Kara Belew

Partner

Kara Belew, J.D. is a seasoned legal, budget, and policy expert with over two decades of high-level public service and legal counsel experience, including extensive work advising Texas school boards. As a Partner at O’Hanlon, Demerath, & Castillo, she provides school districts, counties, cities, and other governmental entities with strategic legal counsel, litigation support, compliance oversight, contract negotiation, and governance training—all tailored to advance each organization’s mission and goals. Kara is a co-founder of Texans for Excellence in Education (TEE), a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping school boards implement evidence-based policies that drive student success, strengthen accountability, and expand access to high-quality education across Texas. Through TEE, she champions systemic reforms, fosters innovation, and empowers boards to lead with clarity and purpose. She is a Texas Education Agency-certified school board coach and trainer, having co-developed the TEA’s Lone Star Governance program. Kara has coached multiple school boards to TEA Exemplary status and is a recognized authority on the STAAR assessment system and the Texas A–F Accountability framework. Before entering private practice, Kara held senior leadership roles at the Texas Education Agency, the Office of the Governor for Governors Abbott and Perry, and the Office of the Attorney General. She served as the Texas State Budget Director and was the chief architect of Texas’ landmark school finance litigation, securing equitable funding solutions for public education. Kara holds a J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law and dual degrees in Business (Honors) and Political Science from Southern Methodist University. She was formerly a certified public accountant. She is currently a candidate in the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University.