Manages the implementation and coordination of initiatives within the Extension Director’s office to manage guideposts and ensure timely completion.Oversight of strategic agency initiatives from development through successful execution under general guidance from the Director Communicates objectives between the Agency and executive leadership to facilitate relationships with internal and external stakeholders.Implements proactive executive and internal communications as well as rapid response needs to facilitate internal strategies that engage AgriLife’s employees in a more cohesive, coordinated approach .Collaborates with the Extension Leadership Team to build, strengthen, and disseminate the brand and mission of the agency to internal and external stakeholders like strategic partners and industry collaborators.Reviews, designs, and executes on improvements to organizational structure; finds knowledge and skills gaps and help address them .Provides recommendations for forward-thinking initiatives.  Provides oversight to agency strategic plan steering committees as appropriate and the Extension Honor Awards Committee. Coordinates scheduling and internal / external project management on the Director’s behalf.

Manage staff, precinct operations, and daily administrative duties including: budget, HR, public outreach, policy development, legislative initiatives, and special projects.Coordinate with all department heads to direct operations, community relations, and strategic planning for mobility, flood control, staffing, budgets, and operations within Precinct 3.Systematically develop relationships to coordinate funding, operations, and planning with the precinct’s cities, special districts, and with regional partners such as the Houston-Galveston Area Council.Maintain oversight of budgets, timelines, and consultant/vendor performance on all precinct construction or improvement projects related to facilities, parks, and mobility projects.Directly interface with internal / external legal counsel and consultants for precinct project land acquisitions.Directly interface with the County’s Toll Road Authority on strategic planning and community relations.Led the creation of several County Assistance Districts sales tax initiatives designed to strategically increase the number/quality of precinct projects.Utilized sales tax funding to create direct funding sources for law enforcement leading to the hire of 8 new full-time positions for the Precinct 3 Constable.Managed legislative affairs on key bills and policy initiatives with members and committee staff of the Texas Legislature, and with related state agencies in the 85th - 87th Legislative sessions.Directed all constituent outreach, meetings and communications during three successful initiatives for mobility, parks, and flood control bond elections in '17, '19, and '20.Directly managed Fort Bend’s first fully digital precinct redistricting by interfacing with the county GIS and IT departments and personally designing website and instructional material.Established programs of leadership dinners and instructional events to educate community partners on core precinct functions and legislative initiatives.

Managed a staff of 4 employees with ownership of print media budgets, agency publications, presentations, branding, and public advertising for all 17 divisions. Liaised with all division heads to coordinate messaging, budgets, and agency communications strategies. Coordinated directly with Commissioner Bush and executive level staff to develop special outreach initiatives and to craft all GLO communications strategies and press releases.Developed and maintained branding and advertising initiatives for the agency and its numerous divisions. Developed and implemented a complete re-design for online / onsite / print materials for The Alamo as part of the master planning initiative in partnership with the Alamo Foundation and City of San Antonio. Assisted in the development and graphical interface for numerous agency websites, including the launch of TXCoasts.com - an innovative and interactive web app connecting Texans to publicly available amenities and locations.In 2015, Commissioner Bush charged Elam to originate and design a commemorative Energy Map of Texas. This first-of-its-kind wall map was published in December 2015 in both print and electronic format, revealing an in-depth history of over 500 years of Texas energy production and profits to the Permanent School Fund and Permanent University Fund. In 2016, Elam's map design won a statewide award for the GLO at the Texas GIS Forum, beating out dozens of other entries from professional cartographers.Also in 2015, Commissioner Bush awarded the Communications division with the agency-wide Service Award in recognition of work performed for completely overhauling and rebranding the GLO's full network of print and online collateral.

• Responsible to create / coordinate legislative priorities for 17 agency divisions in the 2015 Legislative Session.• Developed and drafted bills and legislation to support agency priorities through the analysis of state codes.• Coordinated with executive level staff to create and standardize divisional evaluation reviews.• Performed nationwide research in coordination with GLO-Disaster Recovery for the agency's submission in the competition for Superstorm Sandy federal disaster funding.• Directed by executive level staff to research, construct, and develop the language for the agency’s RFQ process to ultimately hire a management company and development specialist for The Alamo.

