Our Team

Amy Uselton Nickerson is Executive Assistant to Crosswind founder and CEO Thomas Graham.  Amy is principally responsible for agency calendar management, record keeping, travel arrangements and generally keeping the CEO on track as he moves on client business around the state, the nation, and sometimes the world beyond U.S. borders.

Amy was raised on a small but still very real Texas cattle ranch, The 1844, in Nacona TX – an historic spread which has been in the Uselton family for generations.

Her illustrious grandfather had a moment of national fame when he competed in a famous 2,000-mile 1939 Pony Express Race from Nacona TX to the World’s Fair in San Francisco.  Her aunt was a competitive barrel racer in small rodeos across the state while Amy was still growing up in Nacona.  Amy long ago hung up her chaps and knocked the ranch dust off her pointy riding boots, however, coming into her own as a Nacona High School varsity-golf  athlete and a teen-wonder state golf champion.

Amy has since played some of the best golf courses in the state including her all-time favorite: The Tribute Golf Links in The Colony TX – award-winning, lakeside and modeled directly after the finest legendary courses of Scotland.

Amy’s three kids are also thoroughly citified, avidly tracking the state’s professional sports teams, with occasional tickets from mom and dad to holler encouragement to the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field and the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium.

These days, Amy is less frequently counting her strokes on local golf courses and likelier to be found on green grass or clay courts fiercely competing (Love! Game! Set!)  for amateur trophies in suburban tennis matches and tournaments near home in Celina TX, due north of Dallas.

Randall is an accomplished documentary producer who has conducted in-depth, on-camera interviews with President George Bush, First Lady, Laura Bush, and MLB Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan. Randall sports two of the strongest wrists in Texas and has competed aggressively in the U.S. Open of Table Tennis.  Being from rural Texas, he is also a formidable cow-chipping expert, always happy to offer tips on proper ‘chip grip’ techniques for fellow chip-pitch enthusiasts.  And yes, he always washes his hands thoroughly before business meetings.

For nearly 30 years, Rear Admiral Robert Durand has been entrusted to lead teams, deliver results and provide key strategic insight at the nation’s highest and most critical levels, providing counsel to CEOs, CMOs and four-star combatant commanders. Robert recently retired from the U.S. Navy as Vice Chief of Information and he now provides strategic media and spokesperson services to clients of Crosswind Media and Public Relations.

As the senior reserve public affairs officer in the Navy, Robert led 500 Navy Reserve public affairs professionals and mass communication specialists who provide communication support to the Navy worldwide for events, exercises and combat operations. His command was the equivalent of a major marketing agency’s global workforce with supervision over media relations, crisis communication, strategic messaging, multimedia production, organizational communication and executive positioning.

In his civilian career, Robert has led corporate communications at five venture-funded high-technology companies, from early stage-startups to private equity turnarounds. He has taken four startups from invisibility to market prominence, resulting in two $400M+ acquisitions, and has also led public relations at a global cybersecurity company through a $2B acquisition, merger, and global rebranding effort.

He translates complex technology into the words, ideas and images that excite customers, investors, employees and partners.

A native of Lakewood, Colorado, Robert was commissioned in 1988 after graduating from the U.S.   Naval Academy. He was deployed to the Red Sea in support of Operation Desert Storm, was mobilized twice to serve as director of public affairs, Joint Task Force Guantanamo, and was recalled to active duty from 2009-2012 as director of Public Affairs for the Chief of Navy Reserve at the Pentagon.

Robert counts the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (three), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and various service and campaign awards as symbols of homage to his service.

Dr. Shaw founded his consulting firm in Lexington, Texas where his expertise assists those navigating regulatory requirements at the local, state, national, and international level. Additionally, he provides advocacy for permitting, mitigation of enforcement issues, addresses regulatory policy and rulemaking, and provides testimony for legislative and governmental bodies.

The 2022 recipient of the PEI Professional Engineer of the Year award, Dr. Shaw was commended for his contributions to environmental quality through leadership in research, policy development, regulatory oversight, and professional engineering practice.

