Speakers

Krys Boyd has been host and managing editor of KERA-FM’s flagship midday talk show Think since 2006. Krys began her career along the U.S.-Mexico border, working simultaneously at radio and television stations as a reporter, anchor and news director. A graduate of TCU, Krys returned to North Texas in 1999 to serve as News Director for Broadcast.com, and later Senior Producer of Broadcast News at Yahoo.

Krys joined KERA in 2001, hosting the nightly radio talk show Conversations. Later, she wrote and produced documentary and educational television programs, including the critically-acclaimed, nationally-broadcast JFK: Breaking the News in 2003, and served as producer and co-host of the Emmy Award-winning public affairs program On the Record. Think was named “Best Radio Talk Show” of Dallas by the Dallas Observer in 2009, and Krys was declared “Best Broadcaster for Radio in Dallas” by D Magazine in 2010, and won the PRNDI award for best call-in program in 2012. Krys and her husband, Matt, live in Dallas and have four children.

Robert A. Hunt was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1955. After attending school in Austin and Richardson, he majored in History at the University of Texas in Austin. After completing a Master of Theology at Perkins School of Theology (SMU) he served the Bethany United Methodist Church in Austin, Texas. In 1985 he and his wife Lilian moved to Kuala Lumpur, where they taught at the Seminary Theology Malaysia. From 1993 to 1997 he taught at the Trinity Theological College in Singapore. In 1994 he received his PhD from the University of Malaya, focusing on Christian missions to and relationship with Muslims in Southeast Asia. From 1997 to 2004 he was pastor of the English Speaking United Methodist Church of Vienna, and an adjunct professor at Webster University in Vienna. Dr. Hunt is presently Director of Global Theological Education at the Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University and teaches courses in World Religions, Inter-religious Dialogue, and Mission.

Cynthia Muller is the Director of Mission Investment at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation based out of Battle Creek, Michigan.

Muller is responsible for driving the strategy and performance of the foundation’s $100 million mission driven investments (MDI) portfolio. She manages strategic impact investment activities that address systemic barriers that create vulnerable conditions for historically marginalized communities and children. Over its 15-year history, the MDI program has committed more than $310 million in mission-related investments (MRIs) targeting market rates of financial return, and program-related investments (PRIs) to further WKKF’s mission.

Cynthia came to the foundation in September 2016 as the program and portfolio officer where she was responsible for developing and managing strategic market rate impact investment activities; sourcing and deploying market rate investments to increase social change impact; analyzing solutions and trends; and developing relationships in the field.

Prior to joining the foundation, Muller developed and managed Arabella Advisors impact investing practice where she helped foundations and individuals understand the field of impact investing; develop strategies and structure investments to accomplish their social and environmental goals. Muller previously worked in community development finance as well as community-based health care in Indigenous communities. She serves on boards of Next Chapter, Enterprise Loan Fund and Mission Investors Exchange.

Muller was born in Anchorage, Alaska and raised in Chugiak. She holds a Master of Business Administration from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Stanford University.

Salah Boukadoum, 53, is a social entrepreneur and impact investment leader in Dallas, Texas. Salah is a Board Director of the Sapphire Foundation, a $32MM family foundation in North Texas. He leads the Foundation’s Sustainable Philanthropy initiative: a portfolio of strategic grants, investments, loans, and guarantees that mobilize sustainable and scalable solutions to key community challenges, with a focus on impact infrastructure.

Salah is founder of Impact City, a 501(c)3 working to lay the groundwork for Dallas to be become a global center for Impact Organizations – a “Silicon Valley of Impact.”
In 2014, Salah founded Good Returns Group, an impact finance firm providing innovative financial, legal structure, and programmatic tools to create and finance impact.

Through these organizations, Salah has led the creation and development of new impact tools and programs for the ecosystem:
• Cycle, enabling companies to create more impact in the community by pairing risk-free scaling capital with human capital and corporate capabilities.
• GIVS, transforming low-to-moderate project returns into market returns using an innovative financial instrument designed for impact investors.
• SUSTAIN Initiative, guiding cohorts of nonprofits to reach complete financial sustainability for the organization or a signature program by creating mission-aligned businesses with teams of community leaders.

Salah pivoted to social impact in 2005 when he sold his payments technology startup Atrana Solutions to a publicly traded corporation. Prior to his entrepreneurial career, Salah was a classical pianist, performing concerts in the U.S., Europe, and Africa. He serves on the board of Miles of Freedom, a Dallas nonprofit dedicated to healing the effects of incarceration on individuals, families, and communities.

