Our Team

Professional Experience:

Buck joined Moak Casey, and as its Executive Chairman of the Board, maintains focus on its guiding principle of a public service firm providing school finance and accountability analyses, leadership, and support to our clients.  With almost 30 years of experience in Texas public schools, serving the last 15 as a superintendent first in a small, rural district, then in a mid-sized district and lastly in a multi-high school, fast growth district, he has extensive experience in successfully navigating his district through all areas of school finance and accountability including bond elections, TREs, budget planning, implementing Teacher Incentive programs and raising student performance on academic measures.

Service Areas:

• Leadership & Academic Services

Education:

• Texas A & M University – Doctor of Education
• Tarleton State University – Master of Educational Administration
• University of North Texas – Bachelor of Arts

Professional Affiliations And Honors:

• Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA)

Professional Experience:

State Representative Dan Huberty, R-Humble, joined Moak Casey as a board member in July 2022. Huberty transitioned to his role as Chief Operating Officer at MoakCasey in January 2023, and is now the current Chief Executive Officer, effective January 2025.

Previously, Huberty served on the Humble ISD School board for five years before winning the election that sent him to the Texas Capitol. In his last year as a Trustee, he served as the Board President and as the Vice President and Chairman of the Finance Committee the year prior to that.

During his six terms in the Texas House of Representatives, District 127, Huberty continuously served on the Committee on Public Education. He was elected Chairman of the committee during the 85th and 86th Legislative Sessions.  In his role as Chairman, Huberty championed several important pieces of legislation relating to public education. The most important being HB 3 in the 86th Session, which implemented transformational reforms to public school finance in Texas by modernizing outdated formulas, increasing the state share of funding, putting more money into classrooms, energizing teacher pay and investing in programs. Also known as “The Texas Plan”, the legislation stemmed from a report created by the Commission on Public School Finance, which Huberty was appointed to after creating the entity with HB 21 in the 85th Session.

Service Areas:

• Advocacy Services

Professional Experience:

At Moak Casey, Leo serves as Chief Financial Officer. He has 23 years of experience working in public school finance, most recently serving at the Texas Education Agency (TEA) as Associate Commissioner for School Finance and Chief School Finance Officer. During that time, Leo was instrumental in directly supporting the Texas Commission on Public School Finance and in the development and implementation of House Bill 3, an historic school finance bill passed by the 86th Texas Legislature in 2019.

Before serving as Chief School Finance Officer for TEA, Leo spent four years as the Executive Director of Finance for Austin ISD (AISD), overseeing the budget, finance and accounting, treasury, risk management and Medicaid billing functions for the district.

Leo started his career in public school finance at TEA, where he spent a decade in the agency’s school finance unit, including six years managing Foundation School Program operations.

Service Areas:

• School Finance Services
• Advocacy Services

Education:

• The University of Texas at Austin – Bachelor of Business Administration

Professional Affiliations And Honors:

• RTSBA Certification, Texas Association of School Business Officials (TASBO)
• Texas Fiscal Officers’ Academy (TFOA) Graduate
• Certificate of Achievement, Council of Great City Schools’ Urban School Executive Program

Professional Experience:

Greg joins MoakCasey specializing in strategic planning and continuous improvement processes. Dr. Gibson is also the Executive Director for Texas Association of Mid-Size Schools (TAMS), coming to this role after a career in public education which includes 21 years as Superintendent of Schools. 

Service Areas:

• Leadership & Academic Services

Education:

• University of North Texas – Doctor of Education
• Midwestern State University, School Administration – Master of Art
• Midwestern State Secondary Education – Bachelor of Science

Professional Affiliations And Honors:

• Board of Directors, Texas Teacher Retirement System
• National Baldrige Examiner and Judge
• Named to the Baldrige Board of Overseers by the US Department of Commerce

Professional Experience:

As Chief Advocacy Officer, Ginger Murray offers clients expertise in legislative strategy and policy development gleaned from decades of experience with the legislative process. Having worked for and with both Republicans and Democrats, she has forged and maintains relationships that help her advocate for policy preferable to her clients.  