From 2007 to 2018, Dr. Shaw served as chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, a position he was appointed to by the Governor of Texas. He was previously called upon by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator to be the Texas representative to the Good Neighbor Environmental Board, addressing environmental and infrastructure issues along the US-Mexico border.

In addition to serving on numerous US EPA Science Advisory Board committees, and multiple terms on the USDA Agricultural Air Quality Task Force, Dr. Shaw is also former Chairman of the TCEQ. He was elected to leadership roles in the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) where led directors/leaders from 49 state environmental agencies in important policy and governance issues. Frequently asked to provide expert testimony on environmental policy issues before U.S. Congressional committees and Texas Senate and Texas House of Representatives committees.

Dr. Shaw worked in several positions on the faculty at Texas A&M University in biological and agricultural engineering. He was also the associate director of the Center for Agricultural Air Quality Engineering and Science.

The author or coauthor of more than 230 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and other publications throughout his career, Dr. Shaw has received numerous awards for his work as a professor and consultant. He joined the Texas A&M University Academy of Distinguished Graduates in biological and agricultural engineering and received the USDA National Needs Fellowship. He was presented with the ASABE Professor of the Year award from the Texas A&M University student branch.

Dr. Shaw and his wife have two children and are active in their church. He also supports youth development through 4-H and FFA, and since 2005, he has served on the Youth Horse Show Committee of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

Jonathan W. Taylor has devoted his career to public service. He has served his country as a frontline combat medic and the State of Texas as a leader of its economic development programs, with oversight of the state’s investment and reinvestment programs. Most recently, Taylor managed contract programs for the Lower Colorado River Authority which delivers vital electrical power, water and public recreation to many thousands of Texans.

Before that, he was executive director under Governor Rick Perry for the state’s Economic Development and Tourism effort where he oversaw integrated marketing (advertising, public relations, research) in domestic and international markets, successfully encouraging non-Texas travel to the Lone Star State and generating millions of dollars to local Texan communities and securing thousands of jobs in local communities.

Jonathan also served as Director of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. The Fund is the state’s largest, most active seed and early stage venture capital investment fund with over $400 million in expenditures. Jonathan led the development of the strategic plan and managed the State’s investment in 133 portfolio companies and 22 large scale research projects. He reported results directly to the Texas Legislature and advised the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Speaker of the House on investment decisions of taxpayer funds.

Jonathan’s prior public service includes managing the $100 million Research Grant Matching and Research Superiority Grant programs, developing and leading the Texas Small Business Summits, and creating the Texas Small Business Advisory Council. Jonathan served eight years in the United States Army Reserve, as staff sergeant, combat medic and combat Advisor.

In Afghanistan, he served at a remote U.S. combat outpost and trained Afghan National Army and National Police staff, leading them to deploy and equip an emergency medical treatment facility for a population of over 50,000 Afghans.

Previously, Jonathan managed 200 medical personnel, $4 million of equipment, and patient throughput of a fully functional 80 bed Level 3 Army Field Hospital. He served in the Dominican Republic, providing emergency medical treatment of approximately 700 U.S., Central American and Caribbean military and police forces, and he has trained and supervised the medical personnel in a variety of remote and hostile environments.

He has earned the Combat Medic Badge, Bronze Star, Army Commendation Medal, an Afghanistan Campaign Medal with service star, a Global War on Terror Service Medal, NATO medal for ISAF, and several other commendations.

Jonathan holds a BA in Political Science, Economics emphasis with a minor in criminal justice from Texas Christian University and extensive military training including U.S. Army Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training, Warrior Leader Course, U.S. Army Combat Advisor among others. Jonathan’s medical training has included NREMT-B, Advanced Cardiac Life Support Provider and Instructor, Pediatric ACLS Provider and Instructor, Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support Provider and Instructor, Combat Medic Advanced Skills Provider and Instructor, Field Management of a Chemical and Biological Casualty Course, MITT Medical Course, and many others.

Laura Ladewig is a nationally respected event producer, nonprofit advisor, and former City Council member with over 30 years of experience leading high-impact public, private, and nonprofit events. She has produced everything from statewide summits and municipal festivals to capital campaign galas and national awareness events, raising millions of dollars and building long-term community partnerships.

