D CEO

In 1998, Chris Young helped Highland Park High School claim its only baseball state championship in school history. Twenty-five years and a decorated professional playing career later, he was the architect behind the Texas Rangers’ first and only World Series title. Now, he’s aiming for another. Read Young’s plan to take the Rangers back to the top from Jamey Newberg: https://lnkd.in/g_9ytgQi

When the writing was on the wall that Dr. Andria Johnson, MBA, DBA’s basketball career as a 5-foot-8 center would not progress beyond high school, she set her sights on working in the front office of a pro sports team or league. “I couldn’t shoot, and I couldn’t dribble, so I asked myself, ‘What can I do to still be close to sports?’” she says. In 2016, the NBA’s league office came calling, and took a job as a recruiter. “At the time, the NBA was getting more than 70,000 applications a year and was hiring less than 1 percent of those people,” Johnson says. In what became a three-year stint, she discovered a passion for human resources. In 2018, Johnson attended an event where former Mavs’ CEO Cynt Marshall was a guest speaker. “I was enamored by her,” she says. A year later, the NBA team hired Johnson as its director of HR. Today, still based out of DFW, she is the head of people and inclusion with the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), one of the U.S.’s fast-growing leagues. “Sports can impact change, and I don’t think we lean into that power enough,” she says. “When you’re looking at the women’s leagues, they’re often not profitable for a while. And most times, they’re 100 percent board funded. So, the first part of establishing a team is there has to be interest from some very, very rich people. Our investor and ownership circle includes Patrick and Brittany Mahomes, Dwyane Wade, Gabrielle Union, Alexis Ohanian, Serena Williams, and Aly Raisman. We’re very intentional about who we bring in because, for us, it’s about more than just making money. Yes, it’s about ROI, but we’re building a league where we care about our players, we care about what they think about, we care about causes that they care about, and we want to make sure that the people we’re bringing into that also share that same care.” “No other league is doing what we’re doing. It has taken about a year to create a collaboration encompassing every team in our league, but we just partnered with the USC Race and Equity Center. We are getting two to three people from each front office and eight to 10 leaders from our league office to participate in a six-month intensive course where we dive into inclusive leadership. It doesn’t matter what team you’re a part of; we want to make sure there is a thread that connects each of us as it pertains to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Participants will leave with a sports equity certificate from the USC Race and Equity Center and the USC Marshall School of Business.” Read the full story from Layten Praytor: https://lnkd.in/gaHGCwRZ

From farmland to a $7 billion vision, HALL Park in Frisco is more than just a development—it’s a vibrant community where you can live, work, and play. With luxury living at The Monarch, art and events at Kaleidoscope Park, and cutting-edge office spaces, HALL Park is shaping Frisco’s future. #ad Read how HALL Park is reshaping the future of office parks: https://lnkd.in/dWyi4mvc

As D CEO‘s nonprofit coverage indicates, North Texas is replete with nonprofit organizations doing amazing things to improve the community. Our coverage aims to help readers learn more about the organizations to see how they might get involved. Sometimes, the biggest challenge can be navigating the organizations and connecting with the right service. Unlocking Doors, which Christina Melton Crain founded in 2010, is meant to do just that for justice-impacted individuals: act as a broker or guide to help them connect with the services they need to re-enter society. Crain is a lawyer appointed by Governor Rick Perry to the Texas Board of Criminal Justice and was the first and only woman to chair the organization (the state women’s prison in Gatesville is named for her). In this role overseeing the state prisons, she noticed that many formerly incarcerated individuals had trouble accessing the resources in their community meant to help them get back on their feet. Unlocking Doors doesn’t provide direct services to individuals. Rather, it helps navigate and consult with clients to access the 250 Unlocking Doors partner organizations that provide everything from transportation and employment to mental health and housing services. The organization monitors the individuals, also serving as an emergency contact as they turn their lives around. The organization has had striking success. Nationwide, 68 percent of incarcerated individuals re-offend and end up back in prison within three years. For the 8,000 Unlocking Doors clients since 2010, the three-year recidivism rate is just 8 percent. Crain attributes the success of the organization, which juggles 400 to 800 clients at any one time, to the way they treat the individuals they serve. After months or years of being a number in the prison system who stood in line after line to receive food, medicine, and other services, the individuals at Unlocking Doors become clients receiving a consulting service, where they have agency and dignity. Unlocking Doors’ secret sauce, Crain says, is its ability to monitor the individuals in its program and keep them on track to follow the plan created by their consultant. They seek to find the balance of constant contact without overwhelming the individual, who may be adjusting to the responsibilities of life on the outside. Unlocking Doors’ professional approach to service is paying dividends for the individuals and North Texas in general, as clients are reintegrated into the workforce and away from a life of crime or in jail, where they become even more expensive to the taxpayer. Challenges remain when dealing with a client base that has been through so much trauma, but the nonprofit’s successful balance of personal responsibility and a helping hand speaks for itself. Read the full story on Unlocking Doors from Will Maddox: https://lnkd.in/gzXzJADp