Jessica Burnham has a BFA in Communication Design from the Metropolitan State University of Denver and an MFA in Design Research and Innovation from the University of North Texas. Her design interests lie in bringing design to unexpected places, like civic engagement, local governance, and other hyper-local efforts. Her research focuses on transitioning from Communication Design to Designed Communication and her previous efforts led to creating a business association on Lowest Greenville Avenue called the Lowest Greenville Collective. This led to her role as the Executive Director of the Deep Ellum Foundation where she helped manage the neighborhood, designed public safety systems, and represented the area as large projects in the city came about. Currently, she is the Program Director and Clinical Assistant Professor of the Master of Arts in Design and Innovation (MADI) program at SMU. This program teaches students from all different backgrounds to use Human-Centered Design to creatively solve and improve unwieldy problems. Jessica lives in Richardson, Texas with her husband and three boys.

Yutaka Tamura is the founding Executive Director of nXu, a non-profit initiative that has developed a comprehensive SEL & College & Career Readiness curriculum—along with an associated assessment system—that places purpose development at the nexus of SEL skill development and career exploration. nXu supports schools and youth organizations across 20+ states to implement its curriculum through its educator training and curriculum implementation support model.

Yutaka is also the Founder of Excel Academy Charter Schools in Boston. In addition, Yutaka served as the Chief Operating Officer for Relay Graduate School of Education. Yutaka is also a Co-Founder of UP Education Network, an organization focused on school transformation. Yutaka spent the first several years of his career as a management consultant at The Parthenon Group, a strategy consulting firm. Yutaka earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from Amherst College, and earned his MAT with distinction from Relay Graduate School of Education.

Benjamin J. Vann is the visionary Founder and CEO of Impact Ventures, a pioneering 501(c)(3) startup accelerator and integrated capital fund dedicated to empowering underrepresented women and entrepreneurs of color. Impact Ventures is focused on fostering generational wealth through inclusive entrepreneurship and equitable capital access. Since its inception in 2017, Impact Ventures has positively impacted nearly 3,500 individuals through high-impact networking events, hackathons, workshops, and summits. Its flagship accelerator program, launched in 2020, has trained 238 founders, collectively raising $23 million in external capital, creating 425 jobs, engaging over 260 mentors, and offering more than 5,300 hours of specialized training and mentorship.

In a groundbreaking move, Impact Ventures launched Texas’s first Inclusive Capital Fund, a financial initiative aimed at advancing economic justice. The fund addresses systemic barriers in the underwriting process, as well as the lack of different types of capital in mainstream markets by providing flexible loans and patient equity investments to enterprises led by women, Black, and Latino entrepreneurs. Its pilot fund, launched in 2021, deployed $1.5M to ~50 businesses across North Teas in the form of grants, loan, and equity investment.

With over 17 years of expertise spanning banking, corporate finance, philanthropy, entrepreneurship, and impact investing, Benjamin has demonstrated unparalleled leadership and commitment to social equity. His diverse professional journey includes leadership roles at Good Returns Group, where he helped transform corporate philanthropy through global micro-lending, and positions at Fidelity Investments and Fidelity Charitable, the world’s largest Donor Advised Fund, and The Trust for Public Land, where he led philanthropic efforts in North Texas.

As a dedicated civic leader, Benjamin serves on the Executive Board of Builders of Hope Community Development Corporation and has previously held significant roles including City Planning Commissioner for District 7 in Dallas, executive board member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Dallas Chapter, and appointee to numerous influential boards and committees. His civic engagement efforts are further demonstrated by founding the Dallas County Civic Alliance, a voter initiative that registered over 10,000 residents.

Benjamin’s work has earned him widespread recognition. In 2023, he was honored with the Quest for Success Award by the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce. In 2022, he was named a Dallas Business Journal 40 Under 40 awardee, and in 2021, he was recognized as one of DCEO’s Dallas 500 Most Powerful CEOs. His accolades also include fellowships with the SMU Hunt Institute, Just Economy Institute, and Boston Impact Initiative Fund Building Fellowship, among others.