In her more than 20 years at the Texas Capitol, Ginger has had the honor of working for some of the most well-respected leaders in the state. She began her career in the Texas House of Representatives as a messenger before rising in the ranks to administrative assistant and later policy analyst in Speaker James E. “Pete” Laney’s office. 

In 2003, she worked in the Senate Finance Committee under the leadership of Chairman Teel Bivins. Following his retirement in 2004, Senator Kel Seliger hired Ginger to serve as legislative director. In 2009, she was promoted to chief of staff where she remained until she left the Senate in 2018.  Ginger has a wealth of knowledge of public policy issues, including public education, school finance, higher education, economic development, taxation and the state budget. She is highly respected by members and staff and viewed as a subject matter expert on education issues.

Service Areas:

• Advocacy Services

Education:

• University of Texas at Austin – BA in Government

Professional Experience:

Jodi Duron joins MoakCasey after serving 31 years as a proud Texas public school educator. Her education career includes varied leadership experiences in the areas of human resources, curriculum and instruction, and ten years as a school superintendent.  Jodi has worked at all levels in the K-12 arena, incuding rural, urban, and suburban settings across Texas.  She brings a unique perspective on the challenges faced by districts of different enrollment sizes, demographics, and geographical boundaries.  She also works as the Associate Director with the Texas Association of Mid-size Schools (TAMS).

Service Areas:

• Leadership & Academic Services

Education:

• Baylor University (Ed.D. – 2000; M.Ed. – 1993; and BS – 1991)

Professional Affiliations And Honors:

• Board of Directors, E3 Alliance
• Executive Board, Elgin Chamber of Commerce
• Past Legislative Chair, TAMS/TACS/TASA
• School Mental Health Task Force, Appointed by Commissioner
• Extended Learning Opportunities Council (Past), Appointed by Commissioner

Professional Experience:

Lloyd brings 25 years of experience as a Texas public school superintendent to his work with MoakCasey specializing in strategic planning and continuous improvement processes.  Lloyd has extensive experience in turning around financially and academically distressed districts as well as overseeing bond issues, major construction, personnel management, property value limitation agreements (Ch. 313), and crisis and disaster recovery and mitigation. He most recently served for 12 years as superintendent of schools in La Porte ISD, which during his tenure had two campuses earn National Blue Ribbon School honors, experienced and recovered from two major hurricanes, completed one major bond issue, passed another, and delivered $380,000,000 in new construction or renovation.

Service Areas:

• Leadership & Academic Services

Education:

• The University of Texas at Austin, Superintendency Cooperative – Doctoral Fellow
•  Southwest Texas State University – Master of Education
• Texas A & M University – Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences

Professional Affiliations And Honors:

• Tax Relief/Pollution Control Property Advisory Committee, Texas Commission for Environmental Quality (TCEQ)

Professional Experience:

Josh started his career at the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts after he graduated from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT Austin. While at the Comptroller’s office, he provided forecasts of state revenues and fiscal impact analyses of proposed legislation. He also led efforts within the agency to improve its revenue tracking and reporting processes. Josh joined MoakCasey in 2019 just as the Legislature was beginning to develop House Bill 3.

Service Areas:

• School Finance Services
• Advocacy Services

Education:

• The University of Texas at Austin – Master of Public Affairs
• The University of Texas at Austin – Bachelor of Arts in English and Bachelor of Journalism

Professional Affiliations And Honors:

• Texas Association of School Business Officials (TASBO)
• Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA)

Community:

• Austin ISD Campus Advisory Council, Member

Professional Experience:

Larry Taylor joined MoakCasey in 2024 as Vice President. For two decades, Taylor has been a dedicated public servant and a steadfast advocate for Texas students and teachers. He served in the Texas Senate for five legislative sessions, including four as Chairman of the Senate Education Committee.

Before his election to the Texas Senate in 2012, Taylor served five terms in the Texas House of Representatives. He was integral to the 2019 passage of House Bill 3, the $11.6 billion school finance overhaul that boosted per-student funding and reduced property taxes.

