Laura Harris is a three-time regional Emmy Award and Associated Press award-winning journalist who joined the NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth team in September 2018. Some highlights of Laura’s career at NBC 5 include covering the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2021. She also helped start the childhood literacy initiative at NBC 5 Reading With You. It’s an innovative program encouraging elementary-aged children to read at least one book a week throughout the summer to help combat summer learning loss, often referred to as the "summer slide". She came to Dallas-Fort Worth from the ABC affiliate in Tampa, Florida. At ABC Action News Laura covered President Barack Obama’s visit to Cuba in 2016 and covered the Tampa Bay Rays while they played the Cuban National Team in Havana. She also covered Pope Francis’ historic visit to Cuba in 2015. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and a graduate of Georgia Southern University, Summa cum Laude and a Division I soccer player for four years.

Bringing a mix of corporate, non-profit, and academic experience, Ashley takes an integrated approach to marketing and communications. In 2003, Ashley Elsey founded Minerva Consulting grounded in the belief that fundamentally we want to be inspired. Her own inspiration for Minerva was from her days working in communications and marketing in corporate America, where she realized there was a gap in communications agencies. She wanted one team who could understand her companies' story and purpose, develop strategy with her and execute creative content and deliverables. Unable to find such a group, she decided to create it herself. Nearly two decades later, Minerva has won numerous international and domestic awards and consistently been selected as Best Places to Work. Headquartered in Dallas, the company has grown with employees in Los Angeles, New York, Florida and North Carolina.
Prior to starting Minerva Consulting, Ashley began her career at Verizon Communications where she led award-winning, cause-related marketing programs in community development and public affairs. Ashley had the distinct honor of serving President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush as the founding vice president of marketing and communications for the George W. Bush Presidential Center where she was responsible for building the marketing and communications function from the ground up, launching the Bush Center brand.

Caitlin loves making connections. Person A to Person B, Company Y to Audience Z. If two parties need to meet, Caitlin’s ready with introductions. It’s no wonder, then, that she’s excited by social media. Millions of strangers meeting, tweeting, tiktoking, and following? It’s pretty much catnip to Caitlin. Caitlin graduated from Southern Methodist University with a fire in her belly and a bachelor’s degree in communications. After graduating in 2010, her tenacious spirit led her to create a career out of social media before a college course even existed on the topic at a boutique advertising agency, SparkFarm. In 2012, Caitlin helped launch the emerging discipline of social strategy at The Richards Group where she was responsible for leading a team of digital & social strategists in planning, developing, and executing best-in-class digital and social content for various Fortune 500 companies. She’s put her mark on hashtags for an ever-growing number of brands including Chick-fil-A, The Home Depot, Keurig Dr Pepper, QuikTrip, AT&T, and Central Market. In 2020, she was the recipient of the American Advertising Federation’s Shining Star Award for the Top 20 Women in Dallas Advertising. Now she is eagerly looking ahead to the future as she has recently joined, LERMA/, a 2022 agency recipient of the AdAge Small Agency of the Year award, as their Principal of Social Media.

For as long as she can remember, Travel has always been an integral part of Kaleigh Kirkpatrick’s life. The desire to see the world and experience it first hand is something that is ingrained in her, and these firsthand experiences are something she loves to share with her clients. After becoming a mom Kaleigh did not slow down her travels but the destinations changed. Kaleigh’s travel focus switched to resorts and destinations that had the amenities necessary for her family to be comfortable, to reconnect, and most importantly to have fun and make lasting memories.
This is where The Shameless Tourist evolved— from the love of travel with her family. From learning about other cultures, to skiing to Disney Parks, to just enjoying time on the beach; she truly feels like travel shapes who we are and shapes who our children become.
Because of her passion, she tries to make sure that all of her clients have a vacation experience that is about making priceless memories. The Shameless Tourist is an affiliate of Avenue Two Travel, a Virtuoso Member Agency and select partner with nearly every major hotel chain and tour operator in the world. Kaleigh Kirkpatrick is a Graduate of Texas A&M University ('08), and is consistently ranked a Top Producer among Travel Advisors. She has served as a conference panelist for her Social Media presence and knowledge and has been a long time brand partner for Tanglewood Moms (24k Followers), Fort Worth Woman (25k Followers), and Madeworthy Magazine. Among her many talents are social media management, brand recognition, travel consultancy, content planning, and competitor analysis.

Kym Butler leads Sempra Infrastructure’s strategic communications, building impactful programs to educate, inform and engage internal and external stakeholders. She oversees and coordinates communications to convey their mission to be North America’s leading energy infrastructure company. Kym has more than 25 years of marketing and communications experience and has worked in several sectors, including agro-processing, manufacturing and energy, focusing on both traditional and digital marketing strategies. She understands the specific challenges that women-owned businesses often face as they navigate various marketing channels and platforms to effectively promote their business and successfully communicate to their target audience.
Prior to joining Sempra, Kym led the marketing and communications at Wood Group Mustang, Foster Wheeler, and Cameron. She also worked as a consultant with several energy companies, to effectively strengthen and augment their programs. Kym has a BA in Business Administration from Texas Southern University and an MSc. in International Marketing Management from the University of East London. She resides in Houston and is the proud mother of a college-aged daughter.