The last five years for the office asset class has felt like something out of a Twilight Zone episode. Strong fundamentals in 2019 morphed into uncertainty about next steps as the onset of a pandemic called the value of office space into question. What followed has been a cavalcade of opinions, predictions, and headwind shifts as employers and market players have shifted strategies to breathe new life into office use. Now, as HALL Group’s Kim Butler puts it, companies are “moving away from temporary fixes.” They are instead opting for long-term visioning—meaning 2025 marks a new chapter for Dallas’ office market. As we move into the new year, D CEO asked top North Texas commercial real estate brokers to share their thoughts on 2024 performance as well as what 2025 could bring. We’ll be sharing their insights over the next few weeks. We started last week with thought leaders in the industrial and data center sectors, and we’re turning our attention this week to the office sector. Audrey Henvey gathered insights from Stream Realty Partners’ Randy Cooper, HALL Group’s Kim Butler, Savills’ Jihane A. Boury, and Citadel Partners, LLC’ Mac Morse. Here’s what these power brokers had to say: https://lnkd.in/ePCsBQ3i

Dallas-Fort Worth has been deprived of a men’s Major golf championship since 1963 and a women’s Major since 1991. “I’m quite shocked there hasn’t been more high-quality golf in Dallas because it seems like the two would go together,” two-time Major champion Jon Rahm told D CEO. “You have the high-quality real estate, good crowds, and a central location. So, it is quite surprising.” But things are changing—in a big way. Over the next nine years, the region will host at least five Majors, and the promise of the 2041 Ryder Cup looms. Read why championship golf is finally returning to North Texas from Ben Swanger: https://lnkd.in/gCp9weHd

🚨 Deadline approaching! 🚨 We *get* to do a lot of amazing things at D, and I’m especially proud of the work we do through D CEO to shine a light on the individuals, nonprofits, and businesses driving meaningful impact across our community. The D CEO Nonprofit & Corporate Citizenship Awards, in partnership with Communities Foundation of Texas, are open for submissions through next week — and there’s no better platform in North Texas for: ✅ Nonprofits to gain visibility for their mission and work ✅ Corporate partners to be recognized for their community leadership and support ✅ These two to come together in one, epic room and explore more ways they can make Dallas an even better place. If you know an organization, leader, or partnership that deserves recognition, highly recommend you submit. You never know where it may lead. 👉 Learn more and submit your nomination here: https://lnkd.in/gDyMhnZJ #DCeo #NonprofitLeadership #CorporateCitizenship #DallasFortWorth #CommunityImpact

The ground in kenya felt like shards of glass on Mital Patel’s arms. It was 2023, and the managing partner at NewcrestImage was working to get the perfect shot of a rhino in the wild. But the vegetation around him was digging into his skin—he needed to move just a bit to get some relief. But his movements weren’t subtle enough. The rhino charged—and Patel ran. “I had my hands up in the air, screaming and hollering—my wife and the guide were honking and yelling,” he says. “I went one way, and the rhino ended up going another way.” Such is the life of a moonlighting photographer like Patel, who was gifted his first camera at 12 by his dad. The hobby stuck, as today, there are striking visual signs of it all over Patel’s home. Where there would be a formal dining room, there is instead a gallery of high-resolution prints featuring his wildlife and nature photography. The space is a testing site for Patel, who has had his work presented in galleries and who will often donate his prints to nonprofits like the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center or DIFFA Design Industries Foundation Fighting Aids. Patel became interested in wildlife photography after a family trip to Africa in 2017. “My dad was born in Malawi, and then they came to the States in 1977,” Patel says. “Twenty of us went back as a family to visit. It was the first time they had ever gone back.” Before that trip, Patel was more focused on landscape and architecture shots. Those types of images are also on display at Patel’s home—including a shot of lava from a volcano in Hawaii that he captured from a helicopter in 2018.  For Patel, the perfect framing is a mixture of skill and luck. “It comes with a lot of practice, but a lot of it is shooting and praying,” he says. “As you start shooting, you start composing while you’re there.” As Patel charts his next adventures, his destinations of choice are usually driven by the kind of stories he wants to tell. Printing his pieces is a way to give audiences a sense of the natural world from a different perspective. “It’s our foundation. That’s how we started and evolved,” Patel says. “And it’s getting more and more lost. There are just so many distractions and so many different things that are happening in the world today. I think it’s important that people can go outside and see what the natural world is.”  Read the story from Audrey Henvey: https://lnkd.in/gQGY4ju3