He is the former owner of Truman Taylor Insurance Agency in Friendswood, an independent agency started by his father more than 50 years ago. In addition, Taylor has served as a Director and Chairman of the Board for Texan Bank.

Service Areas:

• Advocacy Services

Education:

• Baylor University

Professional Experience:

Dr. Maria M. Vidaurri brings over 39 years of dedicated service to Texas Public Education, including a decade as Superintendent, to her role at MoakCasey.  Hailing from Premont, Texas, Maria was instilled with core values of diligence, integrity, and kindness by her educator parents, setting the foundation for her lifelong commitment to shaping young minds.  With diverse leadership roles in curriculum, federal programs, finance, and human resources across both rural and urban districts, Maria’s leadership was instrumental in establishing Early College High School designations statewide, achieving stellar accountability ratings, financial awards, and championship victories across various disciplines.

Service Areas:

• Leadership & Academic Services

Education:

• Texas A & M University at Kingsville              
  • – Doctor of Educational Leadership
  • – Master of Educational Administration
  • – Bachelor of Elementary Education

Professional Affiliations And Honors:

• Member – Texas Association of School Boards
• Board – National Parent Teacher Association
• Superintendent of the Year – Region 2 ESC
• ‘Y Women in Careers’ Award – Corpus Christi YWCA
• Texas Honor Board Award – Texas Association of School Administrators
• Woman of the Year – City of Mission, TX

Professional Experience:

Terry specializes in analyzing accountability and assessment data to generate consumer-ready data displays. She facilitates data interpretation for school improvement purposes with district and campus leadership teams and models the statewide impact of policy changes in academic accountability. She has worked in the public education field for 23 years, starting as a school volunteer in Round Rock, moving to Austin ISD as a data analyst and later Coordinator of Accountability, and returning to Round Rock ISD where she was the Associate Director of Academic Data Analysis before joining MoakCasey.

Service Areas:

• Leadership & Academic Services

Education:

• The University of Texas at Austin – Master of Arts
• The University of Texas at Austin – Bachelor of Arts

Professional Affiliations And Honors:

• Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA)

Professional Experience:

Addie Gomez serves as MoakCasey’s Executive Director of Advocacy. A native of a small West Texas town, Addie has worked in Texas politics for 20 years. She has served three state legislators and in the office of the Speaker of the Texas House, shepherding dozens of proposals through the legislative process. While she has experience in issues ranging from public health to transportation funding, public education has long been her passion. Addie’s areas of expertise include grassroots engagement, legislative and regulatory strategy, and political communications. Most recently, she led the Community Impact team at KIPP Texas Public Schools.

A proud graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Addie is married to Mike, a fellow Longhorn and native Texan. They have one daughter, Penny, and a very sweet dog, Gus.

Service Areas:

• Advocacy Services

Education:

• University of Texas at Austin – BA in Communications

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Dr. Amber Lasseigne joined MoakCasey in 2024. She began her 20-year educational career in Ohio where she served as the Ohio Department of Education Project Director before moving to Texas. She then joined Fort Worth ISD as a Project Coordinator in 2006 before becoming a Project Development Specialist for FWISD in 2008. In addition, she served Texas public schools in Region 10 ESC as an Assistant Director where she provided support on budget development, fiscal management and compliance oversight for many North Texas public school districts. Finally, she served in both Allen and Lewisville ISDs as an Executive Director of Finance. 

