GRACIE SAENZ
Gracie Saenz was born and raised in the City of Houston. She is originally from the 5th Ward area of the City and is a shareholder in Winstead's Government Relations Practice Group as well as the Public Finance Practice Group. Her practice focuses on Government Relations, Public Finance and business, commercial and international business transactions. She is a former city Council Member at Large (at the time, the first Hispanic in the City of Houston’s history to be elected to an at large position on the City Council) and Mayor Pro Tem for the City of Houston, having served in office from January 1992 through December 1997. During her term in office, Ms. Saenz was a strong supporter and advocate for youth programs and inner city redevelopment, and did extensive work in the area of international relations for the City of Houston. She participated and chaired numerous activities and organizations such as Ethics Council Committee; Minority/Women-Owned Business Enterprise Council; Aviation Council; and the Business and Tourism Council.
She also chaired the NAFTA Task Force for the City that sought to lobby the legislature for the eventual passage of the North American Free Trade Alliance. She was also a member of the Houston-Taiwan Trade Delegation to Taipei in the fall of 1994 that focused on strengthening Houston’s trade with Asia. Ms. Saenz was also the City’s member to the World Energy Cities Partnership, which sought to strength the relationships between the energy capitals of the world and was instrumental in bringing in the city of Villa Hermosa, Tabasco, Mexico as a participating member.
After graduating from law school, Ms. Saenz worked as a Harris County Assistant District Attorney, which provided her with experience in many areas of the law including the areas of Juvenile Justice, Domestic Violence, Felony & Misdemeanor Prosecutions and Grand Jury service. In 1990, Mrs. Saenz formed Burkhart & Saenz where she practiced criminal and general practice law until 1992. In 1994, Mrs. Saenz joined the law firm of Brocks, Baker & Lange, where she was a leader in the International law section concentrating on International Business Transactions.
In terms of community service, Ms. Saenz has served on many volunteer organizations and serves of the board of directors of the DARE Corporation; the Covenant Community Capital Board; the Houston Small Business Development Corporation; the University of Houston Law Foundation; the University of St. Thomas; the Memorial/Hermann Hospital System; the UT-Houston, Health Science Center Foundation Development Board; the American Leadership Forum and the Advisory Committee for the Junior League of Houston. She has recently been selected to also sit on the Advisory Board for The Plaza Group. She is the Managing Partner for the Hispanic Sports Group and founding member of The Aquila Bank Corporation and the Latina Enterprise for Excellence. She is also President of LULAC Council 643.
Ms. Saenz received her B.A. in Spanish from the University of Houston and her law degree from the University of Houston Law Center. Ms. Saenz is fluent in English and Spanish.
