Helping Business Get Done.
Our partners have spent decades creating strategies and shaping outcomes. We understand that our business is knowing the people that impact yours.
Cross Oak advises clients in a variety of sectors including transportation, healthcare, alcohol, economic development, energy and natural resources, financial services, technology, and public utilities.
Meet Our Team
Jim Dow
Founding Partner
Jim Dow co-founded Cross Oak Group in 2010 with Mark Homer. He now acts as managing partner. Jim’s focus there revolves primarily around strategic communications, assisting clients with business development, and government affairs.
Prior to founding Cross Oak, Jim worked on state and federal political campaigns focusing on media, management, and grassroots. He later served as the executive director of a political action committee and consulted for other clientele ranging from Texas political committees, campaigns, and grassroots advocacy organizations to major statewide trade groups, and public and private corporations.
He is a regular speaker before various business groups in Texas, usually focusing on politics, the legislature, and organizational strategy. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where he received his B.A. in English. Jim and his wife Melanie reside in Austin where they are raising their three children.
Tom Holloway
Partner
Tom joined Cross Oak Group in 2019 after more than a decade as a senior staff member in the Texas House and Senate. Most recently, Tom served as the Chief Clerk of the powerful House Calendars Committee, where he assisted Chairman Four Price and Speaker Dennis Bonnen in setting the daily legislative agenda for the Texas House of Representatives.
Tom worked for more than seven years as the Chief of Staff to Senator Charles Schwertner, MD, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce. As Chief of Staff, Tom directed the development of the Senator’s public policy priorities and served as Schwertner’s principal advisor on all political and legislative affairs. Tom also previously served as an aide to former House Speaker Tom Craddick. As a campaign manager and Republican political consultant, Holloway has directed winning political campaigns for dozens of legislators and other elected officials.
Today, Tom focuses on providing our clients with effective political messaging, sound policy development, strategic planning, and grassroots engagement. During his years of public service, Tom established a broad range of policy experience spanning the fields of healthcare, insurance, energy, transportation, criminal justice, business and commerce, education, tax policy, and the state budget.
Holloway is a proud graduate of Texas State University, where he received his B.S. in Geography. Tom and his wife Ginny share a passion for politics and reside in Austin with their young son, Graham, and their dog, Huck.
Emily Love
Director of Legislative Affairs
Emily currently serves as the Director of Legislative Affairs at Cross Oak Group. Her focus revolves primarily around client engagement, strategic communications, and policy areas like Alcohol, Agriculture, and Transportation. She also engages in political consulting and political candidate fundraising.
She joined Cross Oak Group in October 2022 after a year-long project, traveling as External Affairs Coordinator for Texas 2036, led by former Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings. Prior to becoming a lobbyist, she served as the Administrative Director for State Representative DeWayne Burns, Chair of the House Committee on Agriculture.
Emily is a proud graduate of Tarleton State University, with a B.S. in Professional and Relational Communications. As a first-generation student, Emily worked in the Office of the President where she worked on Higher Education Policy and University Budgets, with Texas A&M University System’s Chancellor John Sharp. She visits her alma mater often as a member of the Board of Directors for the Tarleton Alumni Association.
Originally from Tomball, Texas, she enjoys visiting her triplet sisters back home to spend time with her niece and nephews. Emily loves volunteering with children as a member of the Austin Junior Forum. She is an avid outdoors enthusiast as she enjoys hunting, hiking, playing baseball, and traveling in her free time.