A native of Wichita, Kansas, Benjamin holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Washburn University, where he excelled both academically as Vice President of the Washburn Finance Society, Founder of the Washburn Gospel Choir, and athletically as a standout defensive back. A former professional football player, he has coached and mentored young athletes. Benjamin is also a self-taught musician, and avid vinyl collector. Benjamin resides in Dallas, TX with his wife Cashmere and two sons Benjamin II and Braxton. He is a proud member of St. Luke Community United Methodist Church and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

As a financial activist, writer, and impact investing professional, she successfully supported the FamiliesBelongTogether coalition in shifting billions of dollars in big bank financing away from the migrant detention and private prison industry. In her role as Director of Impact for Candide Group, she helps investors flow their money to predominately women & BIPOC-led social justice-focused companies, funds, and vital organizations building the next economy.
Her forthcoming book — The Financial Activist Playbook — builds on her knowledge base as a
Congressman John Lewis fellow;
Just Economy Institute alum;
Trauma of Money Method certified practitioner; and
lived experience as a girl in her late 20s just trying her best to navigate contradictions under Late Capitalism (and help build something better).

Cullum Clark is Director of the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative and Adjunct
Economics Professor at SMU. Cullum’s work focuses on creating prosperous, high-opportunity cities as a path to improving economic mobility in America and advancing the Bush Institute principle of private markets humanized by compassionate government. He co-authored the 2021 book The Texas Triangle: An Emerging Power in the Global Economy. Cullum’s work has appeared in City Journal, Real Clear Policy, and numerous other publications, plus the Freakonomics Radio podcast. He recently published an extensive report on the role of universities and academic medical centers in local and regional economies and is currently working on a report on housing supply and affordability in U.S. cities.

Cullum worked in investments for 25 years, founding two firms. He serves on the Board of the Texas charter school network Uplift Education and on several foundation and endowment boards. He earned a B.A. in History from Yale, a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Harvard, and a Ph.D. in Economics from SMU.

Visionary leader and serial entrepreneur with a track record of creating and growing business ventures in technology and consulting. During his career with EDS and PriceWaterhouse, Mr. Martinez performed various consulting roles including systems engineer, management consultant, and Principal Consultant. As an entrepreneur, he was the Founder and President of Strategic Systems & Products (SSP), where he developed and executed the vision, and achieved SAP ERP solution certification for the READYUpstream All-In-One solution. In 2014, he became the North America upstream oil and gas practice leader at Capgemini LLC after their acquisition of SSP, where he performed as vice president. He is currently the founding partner of Clement Capital Partners LP, an impact venture fund that invests in innovative startups utilizing technology, film, and media to improve the lives of underrepresented communities and protect the environment. He is also the President and CEO of Clement Business Advisors, an advisory consulting firm that provides business consulting and training services to startups and portfolio companies of investment firms. Mr. Martinez has taught undergraduate and graduate technology courses at the University of Texas at Dallas and Entrepreneurship as an Adjunct Professor at the SMU COX School of Business. He is currently a member of the SMU Cox Associate Board as a mentor to Cox MBA students, a Fellow at the SMU Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity, the Fund Manager for the SMU Impact Lab, and advisor for the SMU Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Club. He also serves as a mentor at the Dallas Entrepreneurship Center and the Founder Institute where he mentors startups in the development of entrepreneurial concepts. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management from the University of Puerto Rico and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Mandy Price is a trailblazing social entrepreneur and advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG). As the co-founder and former CEO of Kanarys, Inc., she helped transform how companies address DEIB and ESG by leveraging data and workforce analytics to create more inclusive and sustainable workplaces. With over 15 years of executive leadership experience, Mandy has become a recognized expert in technology, corporate governance, and human capital, all while driving social impact through her work.

Before founding Kanarys, Mandy spent more than 12 years as a Harvard-educated attorney. She worked at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and Barnes & Thornburg LLP, where she specialized in mergers & acquisitions, private equity, corporate governance, and regulatory compliance. Her expertise made her a trusted advisor to both private and public companies, but her passion for creating systemic change in the business world led her to pursue social entrepreneurship.

In 2018, Mandy co-founded Kanarys with a mission to address workplace inequities while helping organizations incorporate ESG and CSR initiatives into their core operations. Under her leadership, Kanarys became a category leader in DEIB, partnering with major corporations like Yum! Brands, Neiman Marcus, and 7-Eleven to promote inclusive and socially responsible practices. Despite the challenges Black female entrepreneurs face in accessing venture capital, Mandy raised more than $15M, joining an elite group of fewer than 20 Black women to reach this milestone. In 2024, she successfully led Kanarys through its acquisition by Conatum LLC, marking a successful exit from the business.

