Welcome to the newest members of TCSA!
Over the last week, TCSA added three new faces, Elizabeth Cross, Law Clerk; Connor Cook, Public Policy Fellow; and Timothy Mattison, Public Policy Fellow. We are excited to have each of them join the team.
Elizabeth is joining TCSA as a Law Clerk as she awaits her Bar Exam results. As part of the TCSA Legal team, she will be assisting membership with legal questions and Model Policies. Connor and Timothy are joining us as Public Policy Fellows through Leadership for Educational Equity. As Public Policy Fellows, Timothy and Connor will be working alongside the Legal team and Advocacy team to support TCSA’s legislative and policy efforts during the 86th Legislative Session.
Here’s a little more about them:
Elizabeth was a high school social studies teacher for ten years before deciding to attend law school. While attending law school she clerked for TCSA twice, once during the summer and once during the 2017 legislative session. She also continued her work with high school students through a peer court program and helping found a student organization dedicated to helping middle and high school students.
Elizabeth has her undergrad degree from University of North Texas and her law degree from St. Mary’s School of Law. In her personal time, she enjoys travelling, reading, and spoiling her nephews.
Connor 
grew up in North Texas suburbs and has worked in education spaces for over five years prior to joining TCSA.
Since graduating from Xavier University in 2015, he has worked primarily as an educator, first teaching high school Spanish in southern Arkansas as part of the 2015 Teach for America corps, then as a middle and elementary teacher in Baton Rouge, and finally as a staff educator at a children’s museum in Baton Rouge.
In addition to his experiences teaching, Connor has worked in education through policy and consultancy work. In 2017, he investigated youth homelessness in Fort Worth and school district responses to housing crises in Dallas as part of the Urban Leaders Fellowship.
Timothy is a Wisconsin native who moved to Texas in 2005 for graduate school at UT-Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs. During his graduate program he conducted research for the Texas Education Agency, the Texas Department of Agriculture and the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
He is currently writing his dissertation in UTSA’s PhD of Educational Leadership Program. Before joining TCSA, Timothy worked for six years as a High School Math Teacher, Instructional Coach and (most recently) as an Assistant Principal in San Antonio.
Timothy is a proud animal-lover and devotes his free time to his four dogs. He also volunteers in a variety of projects and organizations that promote non-violence.