SERVICE AREAS:

• School Finance Services

EDUCATION:

• The Ohio State University – Bachelors of Science in Social Work
• The Ohio State University – Masters of Social Work
• Southern Methodist University – Doctorate in Educational Leadership 

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND HONORS:

• Texas Association of School Business Officials (TASBO)
• Texas Superintendents Certification 
• TASBO Rise Award Winner 2024
• TASBO Leadership Cohort  2023-2024

COMMUNITY:

• TASBO Accounting and Finance Committee Chair 2023-2024

Professional Experience:

After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, Kathy started her career at the Texas Education Agency. While at TEA, Kathy developed a background in school district data and analysis, eventually serving as the PEIMS Division Assistant Director. While in PEIMS, she was involved in the development of the system design and end user customer tools. Kathy then joined Moak Casey where she maintains and enhances a statewide, in addition to a district-specific, school finance revenue model.  Kathy became involved early on with the implementation of Chapter 313 property value limitations for school districts and enjoys working closely with school districts on their projects.  She runs staffing and student data analyses and legislative impact analyses utilizing an extensive database of school district information and is constantly working to develop and improve MoakCasey data products. 

Service Areas:

• School Finance Services

Education:

• The University of Texas – Master of Arts
• Arkansas State University – Bachelor of Science
• Magna Cum Laude, Outstanding Mathematics Student Award

Community:

• Education Connection – Literacy Partner, Blanton Elementary School

Professional Experience:

Justin started his career here at MoakCasey as an intern in 2021 while attending the McCombs School of Business. He compiled and analyzed data alongside the rest of the finance team for a variety of services. After graduating in 2022, Justin joined the firm as a full-time employee. After working several years as school finance specialist, Justin was promoted to Director of Finance in 2025.

Service Areas:

• School Finance Services

Education:

• The University of Texas at Austin – Bachelor of Business Administration

Professional Experience:

Julia Grizzard has worked for over fifteen years in education and policy. Most recently as the Executive Director of the Bexar County Education Coalition (BCEC), a coalition dedicated toward elevating the voices seventeen Bexar County area Independent School Districts.

Before founding BCEC, Julia served as the legislative director for Representative Diego Bernal while he was the vice-chair of the House Committee on Public Education. Julia coordinated Representative Bernal’s entire legislative agenda as well as researched, developed, and executed legislation pertaining to public education, higher education, tax reform, healthcare, immigration, and economic development. Additionally, Julia played a key role in developing a part of the comprehensive school finance legislation, House Bill 3, which systematically updated how public schools in Texas are funded. Julia also acted as a point of contact and resource to District 123’s educational institutions, state-wide education and policy advocacy organizations, and state agencies including the Texas Education Agency, Higher Education Coordinating Board, and Health and Human Services Commission.

Prior to her time at the state legislature, Julia spent a decade in curriculum development and implementation, teaching and training, and education management with The Princeton Review.  While working for Princeton Review, she worked as a classroom teacher and private tutor, then managed High School Operations in Central Texas and, finally, joined the national content team as the National Director of College Readiness and Institutional Programs.  In that final role she authored The Princeton Review’s College Handbook series and oversaw every product that Princeton Review carried to around fifty-thousand students every year in both High School and College Classrooms.  Julia left The Princeton Review to take her skills and passion to ensure students have the resources, support, and opportunities necessary to go to and complete college into the public sector.

Julia grew up in San Antonio, attended Trinity University and Teachers College, Columbia for undergraduate and graduate studies respectively. In the rare event that she’s not reading the Texas education code or philosophizing about Texas education policy, she is spending time with her husband George and her sons Liam and Emerson.

Service Areas:

• Advocacy Services

Education:

• Trinity University
• Teachers College, Columbia

Professional Experience:

Gretchen joined Moak Casey in 2019 and focuses on property tax value limitation agreements associated with the Texas Economic Development Act (Chapter 313) as well as analyses of other public-private partnerships, including Foreign Trade Zones and Freeport Exemptions. Throughout her career, she has worked alongside educators to provide solutions that meet their unique needs. Previously, she served as a higher education executive recruiter for SP&A Executive Search (formerly Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates), placing academic officers in public institutions across the country and in Texas, including The University of Texas System and The Texas A&M System. She spent eight years as a manager in the software industry, where she helped academic administrators to implement comprehensive technology solutions at primary and secondary schools nationwide.