Mandy's commitment to social justice, corporate responsibility, and sustainable business practices has earned her widespread recognition. She has been featured in top-tier media outlets such as Good Morning America, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Business Insider, and more. She’s been named one of Inc.'s Female Founders 100, one of Entrepreneur’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, and a Top 100 HR Tech Influencer by Human Resource Executive. Her work continues to inspire businesses to make meaningful strides in DEIB and ESG, fostering a more equitable and sustainable future.

As a sought-after speaker and thought leader, Mandy frequently shares her expertise on DEIB, ESG, corporate governance, and social entrepreneurship at conferences and major events. She holds a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin. Mandy resides in Dallas, Texas with her family.

Kellie Brownlow is the Chief Mission Officer at First Step Staffing, where she oversees fundraising, client programming, marketing, and communications. Under her leadership, First Step launched its first major capacity campaign, raising nearly $15 million and establishing two new departments: Marketing & Communications and Retention Services. Before joining First Step, Kellie served as Executive Director of the Georgia Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs, managing a $32 million contract with the Georgia Department of Human Services and successfully lobbying for the creation of a Boys & Girls Clubs license plate. She was also Deputy Chief to the Chairman of Cobb County, playing a key role in the development of the Braves Stadium and Battery project.

Kellie began her career at the Atlanta Regional Commission, leading leadership development and strategic planning initiatives for local governments. She holds a bachelor's degree from Rhode Island College and a master's in public administration from the University of Georgia. She is a member of the State of Georgia Workforce Board and the Fulton County Technology & Energy Enhancement Authority.

Donovan Ervin (he/him) is Vice President in the Investment Group at Tiedemann Advisors. In this role, he’s helping to direct capital toward a more inclusive, just, and regenerative economy. This work aligns closely with Donovan’s professional mission: developing and supporting new markets that shift patterns of production and consumption, distribute power and ownership more democratically, and expand the definition of wealth to include individual, community, and planetary health and well-being.

Previously, Donovan has held positions at various organizations in the social sector, ranging from K-12 education to community development to environmental justice.

Based in Dallas, Texas, Donovan is a graduate of Yale University (MBA and Master of Environmental Management) and Stanford University (BA in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity). He's also a proud advisory board member at the Yale Center for Business & Environment. Outside of work, Donovan enjoys writing, exercising, and being with his people.

Michael Iyescas is an accomplished bilingual leader with over 15 years of corporate and nonprofit experience. He currently serves as Senior Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility and Global Philanthropy at Fossil Group, Inc., where he oversees the company's sustainability strategy, Make Time for Good, integrating a purpose-driven framework to enhance societal and environmental impact. He also manages a global philanthropic portfolio focused on innovative, equitable, and sustainable solutions across six continents, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Previously, Michael was a Program Officer at the Kern Family Foundation, managing a $60 million portfolio in education, policy, and thought leadership. He also launched a multi-million dollar pilot fund for entrepreneurial innovation. His background includes leadership roles in national education initiatives, pharmaceutical quality control, consulting, and bilingual education.

Michael is an active community leader, serving on advisory boards that bridge business and civic efforts for collective impact. With expertise in philanthropy, sustainability, social impact, and strategy, he helps organizations achieve high-impact, systemic change.
Michael lives in Richardson with his wife, Allison, their two rambunctious toddlers, and their reclusive cat, Lola.

Taylor Knickel is on a mission to build thriving communities. She brings over a decade of expertise in community organizing and civic engagement to her role as Executive Director of the Texas Center for Employee Ownership, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving small businesses and protecting jobs through employee ownership. Her unique approach melds systems thinking and human-centered design to reveal leverage points for significant impact.

As Founder of Civic Innovation Lab, Taylor helps clients maximize their impact and increase their community value through impact strategy design, bridging capital connections, and identifying innovative impact opportunities. She has a Master of Social Work from Baylor University and an Executive Certificate in Social Impact Strategy from the University of Pennsylvania.

Chris Duffy is a comedian, television writer, and radio/podcast host. Chris currently hosts the hit podcast How to Be a Better Human. You can watch his comedic TED talk, “How to find laughter anywhere” online. Chris wrote for both seasons of Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas on HBO, executive produced by John Oliver. He’s the creator/host of the streaming game show Wrong Answers Only, where three comedians try to understand what a leading scientist does all day, in partnership with LabX at the National Academy of Sciences. Chris is both a former fifth grade teacher and a former fifth grade student.

Dr. Tana J. Hicks serves as the Deputy Chief of Economic Opportunity at Dallas College. Since joining the college in 2018, she has played a pivotal role in analyzing local industry data to better align students with workforce needs. Today, she leads with a mission to address socioeconomic barriers and foster economic mobility for both students and the broader community. A passionate advocate for equity and inclusivity, Tana is dedicated to ensuring that education serves as a catalyst for lasting change.

