Rodger Rees, Galveston Wharves Port Director and CEO, oversees the fourth busiest U.S.

cruise port, located on one of the nation’s top 40 cargo waterways. This self-sustaining city

entity generates more than 14,000 jobs and has an estimated annual state economic impact of

$2.1 billion.

Since Rees took the helm in January 2018, the Port of Galveston has increased revenues 131

percent by following a 20-Year Strategic Master Plan adopted in 2019. Using both debt and

public-private partnerships, the port has built two new cruise terminals. A $125 million cruise

terminal, in partnership with Royal Caribbean International, opened in 2022. The port completed

its fourth cruise terminal at a cost of $156 million in November 2025 to service MSC Cruises and

Norwegian Cruise Lines.

In 2023 the port was awarded $42.3 million in state grants, the largest grant amount in the port’s

history, to fund critical cargo and transportation projects. The port used cash reserves

generated from the cruise business and the grant proceeds to fund a $106 million cargo

infrastructure improvement project. The project began in 2024 and will be completed this year.

In 2023 and 2024, Rees successfully guided the port through over $210 million in municipal

bond financings.

The Galveston Regional Chamber of Commerce honored Rees as its 2022 Galvestonian of the

Year for positively contributing to the betterment of the region’s business community. In 2023,

the Houston Business Journal named Rees one of the most admired CEOs in the Houston

metroplex. Rees has served two terms on the board of directors of the Texas Department of

Transportation Port Authority Advisory Committee and was elected vice chairman of the Texas

Ports Association as representative for the Upper Texas Region.

Rees previously served five years as deputy executive director and chief financial officer for Port

Canaveral, the world’s second busiest cruise port.

Rees spent his early years in Tennessee and is a graduate of East Tennessee State University

with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. In addition, he is a Certified Public

Accountant, licensed in the state of Georgia. He has more than 25 years of executive

management experience in both private and public entities. Rodger and his wife, Luci, have two

sons. The oldest son is currently attending Texas A&M University at College Station. His

younger son will be a senior at Ball High School in Galveston in the fall.

AG Gupt is the President of Alexander-Grene Developers, a Houston-based real estate development firm with a multi-decade track record and more than 30 completed transactions spanning commercial, industrial, and mixed-use asset classes across the Texas Gulf Coast. With an active pipeline exceeding $150 million — including the landmark Lilac Field Business Park in League City and Waller Medical Plaza in Waller— he structures complex syndications that align physician investors, institutional capital, and community-scale development with high impacts and investor-returns. A Columbia-trained construction finance executive and OSU MBA, AG brings the credentials of a seasoned developer, but the perspective of a builder who has consistently identified and activated opportunities others overlooked — from ground-up mixed-use to medical real estate to build-to-rent communities reshaping Houston's fastest-growing corridors.

Stephanie Sides-Sembera is the Director of Real Estate at Port Houston, where she leads the

administration and strategic management of the port’s industrial property portfolio. Her

responsibilities include industrial leasing and property management, land acquisition and

development, long-term land use planning, and ensuring regulatory and environmental

compliance across all real estate assets.

Sides-Sembera brings more than 16 years of experience in commercial real estate, operations,

and organizational leadership. She previously served as Associate Managing Director of Platform

Operations at Cushman & Wakefield, where she supported national real estate initiatives,

developed training programs, and guided the rollout of a national tenant experience survey.

Before that, she spent over a decade at Transwestern, progressing into senior leadership roles

overseeing large commercial portfolios, managing multidisciplinary teams, and supporting

national and international clients. She also gained additional client and development experience

through her work at Always In Season.

At Port Houston, Sides-Sembera directs real estate transactions, oversees asset and financial

performance, develops administrative standards, and works closely with operations and

infrastructure teams to guide property improvements. She also maintains strong relationships

with industry, development, and regional stakeholders to support the port’s strategic growth.

Sides-Sembera holds a Master of Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Adler University and

a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Sam Houston State University. She holds CPM and

ACoM designations from the Institute of Real Estate Management, is a licensed Texas Real

Estate professional, and has served in leadership roles with BOMA and IREM.

Jeff Samples comes to International

Bancshares Corporation with over 40 years

of experience in the area of commercial

lending. As Chairman and CEO, he oversees the

commercial banking department, which has over

$1.4 billion in funded loans. While directing this effort, Jeff is personally responsible for a loan portfolio of over

$1 billion. In addition, he manages both retail and commercial lending officers and oversees the credit

department. For the past twenty-seven years he has served on the IBC Bank Houston Board of Directors.

Prior to joining IBC, Jeff served as division manager of commercial banking at BBVA-Compass Bank. He

received his credit training at Interfirst Houston (now Bank of America). His area of expertise is commercial real

estate with a focus on retail centers, multi-family, and lot development.

Jeff maintains active involvement in several community service organizations. He has coached multiple baseball,

basketball, and soccer teams for youth in the local community. He has previously been a board member of the Be

An Angel charity which serves multi-handicapped children and YES College Prep, a charter school for at-risk

children. Jeff currently serves on the Board of Covenant House Texas. He most recently was named chairman of

the CHT Guts + Glory Corporate Obstacle Challenge for 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Jeff received his BBA-Finance degree from Baylor University where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon

and The Baylor Student Foundation. Jeff is an active member of St. John’s Episcopal Church. He is married and

has four children and three grandchildren.