Service Areas:

• School Finance Services

Education:

• The University of Texas at Austin – Master of Business Administration
• Davidson College – Bachelor of Arts

Professional Affiliations And Honors:

• Texas Association of School Business Officials (TASBO)
• Texas Economic Development Council (TEDC)

Professional Experience:

Daniel Casey served as a partner of MoakCasey since its inception in 1998. Since 2022, Dan continues to serve the firm as a consultant. He serves as a senior consultant with the Fast Growth School Association and is recognized as one of the state’s leading experts on school district property taxes, economic development property value limitations, and freeport exemptions. He has assisted school districts in their consideration of more than 300 property value limitations for major economic development projects over the last 20 years. Dan has more than 40 years of public school and governmental finance experience. In addition to state agency service with the Texas State Comptroller’s Office and the Legislative Budget Board, Dan is also a former Associate Director for the Texas Association of School Boards. Over the past four decades, Dan has participated in a wide range of school finance and consulting activities.

Service Areas:

• School Finance Services

Education:

• The University of Texas at Austin – Master of Public Affairs
• The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor – Postgraduate study in the College of Education
• The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor – Bachelor of Arts with Distinction
• St. Clair County Community College, Port Huron, MI – Associate in Arts cum laude

Professional Affiliations And Honors:

• American Economic Association (AEA)
• Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA)
• Texas Association of School Business Officials (TASBO)

Publications:

• Walker, Billy D., and Casey, Daniel T., The Basics of Texas Public School Finance. Austin, Texas Association of School Boards, 1992, 1996.

Professional Experience:

As a consultant for Moak Casey, Ronnie Kincaid specializes in property value limitation agreements and strategic thought, design, and continuous improvement.  After a 43-year career, Ronnie retired from public education in 2018 having served in many roles from teacher/coach and campus administrator to district superintendent and Executive Director of Region 14 Education Service Center.   He has successful experience in school finance, long-range district financial planning, district accountability, strategic planning, school board training, and superintendent searches.

Service Areas:

• Leadership & Academic Services
• School Finance Services

Education:

• University of Houston at Clear Lake – Master of Science
• Angelo State University – Bachelor of Science

Professional Experience:

Dr. McKeown-Moak has over 50 years of experience as an educational administrator working with school districts, Boards of Education, universities, Regents, state legislatures, executive offices, and non-profit agencies. She has served as the senior financial officer of a university system, business manager, professor, school finance specialist, strategic planner, and has been a consultant serving Texas education for the past 25 years.  She has developed funding formulas for universities, community colleges, special education, pupil transportation, categorical aid, or general school aid in more than 30 states. She has also served as an expert witness in education finance court cases.

Service Areas:

• School Finance Services

Education:

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – Doctor of Philosophy
• Michigan State University – Master of Arts
• Michigan State University – Bachelor of Arts

Professional Affiliations And Honors:

Member:

• Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP)
• National Education Finance Academy (NEFA)
• American Education Research Association (AERA)
• Society for College and University Planning (SCUP)
• National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO)
• Phi Delta Kappa (PDK)
• Association of School Business Officials (ASBO)

Board of Directors:

• Association for Education Finance and Policy
• National Education Finance Academy

President/Chair:

• Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP)
• State Higher Education Finance Officers (SHEFO)
• Fiscal Issues, Policy and Education Finance (FIPEF)
• Futures Research and Strategic Planning (FRSP) Special Interest Groups of AERA
• Distinguished Research and Practice Fellow, National Education Finance Association (NEFA)
• Lifetime Achievement Award, National Education Finance Association (NEFA)
• Lifetime Achievement Award, Marquis Who’s Who Board of Directors

Community:

Current:

• Meals on Wheels, Volunteer
• Neptune Harbor Canal Owners Association, Treasurer
• Paramount Theater, Advisory Council
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Lady Bird Society

Past:

• Impact Austin, Chair of Grant Finance Committee
• Boy Scouts, troop leader and Cub Scout den mother
• Girl Scouts, troop leader
• PTSA Council, secretary
• Symphony League, finance committee
• Alameda Estates Homeowners Association, president
• Faculty Women’s Club, president

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Lynn Moak served as managing partner of Moak Casey since its inception in 1998. Lynn retired in 2022, but continues to serve the firm as a consultant. His vision of a public service firm capable of providing school finance and accountability analysis, leadership, and support continues to be the guiding principle of Moak Casey.