Laura has led three national event and entertainment companies, scaling one to over $6 million in annual revenue and mentoring 50+ operators across the U.S. Early in her career, she was a partner in a multi-city logistics company supporting complex event transport across land, air, and sea. She is now at LLL3 Consulting, where she helps organizations execute purpose-driven events, fundraising campaigns, and public engagement strategies.

Laura knows budgets and majored in accounting at Texas State University. She served as tough-as-nails National President of Zeta Tau Alpha, the international women’s sorority, growing the organization to $30 million, and led A Christmas Affair—raising $1.2 million alone for The Junior League of Austin in one weekend.

Laura is also the founder of Texas Beautiful and Texas Conservation Consultants, and co-founded The Tailgate ATX and PupCrawl ATX. She lives in Austin, Texas with her three pups Presley, Paxton, and Piper.

For more than 20 years, Barbara has provided strategic communications counsel, issues management, marketing and public relations for a wide range of clients, primarily in the healthcare and technology sectors.

Among her previous roles, she has served as Vice President at Edelman’s San Francisco office where she developed and led a practice focused on Health Technology and Senior Vice President at Porter Novelli Life Sciences (formerly FischerHealth) where she led client teams for the agency’s Medical Device & Diagnostic, Health Information Technology and Health Services practices.

Barbara also founded and ran Modern Health Communications, Inc. focused on strategic communications for the healthcare and wellness industries.

Barbara brings a deep history in technology, medical devices and understanding of the healthcare landscape to the challenges faced by healthcare companies. Her clients have included ArthroCare, AcerMed, Conceptus, Great Basin Diagnostics, i2i Systems, Opthonix, MedeAnalytics, Brain Resource, Medtronic (Kyphon), Carl Zeiss, Hoag Memorial Hospital, Imaging Healthcare Specialists, Xeltis, Fair Isaac Company, Viveve and The Turek Clinic.

Barbara started her career as a reporter and editor after earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia. She enjoys hiking, cooking—and eating. Her “bucket list” includes traveling throughout Europe and learning to cook Thai food in Thailand.

Charles is President/CEO for Charles R. Smith Consulting, LLC.  A company he founded in June 2018 after retiring from Texas state government.  His primary practice areas are healthcare, technology, and human services where he has thirty years of state government experience.

Charles created relationships with many business leaders, state executives, and legislators.  He has a state and national reputation for being a man of high integrity and honesty, improving operations, thoughtfully using technology to increase efficiencies, creatively resolving problems, and fiscal stewardship. He is a frequent speaker at state, regional, and national conferences.

Charles spent more than twenty-six years in Texas Child Support Division at the Office of the Attorney General.  He worked his way up from caseworker to division director.  Along the way, he established a long history of partnership with HHSC staff at the local, regional, and state levels to outreach TANF, Medicaid, WIC, and SNAP recipients who could benefit from child support services.  Throughout his career at CSD, Charles was a frequent speaker at HHSC meetings and trainings.  Under his direction as Director of Field Operations from 2004-2013, the program rose to become the highest performing child support program in the nation.  He served as the Director of Child Support from 2013-2015.

Charles was appointed to serve as the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s (HHSC) Chief Deputy Executive Commissioner in July 2015 and became Executive Commissioner effective June 1, 2016. As Executive Commissioner, Charles oversaw the Texas’ Health and Human Services system agencies consisting of a $40 Billion annual budget and 50,000 employees serving 7.5 million Texans in more than 600 programs that included child welfare, Medicaid, WIC, SNAP, mental health, regulatory, and aging.  During his tenure at HHSC, Charles successfully consolidated agencies and improved its overall efficiency and accountability to Texas citizens as directed by the state legislature.  In December 2017, he successfully negotiated a federal waiver with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that will bring $30+ Billion in healthcare funding to Texas.

Charles presently serves on the board for several private companies and non-profit associations/organizations.  He has worked on, led, or overseen many efforts and campaigns associated with public awareness, outreach, and marketing.

