Dave Young

Kansas Fusion Center
9:15 a.m.

Dave Young serves as the Deputy Homeland Security Advisory for Kansas and the Executive Director of the Kansas Intelligence Fusion Center, where he is responsible for homeland security-focused net assessment, systems analysis, and the development of statewide strategy. He is a retired military officer with extensive experience at both the state and federal levels to include work for Kansas elected officials, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the Space Shuttle Columbia Accident Investigation Board. He is a graduate of the Kansas Public Health Leadership Institute and in 2011 was selected as a member of Leadership Kansas.

Dan Hawkins

Kansas Speaker of the House of Representatives
10:30 a.m.

Rep. Dan Hawkins is the Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives.

Dan spent a good share of his early childhood on his grandfather’s dairy farm in southern Harper County.

In 1985, Dan married his college sweetheart Diane, and they have two beautiful daughters. Dan loves spending time with his daughters and their husbands, as well as his grandson and future fishing buddy, Rocky.

In 1991, Dan and his father started their first business. From that time on, Dan knew that owning his own business is exactly what he wanted to do.

In 1995, Dan started his career in the insurance business and has been working with other small businesses ever since. One of his daughters runs the family business while Dan is in Topeka.

Dan has represented the 100th District in the Wichita area in the Kansas House since 2013. Before joining the ranks of House leadership, Dan served as Chair of the House Health Committee. He was elected Majority Leader prior to the 2019 session and served two terms in that role until he was elected Speaker of the House prior to the 2023 session.

Ty Masterson

Kansas Senate President
10:30 a.m.

Kansas Senate Ty Masterson was first elected to the Kansas Senate in 2008. Prior to that, he served in the Kansas House of Representatives for four years. He was also previously elected to the City Council in Andover, his hometown.

During his time in the Kansas Legislature, Senator Masterson has been a champion for center-right conservative principles, including limited government, individual liberty, free enterprise, and traditional values. In the Senate, he has served as Chairman of the Ways & Means Committee and the Utilities Committee.

Pro-life and a defender of our constitutional freedoms, Ty has been a consistent voice for Republican principles during his time in Topeka, earning numerous high ratings from groups who score legislative records across a myriad of issues. He was the founding Chairman of the Truth Caucus in 2017, where he led through 2020, a coalition of over 60 legislators from both chambers of the Kansas Legislature.

After an incredibly successful election cycle for Republican legislative candidates in 2020, Senator Masterson was elected as Senate President unanimously by his colleagues and took the oath of office on January 11th, 2021. Currently he serves as national chair of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and is an at-large member of the executive committee with National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

When not in Topeka, Senator Masterson is a small business owner and entrepreneur. He also leads GoCreate, a creative community workspace at Wichita State University which is open to creators of all ages and experiences.

Born and raised in Butler County, Kansas, Ty has been married to Marlo for 31 years. The Masterson family has six children and six grandchildren. They attend NewSpring church.