Professional Issues November 5, 2025

Holly Heard Related Seminars and Products

Senior Vice President of Research

Greater Houston Partnership

Dr. Holly Heard serves as the Senior Vice President of Research at the Greater Houston Partnership, where she leads the Research Division in delivering high-quality, timely insights to advance the organization’s mission. Under her leadership, the division continues its strong tradition of analyzing Houston’s economy while expanding its scope to provide deeper, strategic support across the Partnership and its members.

With more than two decades of experience in data strategy and analysis, Dr. Heard has built a career at the intersection of research, policy, and impact. Before joining the Partnership, she was Vice President of Data and Analytics for Texas 2036, leading a team that developed tools to benchmark Texas’ progress and guide strategic decision-making for leaders statewide. She also held several key roles at the Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC) at Rice University, where she directed major projects such as the Study of Social and Emotional Skills, sponsored by the OECD.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Heard served as an assistant professor of sociology at Rice University and Arizona State University. Her professional service includes contributions to the Texas Data Coalition for RAMP Community Workforce Program, the Texas A&M Education Research Center Advisory Board, and the Where We Go Project Advisory Council.

Dr. Heard holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an M.A. in Sociology and Demography from Penn State University, and a B.A. in Sociology and Psychology from the University of Notre Dame.

Howard Nirken Related Seminars and Products

Partner

DuBois, Bryant & Campbell LLP

Howard Nirken concentrates his practice in corporation and securities law, with particular emphasis on representation of private emerging growth companies and public corporations in public and private financings (equity and debt), negotiation of acquisitions and mergers (involving both public and private companies), negotiation of venture capital transactions and advising clients on intellectual property protection (including patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets) and the licensing of such rights. Mr. Nirken’s practice also includes general corporate, business, and securities counseling to corporate and technology clients; preparation of stock options plans, shareholder agreements, non-competition agreements, employment agreements, software license agreements; and negotiation of various transactional agreements a company may face in its everyday ordinary course of business.
Mr. Nirken is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas School of Law who teaches a class focused on transactional drafting.

Mr. Nirken earned his J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law where he was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

William H. Hornberger, CPA, JD Related Seminars and Products

Partner

Jackson Walker LLP

William “Willie” Hornberger is passionate about the practice of law and about helping people and enterprises achieve business goals. He is extremely grateful to his mentors, Larry Bean and Vester Hughes, because they not only taught him to be passionate about the law, but they also modeled for him character and class and taught him how to have a rich and fulfilling life outside of the office. For nearly 30 years, he has practiced in the areas of tax, transactional, international and corporate law at Jackson Walker and has loved every minute of it! His tax practice has touched nearly every area of tax law, including corporate partnerships and LLCs, international, real estate, corporate, oil and gas, bankruptcy, tax credit and tax controversy and procedural matters. His broad transactional practice includes mergers and acquisitions, complex partnership, joint venture, real estate and private equity arrangements, complicated cross-border business structuring matters involving investors from multiple countries, Tax Treaty and IRS Competent Authority matters. He has represented taxpayers on tax controversy matters in IRS administrative appeals and before the U.S. Tax Court, the U.S. District Court, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits and the U.S. Court of International Trade.

Mr. Hornberger earned his J.D. (with honors) from the University of Texas at Austin, an LL.M. from New York University School of Law and his B.B.A. (with high honors) from the University of Texas at Austin.