With over 15 years of experience in the education sector as an instructor, professor, researcher, and leader, Dr. Hicks continues to make an impact both within and beyond the classroom. She has been an active board member and advisor for the East Africa Chamber of Commerce (EACC) since 2019 and the East Africa Business Network (EABN) since 2022. Her commitment to empowering women and youth is evident in her contributions to the Women Connecting Women initiative and through her participation in educational panels hosted by these organizations.

Dr. Hicks earned her PhD in African American Literature from the University of North Texas, and she holds both a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and a Master of Arts in English from Texas Tech University. She is a proud mother of two and has been happily married since 2020.

Mark Hand is an Assistant Professor in the Political Science department at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he researches workplace democracy in employee owned firms, temporary organizations (including political campaigns), and entrepreneurship in the policymaking process. He previously taught at Oxford University's Saïd Business School and the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service at UT-Austin. He was a 2022-2023 Kelso Fellow at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations and the recipient of a Schmidt Futures grant to explore purpose trust ownership.

Mark is also a senior consultant at Liminal Advisors, which helps early stage companies and investment funds more effectively build and manage high-caliber teams. He has made, managed, and supported investments in over 40 ventures through First Light Ventures, the Oxford Seed Fund, the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, and UnLtd USA. He spent his early career in community development, including co-founding Manna Project International's community development site outside of Quito, Ecuador.

Dr. Irie Lynne Session is an award-winning minister, pastor, author, TEDx presenter, spiritual entrepreneur, transformation strategist, and Womanist practitioner. Raised in the South Bronx and the New York City Housing Projects, she began her service to humanity by ministering to person’s marginalized in society due to incarceration, addiction, commercial sexual exploitation, prostitution, and HIV/AIDS histories. She has worked as a Parole Officer with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, an Investigator for the Texas Department of Protective & Regulatory Services (CPS), an Adolescent Services Director for Bryan’s House - a Dallas non-profit serving children and families impacted by HIV/AIDS, and Director of Spiritual Support and Training for New Friends New Life, a non-profit providing services to women seeking out of prostitution and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation.

Dr. Irie served the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the following capacities: Associate Area Minister of the North Texas Area in the Southwest from 2006-2012; Vice-President and President of the National Convocation Board; and President of both the Black Ministers Fellowship and the Fellowship of Black Disciples Clergywomen.
Dr. Irie holds an undergraduate degree in Social Work from Oklahoma Christian University; a Master of Divinity with Certificate in Black Church Studies from Brite Divinity School; and a Doctor of Ministry in Transformative Leadership and Prophetic Preaching from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, in Rochester, New York.

Amelia Nickerson joined First Step Staffing in January 2018 and was appointed as CEO in May 2020. Amelia has two decades of experience as a fundraiser, volunteer, and board member for nonprofits across the Southeast. As CEO, Amelia has helped grow First Step into three new markets and continues to increase both the financial metrics and community impact the organization has each year. Under her leadership, First Step has become the largest alternative staffing agency in the U.S. and was recognized by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness at a “Extra Mile” Award winner in 2020.

Amelia previously served as the Vice President of Development and Community Relations at First Step, managing fundraising and community relations for all of First Step’s current markets, as well as assisting with expansion opportunities. As the head of Development, Amelia exceeded fundraising goals each year while also helping to build relationships with lending and local community partners. She assisted in the growth of First Step into new markets, managing fundraising and lender relationships, overseeing Board governance, and serving as an Interim Executive Director for First Step Philadelphia. She also helped to launch a new training pilot “Second Step” for First Step clients and help to connect the organization to local leaders in workforce development which is now part of First Step’s national model for upskilling. Amelia also provided oversight on board governance for the organization.

Prior to joining First Step, Amelia worked as an Associate Director at Coxe Curry & Associates, managing capital campaigns, feasibility studies, and general consulting engagements for a range of clients, including the Atlanta Women’s Foundation, Fulton County Schools, Georgia World Congress Center/Centennial Olympic Park, Bobby Jones Golf Course, and Navicent Health Foundation. Before working at Coxe Curry, Amelia served as a fundraising consultant for a documentary project with Georgia Public Broadcasting and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra titled Robert Shaw – Man of Many Voices, a film on the life, legacy, and music of legendary conductor Robert Shaw. Her career also includes positions with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Woodruff Arts Center, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, DC), and Peace Center for the Performing Arts (Greenville, SC), with a focus on donor research and corporate and foundation fundraising.

