Leadership North Texas Class 15 Announced

North Texas – The North Texas Commission, a public-private partnership dedicated to advancing the vibrancy of the North Texas region, has selected the members of Leadership North Texas Class 15. Leadership North Texas is a graduate-level, regional leadership program that recruits, develops, and supports stewards of our region. Oncor is the presenting sponsor for the program.

Class 15 is made up of 36 senior level leaders from across North Texas in a variety of industry sectors including elected officials, municipal leaders, education leaders and the business community.

Since the program launched in 2008, Leadership North Texas has graduated more than 400 leaders including a state representative, numerous mayors and city council members, a county commissioner, business and non-profit executives and higher education leaders.

“Leadership North Texas continues to be the region’s top professional development program for management level executives proving that regionalism is a must in North Texas,” said Chris Wallace, President and CEO of the North Texas Commission and an alumnus of the program. “Convening public and private sector leaders together to address our region’s greatest challenges is the bedrock of the Commission. LNT participants have a long track record of becoming regionalists who work together to ensure that we improve our region’s sustainability and inclusivity to further grow our economy.”

Leadership North Texas meets nine times and covers topics such as regionalism, the North Texas economy, education and workforce, social determinates of health, the cost of incarceration, and infrastructure and sustainability.

The 2023-2024 Leadership North Texas Class will include the following:

Clint Abernathy, Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Alliance

Sally Aldridge, Metroport Chamber

Elise Back, City of Corinth

Christopher Bailey, DFW International Airport

Sheri Belmont, City of Coppell

Mayor Jeff Bickerstaff, City of Sachse

Mayor David Billings, City of Fate

Clint Bissett, Westwood Professional Services

Tricia Clifton, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Collin County

Christopher Cook, City of White Settlement

Cece Cox, Resource Center

Jason Crawford, Texas A&M Transportation Institute

Robin Donovan, Dallas College

Council Member Curtis Dorian, City of Richardson

Mayor Michael Evans, City of Mansfield

Henry Florsheim, Cedar Hill Economic Development Corporation

Bhasker Garlapati, AT&T

Council Member Gregory Glover, City of Cedar Hill

J.C. Gonzalez, Wells Fargo & Company

Paul Grimes, City of McKinney

Andi Gwyn, City of Arlington

Matthew Jalbert, Trinity River Authority

Maureen Johns, Frisco Chamber of Commerce

Felicia Johnson, The Gatson Group, LLC

John Manganilla, Atmos Energy Corporation

Danielle McClelland, City of Dallas

Eli Mercer, Kingdom Ecosystems, LLC

Thomas Morr, Consultant

Billy Nesbitt, DFW International Airport

Debrah North, Growth Strategies LLC

Phedra Redifer, Workforce Solutions for North Central Texas

Cristal Retana Lule, Children’s Health System of Texas

Jennifer Salazar, Fairway Mortgage Company

Mayor Pro Tem Arefin Shamsul, City of Richardson

Adrienne Thompson, Dallas College

Ryan Tiglas, Paycom

Established in 1971, the North Texas Commission is a unique public-private partnership that drives large impactful projects and legislative issues benefiting a robust 13-county region, and tackles the region’s greatest challenges with board and staff subject matter experts who provide resources to market the region and educate future leaders. The Commission also manages the region’s unified advocacy voice at the state and federal levels.

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