Renee Higginbotham Brooks

I worked in my uncle's law office starting at age 13, and I worked for him for a couple of years part-time. Being around a lawyer who was relevant inspired me to decide that's something I'd like to do. When I got to college, I decided I didn't want to stop going to school after college, so I decided I'd go to law school. It was always my intention to go to law school from once I entered college. After law school, I worked for the federal government for 10 years with the National Labor Relations Board, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education. I did public finance and was co-bond counsel for the state of Texas on all of their bond issuances. Every transaction they did where they issued bonds, I was co-bond counsel. I had contracts with Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, the city of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, and did a lot of bond transactions for the city of Houston. I really enjoyed being a civil rights attorney and working in employment and labor relations issues. I served on the Board of Trustees at Howard University for 18 years and worked on their Capital Campaign as co-chair along with the Chairman and CEO of Citibank for the country. We managed a $250 million fundraising campaign for the university. Now I'm pretty much semi-retired, still doing personal injury and probate matters, and I'm involved in airport concessions as an owner and joint venture partner with major companies in Oakland, California and Dallas DFW.