This moderated conversation offers real-world insights into building and sustaining collaborative efforts for social change. Through shared stories and practical takeaways, students will learn how collective impact groups form, navigate challenges, and create lasting progress in their communities.
Randan Steinhauser (R), Partner, Steinhauser Strategies and former Texas Advisor, EdChoice
Randan Steinhauser is the Founding Partner of Steinhauser Strategies, which she launched in 2013 after relocating to Austin from Washington, D.C. Randan specializes in issue advocacy, non-profit, and corporate communications.
Randan’s career began in the Governor’s Office in South Carolina. In 2009 she joined the staff for U.S. Senator Jim DeMint in Washington, D.C. and later transitioned into the non-profit world working in foreign policy and education reform for former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
She has worked in more than 30 states on issue advocacy and political campaigns. Randan assists clients with media relations, coalition development, strategic communications, and government affairs.
Originally from South Carolina, Randan is a graduate of The University of South Carolina. She attended The Women’s Campaign School at Yale University and earned her Master’s in Communication from Johns Hopkins University. She is the proud mother of five including a set of identical twins.
Cliff Walker (D), former Deputy Director, Texas Democratic Party
Cliff Walker is a seasoned campaign strategist with 18 years of experience progressive organization-building and candidate-advising. After spearheading the Texas House Democratic campaign effort in 2012 and helping launch Battleground Texas in 2014, he joined the Texas Democratic Party to Project LIFT in 2015, which has helped recruit, train, and elect over 150 candidates to hyper-local, non-partisan offices. Promoted to Deputy Executive Director in 2019, he helped guide strategy, develop the Party's voice, and raise the funds to support a team of over 250 campaign operatives and technical experts. Post-2020, Cliff co-founded Seeker Strategies, a POC-owned firm, where he advises a client roster of labor, environmental, and voting rights organizations.