HOUSTON \u2013 As Women\u2019s History Month continues, a historic chapter at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is coming to a close. <\/p>\n
For the first time in the event\u2019s history, the organization was led by a woman, and now Chairman of the Board Pat Mann Phillips is looking back on the legacy she leaves behind.<\/p>\n
Phillips made history as the first female chairman of RodeoHouston, a role she says represents much more than a title in an industry where women have not always been in leadership positions.<\/p>\n
Phillips began her career in the oil and gas industry as a landman, at a time when few women held those jobs. She said working in male-dominated fields prepared her for leadership roles later in life.<\/p>\n
Her journey with the rodeo started in 2002, when she and her husband joined as volunteers. Over the years, she became involved in several committees, including the Special Children\u2019s Committee and the Junior Rodeo Committee, eventually serving on the board of directors before being elected chairman.<\/p>\n
During her time in leadership, Phillips helped push for changes that expanded opportunities for women in rodeo events. She played a role in bringing breakaway roping to RodeoHouston, one of the first major rodeos to feature the all-female event, and helped support equal pay for female performers.<\/p>\n
Phillips says her goal was not only to break barriers, but to support the volunteers who make the rodeo possible, especially the women who helped her along the way.<\/p>\n
Under her leadership, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo continued its focus on education and youth programs. The organization has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to scholarships and educational initiatives, making it one of the largest scholarship providers in Texas.<\/p>\n
Phillips says the impact of the rodeo goes far beyond entertainment.<\/p>\n
She also looks ahead to the future of the organization, including its centennial celebration planned for 2032.<\/p>\n
Although her time as chairman is ending, Phillips will remain part of the executive committee and continue supporting the rodeo in the same volunteer spirit that started her journey more than two decades ago.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 As Women\u2019s History Month continues, a historic chapter at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57,6795,83315,83314,73562],"class_list":["post-212893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-rodeo","tag-rodeo-scholarships","tag-texas-rodeo-history","tag-womens-history-month"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}