He has been involved in virtually every major education finance policy change since 1967 and has developed research presented in every major case regarding public school finance since the Edgewood litigation in 1984.  He has specialized in large-scale data analysis, development of research-based school finance policy positions, and the integration of assessment, accountability, and finance issues. 

Prior to 1998, he held senior staff positions in the Texas Education Agency, the Texas State Comptroller’s Office, and the Texas Lieutenant Governor’s Office. 

SERVICE AREAS:

• School Finance Services

EDUCATION:

• The University of Texas at Austin – Graduate Studies          
• The University of Texas at Austin – Bachelor of Arts

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND HONORS:

• Lifetime Achievement Award, National Education Finance Academy (NEFA)
• Region 4 ESC Superintendents Award

Board of Directors:

• National Education Finance Academy
• Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP), formerly American Education Finance Association (AEFA)

Member:

• National Education Finance Academy
• Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA)
• Association of School Business Officials (ASBO)
• American Educational Research Association (AERA)

COMMUNITY:

• Paramount Theater, Advisory Council
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Lady Bird Society

Professional Experience:

Kelly Pickle joins the MoakCasey team after proudly serving 37 years in Texas public schools.  Her career in education includes a variety of leadership roles primarily in rural and suburban school districts.  Her experiences include campus principal, directorships in curriculum, instruction, assessment and federal programs, and superintendent.  In addition to her work in public schools, Kelly has also served as the Coordinator of School Improvement for Region 8 ESC and a Title I Specialist for Region 7 ESC.  Through her school improvement work, she currently serves as an External Facilitator for the ESF diagnostic process with schools in improvement. 

Service Areas:

• Leadership & Academic Services

Education:

• Stephen F. Austin State University: Superintendent Certification – 1997; Master of Education – 1987; Bachelor of Science – 1985 

Professional Affiliations and Honors:

• Lamar-Delta Chapter of TRTA
• Advisory Board Member- Northeast Texas Teachers Federal Credit Union
• Texas Association of School Administrators
• Texas Council of Women School Executives

Professional Experience:

Toni joined the MoakCasey team in June 2021. Toni is an experienced public education leader.  In addition to teaching and serving as a Licensed Specialist in School Psychology, she has held several administrative roles including Principal, Director of Curriculum & Professional Development, Chief Instructional Officer; Deputy and Interim Superintendent, all in the San Antonio geographic region. In her most recent positions, she has facilitated strategic planning and worked with divisions to develop “key work processes” to cultivate employee engagement and role clarity, while also promoting the organizations’ capacity to work in-concert to achieve high expectations for literally, all students.  

Toni has also published articles on themes of social justice, while serving as an adjunct faculty member for Trinity University, Texas A&M San Antonio, and the University of Texas, San Antonio (Superintendent Certification Program).  

As a consultant, she works with the Leadership & Academics team serving the firm’s strong foundations grant clients and other related projects.  

Service Areas:

• Leadership & Academic Services

Education:

• Texas A&M University, College Station – Doctorate: Educational Leadership & Policy Studies 
• Trinity University – Master of Arts: School Psychology & Educational Administration 
• Texas Tech University – Bachelor of Science: Education & Psychology

Professional Affiliations And Honors:

• Past President: Alamo Area ASCD (AAASCD); AY 2021-22
• Board Member: Phi Delta Kappa, San Antonio Chapter 
• Recipient: T.M. Stinnett Fellowship, Texas A&M University, Educational Administration:  Excellence in Research, Writing & Scholarly Achievement
• Recipient: TEA Promising Practices Award: Redirection Connection

Community:

• Impact San Antonio (ISA), Environment, Recreation & Preservation Grant Co-Chair
• City of San Antonio Hardberger Park Conservancy
• South Texas Children’s Bereavement Center, Board Member