We are a team of thinkers, collaborators, designers, and implementers, committed to delivering superior services and solutions for our clients and projects.

We are a team of thinkers, collaborators, designers, and implementers, committed to delivering superior services and solutions for our clients and projects.

Director of Business Operations

Julie richey

Vice President

Pete peters

President

arin gray

Our leadership

CD&P was established in 2007 with the vision that we make it easy to connect, communicate, and be engaged. 

Meet Arin Gray – a business owner, a team builder, and a public engagement expert. Arin brings over 15 years of experience developing and implementing communication and public engagement plans. Her priority is identifying project- and client-specific solutions, not cookie cutter plans. She has expertise in facilitating public meetings, strategic planning, and crisis/issues management. Her approach is an expert combination of proven engagement tools that capture a community’s values and vision to build consent and support of projects while promoting clients’ values, keeping projects moving forward, and enhancing the technical aspects of a project. 

She employs this ability to balance priorities at home with her two children. Arin is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Communication Studies. She and her husband live for weekends on the lake and traveling with their kiddos. 

Arin is our President and your communication and public engagement expert.

Meet Pete Peters – a facilitator, a connector, and the person that makes things happen. A native Central Texan and dog lover, Pete is a media and public relations consultant with nearly 50 years of experience. He brings people together and is a trusted advisor on business development, strategic communications, and government affairs. Pete excels in analyzing problems and proposing real solutions having worked with over 600 specific campaigns and efforts for clients. His strength is in making connections. He is a strategic thinker, dedicated to clients and partners.

This gift for strategy and dedication have also made Pete a successful marathon runner and a master chess player. Pete earned his bachelor’s in Communication Studies and master’s degree in Communication, Journalism and Public Relations from the University of Texas at Austin. 

Pete is our Vice President of Public Affairs and your innovative solutions developer.

Meet Julie Richey – a project manager, a customer service professional, and a skilled communicator. Julie brings more than 15 years of experience in communications, client relations, sales, and managing project resources. Her understanding of stakeholder needs and skill in communicating complicated technical information to community members provides clients and communities with confidence in the engagement process. Julie is experienced and skilled in working with stakeholders individually to provide community members with the time and resources they need when working through sensitive issues during project development. She has a strong sales background and marketing experience that helps her to direct projects with relatable strategies that help drive success. 

Julie uses her ability to patiently guide and effectively manage at home with her three young children, including a newborn. 

Julie is our Director of Business Operations and your customer service and project management professional.  

Meet Jacqie Wilson – an expert in customer service and communication with 9 years of experience in providing public involvement, customer service, and client relations services. She utilizes her excellent customer service skills with clients and in her interaction with the public to build confidence in client missions and even the most difficult projects. Jacqie brings a distinctive perspective and attitude with a sense of urgency that drives projects forward. Her experience working with patients in healthcare developed a care and sensitivity in her communications approach which is instrumental to her success in finding mutually beneficial outcomes for stakeholders and clients.

Jacqie exercises her skill for finding mutually beneficial outcomes with her 13-year-old son daily (and less often with her newborn baby).

Jacqie Wilson is our Community Engagement Manager and your problem-solving resource.

Meet Elisa Leichty – an analytical and data-driven designer and marketer with more than a decade of hands-on creative marketing experience. Elisa builds compelling visual stories and communications campaigns that transform ideas into action. With a focus on nuanced messaging for a variety of audiences, she crafts tailored approaches to complement and enhance the public outreach efforts of the engagement team.

Elisa holds a BA from Grand View University, where she studied Visual Arts and Graphic Design. Elisa enjoys outdoor running with friends, book club, and tending to the whims of her very small dog.

Elisa is our Creative Director and your brand strategist and communications strengthener.


Our Core Values

People First

We value our team. We are inclusive, understanding and respectful listeners. We are compassionate, trusting, and positive. 

We achieve together

We support each other to be our best, seek and value feedback, we develop and grow our staff, we celebrate each other as individuals, we have fun together.

Proactive personal growth

We are problem solvers who want to do our best work, constantly learning, we hustle, and communicate clearly. We take responsibility for our personal growth and share with others how they can support us. We stay focused on what’s important.

We work our plan

We plan ahead. We follow processes that make sense. We continuously improve our processes, we set clear deadlines and expectations; we have healthy rhythms for managing changes and delivering feedback.

This work is a gift

Our clients are depending on us to help with their initiatives and create positive results; we perform better by staying positive despite challenges; we believe in possibility. We believe what we do matters.

Our Certifications