Amelia serves on the Worksource Fulton Board and is Chair of Strategic Partnerships Committee, as well as the Metro Atlanta Exchange for Workforce Development’s Board of Directors, and the Governing Council for Partners for Home. She is also on the local Advisory Boards for the CEO (Center for Employment Opportunities) and Café Momentum. Amelia has also served as president of the board for the Anti-Prejudice Consortium and past chair of the annual Power Over Prejudice (POP) Summit.

Amelia is also an active member of YPO and currently serves as the Vice Chair for the State of Georgia. She was named Fidelity Bank Volunteer of the Year by the Junior League of Atlanta in 2013. She and her daughter are members of the National Charity League. Originally from Savannah, Amelia is a graduate of both St. Vincent’s Academy and Furman University. She currently lives in Roswell, GA with her husband, Sean, and three children.

Catherine L. Wheeler, a culture-change management leader and expert, is the Founder and CEO of Pivot One-Eighty. She’s spent over a decade advising and coaching organizational leaders of Fortune 300 companies and non-profit organizations through significant culture transformations, including a $19.5B acquisition; challenging and equipping them to successfully lead and navigate the terrains of people-centered operations and organizational design for mission-driven impact. Catherine’s approach as a former corporate People and Culture practitioner for over 15 years, marries the day-to-day operations and aspirational reimagining and visioning of change leadership.

Catherine holds an MBA with specializations in Organizational Development and Design and Project Management; and is also a licensed facilitator of the strategic operating system known and used by high-impact organizations globally, StratOp.

When she’s not transforming leaders and organizations you can find her hosting dance parties with her daughters, Ella and Sage and watching Married to Real Estate with her husband, Justin.

Rev. Mitchell Boone has served as Senior Minister of First United Methodist Church of Dallas since July 2022. Before joining FirstChurch, he led congregations at White Rock United Methodist Church in East Dallas and Lone Oak United Methodist Church in Lone Oak, Texas. He holds a BA in Religion from Hendrix College (2007) and a Master of Divinity from The Iliff School of Theology (2012).

Rev. Boone completed a two-year fellowship with Hendrix College, funded by the Lilly Foundation, focusing on Clergy Civic Engagement. He also earned a certificate in Spiritual Entrepreneurship from Columbia University Business School and CLAL, and was honored with the Henry Denman Evangelism Award in 2020. His current roles include serving on the Citizen Homelessness Commission for the City of Dallas, incoming chair of the Golden Cross Board (part of Methodist Health System's Foundation), and member of the Board of Ordained Ministry for the Horizon Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Mitchell is married to Elizabeth VanOort, a Senior Philanthropic Officer in Private Banking at Bank of America. They have two sons, Cashel and Declan, and love living in East Dallas. Outside of ministry, Mitchell enjoys supporting Dallas sports teams, perfecting his meat-smoking skills, golfing, and hunting for vinyl record deals.

Casey Rogers has spent her 20+ career accelerating positive social change as a funder, non-profit leader and founder of several social ventures. Casey began her career as a teacher in Namibia in southwest Africa, where she also launched a multi-country non-profit scholarship fund. Casey then joined the Hilton Foundation where she served as a Senior Program Officer leading the Foundation's domestic and international education and disaster-related grantmaking, as well as a member of the Hilton Humanitarian Prize team. Casey has served as an advisor to nearly a dozen family foundations, particularly on including the next gen within family philanthropy. In partnership with Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, Casey launched The Ellen Fund, which deployed $11 million to support global conservation efforts for endangered species. Casey served as an early thought partner to Zainab Salbi in the formation of Daughters for Earth, a fund and movement supporting women-led climate action.

Casey believes deeply in the power of storytelling and has co-produced the feature length Uncharitable, advocating for reforms in the charitable sector and based on the work of Dan Pallotta; consulted on Discovery's Ellen's Next Act, showcasing Ellen DeGeneres' efforts championing gorilla conservation; and seed funded a Rwandan film production company, MASS Media. Casey’s TedxVaill talk is coming out in late 2024, and Casey has authored articles on trust-based philanthropy and women financing a healthy planet.

Naisha Randhar is 2024-26 Youth Poet Laureate of Dallas. She performs at various city events and has served as a junior teaching artist for the Rail Writers' Program for high schoolers. Her novel, Roses of Arma, is available on Amazon.