Charles is a proud graduate of Texas Tech University.

As one of Crosswind’s senior advisors, Chris Talley offers client and account staff leadership and support, drawing on 35 years of vast communication and PR experience in leading roles inside of FORTUNE 100 companies and at one of the world’s most prestigious public relations firms, FleishmanHillard (FH).

Chris has led communication programs, provided CEO/C-suite and counsel, and delivered results from the front row, heading teams at USAA, AT&T, Lockheed Martin, and dozens of other top brands. Chris’s corporate career culminated as SVP & Chief Communications Officer for USAA, America’s leading financial services company focused on the U.S. military community.

Today, he leads Talley Communication Strategies and provides senior communication and expert counsel for Crosswind Media & Public Relations, Integral Communications, and Hawksbill Group. He also is a senior advisor for Encore Leadership Advisors.

For these clients and through his career Chris has been responsible for communications strategy, media and community relations, reputation management, board of directors and regulatory communications, military and sponsorship communications, crisis planning, and engagement with employees and external stakeholders.

The vast majority of Chris’s work has been anchored throughout the Texas Hill Country and Houston. Rising to FH senior partner and SVP, Chris served as general manager of three separate offices, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston. He joined FH from Houston’s Churchill Group and before spent five years in public affairs at Lockheed Martin.

Highly active in giving back, volunteering in the community and devoting time speaking at colleges across the country, supporting students seeking careers in communication.

Chris is chair and board member of the Hemisfair Conservancy. He serves on several other boards including, Alamo Area Council (Boy Scouts), Endeavors, San Antonio Medical Foundation, and for Baylor University Journalism, PR & New Media. He is a trustee for the Institute for Public Relations and was a member of PAGE, the world’s leading association for senior communicators.

Chris earned a journalism degree from Baylor University and an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

Adam Beckner is a Digital Content Specialist at Crosswind Media & Public Relations. He was born and raised “up North” in the Texas Panhandle in Amarillo where he and his wife still call home. Adam is a first generation college graduate with an Associates Degree in Business Administration from Amarillo College and a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from West Texas A&M University. Adam is focused on building digital brands that provide long term value and he brings to us a fierce out-of-the-box, entrepreneurial spirit, and understands our digital future. He knows that even digital marketing requires consistent innovation with solid story development to be truly impactful. He has already captured and powerfully positioned stories for clients and companies across the Web2 and Web3 industries. In 2017, Adam found his passion for creating digital content by live streaming content to platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. Shortly after developing his content creation skill, Adam excelled in guiding other companies to online success through the use of new era media like podcasting, video ads, and short form video content. Outside of the workplace, Adam enjoys reading books within the self help and business development genre, working out, and spending time with his family. On summer weekends, Adam also fuels his adrenaline needs by racing his Limited Dirt Modified at Route 66 Motor Speedway.

Tanya Graham is a seasoned leader with over 35 years of dedicated experience in nonprofit management and organizational development.

As a licensed social worker, she has passionately advocated for children and families, significantly enhancing foster care, adoption, community services, and early childhood education programs. Tanya’s extensive expertise includes case management, staff training and supervision, grant writing, policy and procedure development, self-assessment, and fostering collaborative community programs.

“Tanya is also a certified Birkman professional, specializing in using the Birkman Method to drive organizational growth and effectiveness through deep insights into personal dynamics.

At Crosswind, Tanya offers strategic counsel in social services and family programs, ensuring effective engagement and communication strategies for non-profit clients.

“Windy” is a 2015 Kentucky-bred thoroughbred mare who was registered with the Jockey Club, a thoroughbred breed registry, as Princessdaisyleigh. Her sire is Graydar, the son of Unbridled’s Song – who won $1.3 million and was posthumously granted the title of leading sire in North America in 2017 – and grandson of 1990 Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled, who claimed almost $4.5 million in race earnings. Her dam is Cherry Sherry, a granddaughter of Canadian-bred Deputy Minister who sired many successful racehorses – a feat replicated by his son, and Windy’s grandsire, Awesome Again.