Steve Cotton was raised and educated in Dallas, and has had a rich and multi-faceted career in investments, business, government, public affairs, media relations and marketing for more than 29 years. His professional experience has included wealth management for private clients, business planning and marketing, high-level government relations, and program development responsibilities. He is currently a licensed, independent financial advisor and managing partner of the Cotton-Adams Financial Group, a private practice specializing in personal, family and career financial planning, wealth transfer and investment strategies. Prior to starting his own firm, Cotton was a successful financial consultant at A.G. Edwards and Morgan Stanley. He has also held senior management positions in the largest division of a high technology, Fortune 100 defense corporation, helped develop public policy in the U.S. Congress and Texas Legislature, directed media relations, public affairs and political campaign work, served a major Texas university and served private clients as a corporate business consultant.

Cotton earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Southwestern in 1977 and received his master of arts degree in government with certification in national security studies from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. in 1986. During his public policy career, he served in the Texas Legislature as administrative assistant to a Texas State Senator, administrative assistant to a Texas State Representative, worked for a Texas Supreme Court Justice and served with three Members of Congress in Washington, D.C. as a senior legislative assistant, special assistant and press secretary/communications director. He is a graduate of the Congressional Research Service’s Institute for Legislative Staff.

During his service in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, Cotton handled a broad spectrum of national and international policy issues. He worked directly with the White House, executive branch agencies, public policy groups, business, military and national security groups, health care representatives, technology experts, with the state, national and international news media, and rural development and social service advocates.

Prior to his successful financial services career, he founded Steve Cotton Associates in Fort Worth, Texas, providing strategic services for both companies and individuals in the areas of business marketing, strategic planning and communications, government relations and public affairs, media relations, community affairs and leadership development training. Cotton’s background in the private sector includes service in the national aeronautics and technology industry.

As a senior manager in the marketing and program development department of General Dynamics’ Fort Worth Division from 1986 to 1991, Cotton helped direct the marketing and government affairs activities at the company’s largest business unit ($1.5B in annual sales), and served as administrator of the division’s Political Action Committee. In 1987, he received the company’s Extraordinary Achievement Award.

While in management at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, he moderated numerous guest speaker panels, and served as a special guest speaker at numerous public policy and educational annual conferences including those for the Texas Hospital Association, Texas Rural Health Association, Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals, the U.S. Senate/House Ad Hoc Steering Committee on Telemedicine, the National Health Care Congress, Health Information Management Systems Society, and the Governor’s Conference on Telemedicine in North Dakota. He was a select panelist in 2003 for U.S. Congressman Pete Sessions’ ’78 Town Hall Meeting on Social Security in Dallas.

Cotton has a passion for teaching and has served as a Special Guest Instructor at four major Texas colleges, including Southwestern University, Trinity University, Texas Christian University and Texas Tech University. His topics have ranged from financial planning to U.S. arms control and foreign policy issues, to the congressional budget and governmental process, to national security issues, to technology, health care and telemedicine issues, to congressional and presidential politics and elections. He has developed and directed two Financial Bible Study courses, and has served two churches as a trained Stephen Minister (lay crisis counselor), and been a Facilitator for both Divorce Recovery and Grief Recovery programs.

Cotton is an Ordained Elder at the Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church and has served on the Financial Stewardship Committee, Church Officer Nominating Committee and Usher & Communion Teams. In 2002, Cotton created and led an eight-week Supercharging Your Finances Educational Workshop for members at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church. Cotton has served as a former Moderator of the Mission, Outreach & Witness Committee at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lubbock where he served on the Organization and Leadership Committee (Church Budget, Administration and Personnel). He has attended four annual regional PromiseKeepers Men’s Conferences, was a volunteer prayer counselor at the historic 2002 Billy Graham Crusade in Dallas, and he has also participated in the interdenominational Walk to Emmaus spiritual retreat experience.

Although he has no children, his volunteer community service includes work as a Boy Scout Assistant Scoutmaster, Troop Committee Chairman and leadership trainer with five Scout troops and three Scout Councils. An Eagle Scout and adult member of two district Scout Training Committees, he has served as course director of the Scoutmaster Fundamentals training course, a Woodbadge staff member, and Eagle Scout advancement chairman for the South Plains Scout Council. He is a member of the Dallas - Fort Worth Council on World Affairs, Downtown Rotary Club, Pachyderm Club and Sparkman Club. In 2006, he was selected to be the first president of the Dallas Association of Southwestern University Alumni.