Issue Areas:

Workforce

Postsecondary Education

Education:

Southwestern University – B.A. in Political Science and Spanish

Focus

Grace Atkins leads Texas 2036’s postsecondary and workforce policy portfolio. Her current focus is community college finance, including the state’s shift to outcomes-based funding under House Bill 8. She works with legislators, state agencies, and partners across Texas to advance policies that connect students to credentials and careers that hold real value in the workforce.

Prior Work Experience

Grace joined Texas 2036 after serving as a state legislative affairs liaison at the Texas Department of Transportation, where she managed relationships with legislative offices and helped shape the agency’s budget and legislative priorities.

Before that, Grace spent four legislative sessions in the Texas House of Representatives, holding roles in several offices. Most recently she served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Representative James Talarico and Chief of Staff to Representative John Turner, focusing on the state budget and public education. Over the course of her career she has worked for leadership offices and for members on both sides of the aisle, giving her a practical, bipartisan understanding of how policy moves from idea to law.

Grace holds a Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude in Political Science and Spanish from Southwestern University. She lives in Austin and loves exploring the city with her dog, Archie.