BRANDI BIRD

President

Brandi Bird is President of Bird Advocacy & Consulting, a governmental relations firm based in the North Texas region, specializing in transportation and local government issues.  Since 2006, Ms. Bird has provided governmental relations and transportation consulting services to a prestigious list of private and public sector clients.  She serves on the policy staff and lobby team for the Dallas Regional Mobility Coalition, as well as serving as a founding Board member of the Transit Coalition of North Texas.  She began her career as Legislative Aide to the House Transportation Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Clyde Alexander and then served as Government Relations Director for the North Texas Tollway Authority, before beginning her own government relations practice.  Over her 20 year career, Ms. Bird has become known as a leading transportation and transit policy expert, working closely with all transportation agencies, as well as local, state and federal elected officials to improve transportation in North Texas.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin, and is a charter member of the Cross Timbers Rotary Club

ROBERT BIRD

Vice President

Robert Bird serves as Vice President of Bird Advocacy & Consulting collaborating with association management, Executive Sales Consulting, communications and membership development for the Texas State Inspection Association.  He also serves as Co-founder and President of Mobilety, a technology company focused on providing innovative public involvement and communications to the traveling public through their mobile devices.  Prior to joining Bird Advocacy, Mr. Bird spent over 20 years in sales management for Fortune 500 companies in various vertical markets.  He is also very active in the community having served on the Board of  his local Rotary Club as well as  the Wildcats Youth Association, and is a member of the Flower Mound Chamber of Commerce. 

CHRISTY WILLHITE

Vice President

Christy Willhite is Vice President at Bird Advocacy & Consulting.  Christy has 20 years’ experience working with local governments in Houston and Austin. While in Austin, Christy was the Government Affairs Manager for Capital Metro (CMTA).  There she helped planning staff and the management team convey their message to local, state, and federal elected leaders. She developed CMTA’s first winning TIGER application and lead the pursuit of TxDOT funding for much needed rail cars and the redevelopment of the downtown station. She worked with state-wide transit leaders to defeat harmful legislation and with her local partners to pass the local government corporation legislation that CMTA and the City of Austin are using to implement Project Connect. While in Houston, Christy worked for the MPO, H-GAC.  She worked with local elected leaders and communities to develop comprehensive corridor studies that eased congestion on some of Houston’s most congested corridors, like SH 6. When she is not working on transportation issues, Christy is focused on her family and community, volunteering with CASA in both Travis and Fort Bend Counties, her children’s parent teacher organizations, and her church.

Kristin Jenkins

Marketing / Events Manager

Kristin is the Marketing and Events Manager with Bird Advocacy & Consulting.   She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Oklahoma and has over 20 years of marketing experience.  Prior to joining Bird Advocacy & Consulting, Kristin spent 11 years with Dell as their  Senior Advertising Manager.  She has also worked for McKinsey & Company Consulting firm in their Houston and Dallas offices.  Kristin is very active in her North Texas community as she founded the Texas Lantana Chapter for the National Charity League, Inc., a mother/daughter organization focused on philanthropy, leadership, and cultural experience.  She is a member of the Young Men’s Service League with her son, and supports various philanthropies in the community as a volunteer. 

JoJo Heselmeyer

Government Relations Associate

JoJo Heselmeyer joined Bird Advocacy & Consulting in 2022, after 32 years with the Texas Department of Public Safety.  She serves as Deputy Executive Director for the Texas State Inspection Association, a client of the firm.   She is a proven leader dedicating over 32 years to the Texas Department of Public Safety as the Service Director, overseeing the vehicle inspection program, before her retirement in 2020.  JoJo found her true calling in both public service and the vehicle inspection program during her time with DPS.  Her passion for saving lives to those she served in the great state of Texas was evident through her work.  She is excited to be able to continue her work with the vehicle inspection program through the Texas State Inspection Association.