Another week, another #DCEODealTicker! In addition to updates from GEICO and Sally Beauty, we have info on the Design District property that is now in possession of Joe Pastora and Garrick Patterson. Check it out: https://lnkd.in/gDXZ_Yzk CBRE Anya Ostry, MCR Doug Carignan Travis Boyd Christy Rhea (Thelen) Mapletree Cushman & Wakefield Chris Taylor Zach Bean John Roper Travis Sapaugh Matt Schendle Carrie Halbrooks Travis Boothe Mary Frances Burnette Kristopher James Company Hudson Sheets Adam Curran Holt Lunsford Commercial Andrew Gilbert Keaton Brice Chase Stone Paul Hernandez Larson Capital Management John Ellerman Stream Realty Partners Chase Stone Hayden Parker Franklin Street Properties Corp. Mary Stoner Yost Colliers Garrison Efird Steve Blankenship Jim Cooksey Newmark Duane Henley

Christian nonprofit Men of Nehemiah, which helps men recover from substance addiction through a nine-month, faith-based clinical program, is building a new 43,000-square-foot facility in South Dallas. To date, the organization has raised $12.2 million for construction. The facility will increase its patient capacity from 56 men to 80 men. The new complex will centralize all operations for the nonprofit. Its current real estate footprint includes an 8,000-square-foot office at the corner of Al Lipscomb Way and S. Harwood St., just a mile southwest of Fair Park Dallas, and a 12,000-square-foot, 18-unit apartment center nearby. Plans and renderings for the new hub are still in the works. Men of Nehemiah was founded in New Orleans in 1994 by Louis Harrell Jr. After Hurricane Katrina struck the city in 2005, Harrell and his family moved to Dallas. In 2010, alongside community partners, he re-started the nonprofit in South Dallas. To date, the organization has served more than 1,400 men. It currently has a 68 percent graduation rate. The nine-month program combines biblical teachings and military structure with a clinical approach to help recovering addicts. When Jim Ramsey joined in 2017, he spearheaded the nonprofit’s efforts in attaining its Intensive Outpatient Program license from the State of Texas to establish that clinical approach. The license has been a significant funding driver, allowing the nonprofit to bring in revenue via annual insurance reimbursement. When Ramsey took over as CEO, after 18 years at PwC, Men of Nehemiah had about 15 employees and was serving 25 men on an annual basis. Today, the nonprofit has 42 employees, and last year, it served 184 men. Ramsey expects that number to be above 200 with the new facility. Men of Nehemiah’s initiative is ensuring each man understands his purpose. So, along the 12-step journey, the organization tasks each individual to serve at a local nonprofit every week. Local Helping Hands locations, St. Phillip’s School, and other local organizations are the beneficiaries. “We’ve got guys in our program who feel like they’re worthless, but we’re teaching them they each have something to give, and God has a plan for them,” Ramsey said.  Men of Nehemiah also has a partnership with Dallas College, allowing its graduates to earn certifications in HVAC, automotive mechanics, electrical plumbing, and other trade skills. The cost of its recovery program is $38,000, but through the nonprofit’s fundraising efforts, every individual in the program is on full scholarship.  Church partners include Park Cities Baptist Church, Park Cities Methodist, Park Cities Presbyterian Church, Highland Park Presbyterian Church, Northwest Bible Church, St. Michael’s, Cornerstone Baptist Church, and more. Read more about Men of Nehemiah's time of growth from Ben Swanger: https://lnkd.in/gMt9dFvN