As campaign manager, Elam oversaw the day-to-day activities of the campaign's statewide staff of 15 employees and maintained the operational budget and its goals. He also established the communications matrix and forecast goals for the campaign's statewide voter program. Other duties performed, include: originated TV/radio scripts, large donor communications and social media narratives. Performed campaign spokesman duties as necessary and authorized or produced digital and broadcast media communications. Directed all marketing initiatives and crisis communications responses utilizing polling analysis and regional targeting. Launched concurrent fundraising strategies to target high- and low-dollar donors across 12 metropolitan areas in Texas.

In June of 2012, Elam was promoted to serve as Deputy Executive Director for the RPT. In this role, he managed the day-to-day activities of 8 employees in the political, communications, organizational and outreach departments for the Republican Party of Texas while continuing in the role of statewide party spokesman. In conjunction with the RPT political department and numerous campaign teams, third party vendors and political consultants, Elam originated and authorized direct mail, telephone and digital outreach for the statewide Victory campaign.Using daily voter targeting analytics, Elam and his staff worked across 40 Texas counties to prioritize and direct the final 30-day expenditures of the cycle.Served as Texas Delegation Coordinator to the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa. Authorized all delegate lodging, group entertainment, contractual obligations and media relations and developed an SMS-based communications strategy for 700+ Texas delegates, elected officials and credentialed press.

Served as statewide party spokesman for the largest state Republican organization in the country. Regularly interfaced with national and statewide media regarding political activity and legislation. Led media coaching strategy for candidates, elected officials, grassroots, and campaign managers in both informal and formalized training sessions. Oversaw the RPT's communication and outreach through traditional and new media resources. In this role, Elam developed effective statewide strategies in support of our Republican elected officials - giving them a freely available and additional resource to complement their campaign's activities with support from the RPT. With his experience in graphic and website design, Elam has allowed the RPT to become much more flexible and responsive with its voter outreach and advertising, all of which he originated or fulfilled in-house. Within 6 months of hire, he was able to eliminate 75% of the inherited vendor communications contracts by personally assuming their duties.In 2010-2011, Elam developed the full business solution for the country's first state party recurring small-donor online fundraising program - the "Grassroots Club". This program covered all aspects from online user experience and marketing to engineering new FEC financial reporting solutions.In June 2012, the RPT held the largest delegate-based political convention in America in Fort Worth, TX. Elam was responsible for all communications strategy and media coordination in conjunction with the convention. In previous convention years, the RPT had contracted with third-party vendors for numerous elements of the convention, including: graphic design elements, the convention program, online pre-registration and delegate credentials. Elam saved the RPT nearly $100K by fulfilling all of these tasks in-house, despite working on a halved timeline due to the Texas redistricting lawsuit and court orders from the 5th Circuit panel in San Antonio.

Political advisor and campaign marketing consultant.Chris has consulted for dozens of successful candidates in Southeast Texas, from school board and city council, to State Senate and U.S. Congress. In his business, he regularly created and executed media strategy, crisis communications plans, and publications / electronic / broadcast media strategy on behalf of his clients.Additionally, he developed consumer / voter surveys and analyzed opinions and perceptions to help his clients perfect their strategy. From 2008-2010, he worked on media outreach and online fundraising for U.S. Congressman Ron Paul, and was part of the leadership team in Dr. Paul's revolutionary 2008 Presidential run. In 2009, he worked for Dr. Rand Paul on fundraising events in Texas, during his bid for the U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky.Chris based his business out of Fort Bend County and was the only full-time consultant in Fort Bend with a proven track record of blending exciting new methods of 21st century politics and communications into a successful fusion with the traditional methodologies which sparked the Republican ascendancy of the mid-1990's. He is still widely recognized as an expert in the demographics and voter trends in the region.Chris graduated Cum Laude from Texas A&M University with a B.S. degree in Political Science. He is a published columnist, blogger and speechwriter.