Mike recently retired after 36 years of service at the rank of Brigadier General.

Through service in these positions, continued professional education in performance excellence, over 35 years of marriage to his wife Jo, and raising four kids, Mike has acquired a tremendous background in leadership, teamwork and motivating people. He understands what it takes to build and maintain a positive attitude and how to motivate those around you to be better than they believe is possible.

Mike’s philosophy of, “when we become better at who we are, we become better in all we do”, drives his passion to spread a message of self-improvement and helping people realize their maximum potential. He uses humor and real-life experiences to ensure participants connect to the message and learn to recognize and avoid the “negativity traps” that affect our attitudes. His overall mission is to assist individuals and organizations to perform at such a level that Excellence becomes their Average.

Governor Greg Abbott appointed Adriana Cruz as Executive Director of his Texas Economic Development & Tourism Office (EDT), a trusted program within the Office of the Governor in October 2019.As Executive Director, Cruz leads the state’s award-winning economic development efforts, promoting Texas as a premier global business location and travel destination. EDT works with economic development partners statewide to create new jobs and capital investment by attracting new businesses to the state, as well as supporting expanding Texas companies and Texas entrepreneurs providing economic opportunities for all Texans.

Cruz has over 25 years of leadership experience in economic development, marketing, and international business. Before her appointment to lead EDT, Cruz was President of the Greater San Marcos Partnership and the Vice President of Global Corporate Recruitment for the Austin Chamber of Commerce.

She also serves on the Board of the Texas Economic Development Council, the Texas Economic Development Corporation, and the Texas Workforce Investment Council. In 2016, she won the Austin Business Journal’s Profiles in Power: Central Texas Women of Influence Award and has been named one of the Top 50 Economic Developers in the country. Cruz holds a B.B.A. in Marketing from the University of Texas at Austin, has been married for 38 years to her husband Rik, and has three grown children, and one grandson, living in the Austin area.

Bennett Sandlin, Executive Director, Texas Municipal League

Bennett Sandlin has been the Executive Director of the Texas Municipal League since October 1, 2010.  Prior to that, he was General Counsel of the League, where he helped cities primarily in the fields of tax, economic development, budget, and finance issues, including the municipal hotel occupancy tax and the economic development sales tax.  Bennett authored the Revenue Manual for Texas Cities, and was an instructor in Public Funds Investment Training.  Bennett is a 1993 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and has previously worked at the Municipal Affairs Division of the Texas Attorney General’s Office.

Michael Martin is Legislative Counsel for TML, where he provides guidance on legal and legislative issues for the 1,178 member cities.  Before joining TML, Michael served as the chief of staff for a New Orleans City Council member, in-house counsel for the City of New Orleans, and assistant city attorney for several Texas cities.  Michael graduated from Marymount University with a degree in political science.  In 2012, Michael received his law degree from Tulane University School of Law.

Bill Longley graduated from the University of Richmond in 2004 with a degree in political science and sociology. In 2007, he received his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law. Bill worked as a law clerk at TML while in law school. Prior to working for TML, Bill served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Open Records Division of the Office of Attorney General. In his 14 years at TML, Bill has worked on a variety of legal and legislative issues as they relate to Texas cities. He co-authored the TML Revenue Manual and TML Economic Development Handbook, and has spoken on numerous topics, with a focus on economic development, municipal revenue, open government, and elections.

Bonnie Sherman, AICP, is the Planning and Program Development Director in Texas Department of Transportation’s Public Transportation Division, working to advance walking, biking, and transit as viable options in communities across Texas.  She plays a key role in advancing several statewide efforts, including active transportation and transit planning, non-motorized count program, modernizing active transportation design, transportation alternatives, and bicycle tourism trails.  She has 25 years of public and private sector experience in active transportation, multimodal, and environmental planning at the local, regional, and state levels. She earned her Master’s in Community Regional Planning and in Public Affairs, as well as a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Texas at Austin. 

Tim Sorenson, PE, Project Manager, Texas Department of Transportation’s Texas Statewide Multimodal Transit Plan (SMTP)

Tim Sorenson, PE (KY), is CDM Smith’s National Practice Leader for Transit and Urban Mobility and is currently the project manager for the Texas Department of Transportation’s Texas Statewide Multimodal Transit Plan (SMTP). Tim has over 38 years of experience, which have seen him work across the US developing multimodal transportation projects to support the needs of the local communities. Whether it is a statewide project like the SMTP or a corridor project, Tim’s focus is bringing stakeholders together so the project can move efficiently through design and construction. 

Dr. Gaylen Paulson is Associate Dean and Director for Texas Executive Education, and a faculty member in Department of Management at UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business. His research and teaching focus on how we interact strategically with people, including in negotiations, conflict management, persuasion, change, and interpersonal communication. The recipient of numerous teaching awards, Dr. Paulson has frequently been named to McCombs’ “Faculty Honor Roll” by UT MBA students and selected “Outstanding Faculty” by the Engineering Management Executive Master’s program. He is a recipient of the Fawn and Vijay Mahajan Teaching Excellence Award for Executive Education.Dr. Paulson’s consulting and executive training programs have been sponsored by a wide variety of organizations, including 3M, Aegon, Bayer, BBVA/Compass, Blue Cross Blue Shield, British Petroleum, China National Offshore Oil Corp., The Conference Board, Dell, Dun and Bradstreet, Ernst & Young, Guidant, Harcourt, HEB, Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson, KLA-Tencor, LCRA, LG, Microsoft, PMI, NPR, Ortho-McNeil, Petrobras, Pfizer, Rackspace, Samsung, Shell, SK, St. Jude Medical, Texas Instruments, Texas Capital Bank, the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, the U.S. General Services Administration, and the U.S. Navy. Dr. Paulson presents frequently in programs focusing on negotiation skills, managerial leadership and strategic influence.

Dr. Paulson has written about processes involving negotiation, confrontation, resisting and overcoming resistance to persuasion, the impact of electronic communication on performance, and perceptions of threats and warnings in the workplace. Dr. Paulson has published numerous case studies, book chapters and articles in outlets such as The Journal of Applied Psychology, The International Journal of Conflict Management, International Negotiation, Communication Research and The Handbook of Language and Social Psychology.

Monty Wynn, Director, Grassroots and Legislative Services, Texas Municipal League

Monty Wynn is the Director of Grassroots and Legislative Services for the Texas Municipal League where he coordinates and implements the legislative policy program for the 1,178 member cities.  He has been with TML for 16 years.  Prior to his work at TML, Wynn worked for two state comptrollers, was the committee director for the House Public Education Committee, and served as the chief of staff to two senators.

Wynn is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in economics and political science.   He and his wife, Rosemary, have two sons, Aiden, 16, and Owen, 15.

JJ Rocha, Grassroots and Legislative Services Manager, Texas Municipal League

JJ Rocha is the Grassroots and Legislative Services Manager at the Texas Municipal League where she coordinates the legislative policy program for the 1,178 member cities. Before joining TML in 2010, she interned at the Texas House of Representatives. Rocha is a graduate from St. Edward’s University with a degree in political science. In 2014, she received her master’s from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin.