Landmark 25th Good Apple Dinner to Honor Champions for Justice

AUSTIN, Texas — During the 30th anniversary year of Texas Appleseed, the nonprofit will award Dallas attorney Stephanie Zapata Moore with its highest honor, the J. Chrys Dougherty Good Apple Award, for her commitment to expanding opportunities for the next generation of leaders in Texas. Susman Godfrey L.L.P. will be honored with a Pro Bono Leadership Award for their exceptional work and partnership. 

Both accolades will be presented at Texas Appleseed’s 25th annual Good Apple Dinner, which takes place on Nov. 18, 2026, at the Four Seasons in Austin. The gala draws leaders from Texas’ legal, advocacy, business, and education-based spheres to celebrate luminaries who help shape a better future for all Texans. Cecily Gooch, Yvette Ostolaza, and Gabe Vazquez are the host committee co-chairs. Sponsorships to secure a table are available now for the dinner. 

Good Apple Award
Stephanie Zapata Moore is the executive vice president, general counsel, and chief compliance officer at Vistra Corp. She oversees the company’s legal, compliance, corporate governance, and environmental, health, and safety functions and serves as a trusted advisor to the company’s leadership team and the board of directors. In addition to her responsibilities at Vistra, Moore is deeply committed to empowering underserved girls in her community. She served as a director of Girls Inc. of Metropolitan Dallas (GIMD) for 10 years, including two years as chair. GIMD is an affiliate of a national organization providing leadership skills training and educational support to girls ages 6 to 18 to equip them for long-term success. She continues to serve as a director of the Girls Inc. Foundation, the dedicated fundraising and endowment arm supporting GIMD. 

Raised by Mexican American parents who greatly valued education, Moore is committed to opening doors for other Hispanic lawyers to succeed. She serves on the Advisory Council of PODER25™, a program of the Hispanic National Bar Association whose mission is to increase the number of Hispanic attorneys occupying senior positions in Fortune 500 corporate legal departments. In 2019, she was the Honorary Chair of the Dallas Bar Association’s Equal Access to Justice Campaign, which raises funds to support the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program which provides free civil legal  assistance and representation to low-income residents of Dallas County. She has also served as an Honorary Co-Chair of the Dallas Hispanic Law Foundation’s Amanecer Luncheon, the primary annual fundraiser supporting scholarships, grants, and internships to support Hispanic students in the study of law, and as a member of the board of directors of AVANCE-North Texas, Inc., which works to advance early childhood readiness and parental economic empowerment for predominantly Latino families through parent-child education initiatives.

Pro Bono Leadership Award
Texas Appleseed is pleased to present the 2026 Pro Bono Leadership Award to Susman Godfrey, whose team has been instrumental in pursuing justice for a family harmed by racial discrimination and First Amendment retaliation. Their compassion for this family and commitment to justice are evidenced by the depth and detail of the work they contributed: they actively examined and assessed potential claims; were thoughtful in capturing the accounts of young family members; conducted extensive research to identify opportunities for relief in an incredibly complex case; and obtained relief for the father on his most immediate concern shortly after filing a lawsuit on his behalf. Susman Godfrey’s pro bono support enabled Texas Appleseed to take on a case that would have been impossible with its resources alone and gave a voice to a family who otherwise wouldn’t have had one.

About Texas Appleseed
Texas Appleseed is a nonpartisan, nonprofit policy and advocacy organization. As one of the most trusted resources for data-driven policy analysis and solutions, Texas Appleseed advocates at the Legislature and locally for fair, just, and equitable laws. Find our mission here, a timeline of our history, and visit www.TexasAppleseed.org for more information.

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