Across North Texas, companies are promoting and hiring people to take on leadership positions within their organizations.

Dallas Innovates covers prominent personnel moves in Dallas-Fort Worth businesses and nonprofits—from the newest startups to well-established companies. Here are the people moves tied to innovation and technology in the region.

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Match Group names former Uber exec as its head of Safety And Social Advocacy

Tracey Breeden

Dallas-headquartered Match Group is adding Tracey Breeden to its team in the new role of head of safety and social advocacy.

It’s a role Breeden is readily prepared for, considering she was previously the head of women’s safety and gender-based violence operations at Uber. There, she led global safety initiatives across six continents.

In all, she has worked with more than 200 women’s safety groups and advocacy organizations, according to a statement.

Breeden says she aims to develop pathways to more equitable and inclusive safety solutions across Match Group’s communities. According to Match Group, she will work with the product teams of each brand to develop new safety features and tech that cultivates a safe and respectful community across all dating apps. Read more here.

Jeff Berry named new CEO of Poo~Pourri as Founder Suzy Batiz steps down

Suzy Batiz

Scentsible LLC, the parent company of Poo-Pourri, announced that Jeff Berry has been appointed as the brand’s CEO.

The company’s founder and the visionary behind Poo-Pourri, Suzy Batiz, will move into the role of chairwoman and chief visionary officer.

Batiz has been stopping bathroom odor since founding the chic toilet spray in 2007. Poo-Pourri said in a release that she will stay on at her brainchild as the “creative force behind the business,” with a focus on innovation, brand promotion, product development, and guiding others through her recently launched eight-week online program, ALIVE OS.

Batiz will also remain the CEO of her conscious concentrate cleaning product line, supernatural. Read more here.

Dallas Regional Chamber appoints first-ever SVP for Community Engagement

Latosha Bruff Herron

The Dallas Regional Chamber (DRC), which serves as the voice of business and a champion of economic development and growth in the Dallas region, has named Latosha (Tosha) Herron-Bruff as its first senior vice president for community engagement.

Per a news release, Herron-Bruff will be tasked with building on the chamber’s years-long efforts to grow and promote underserved areas, like Southern Dallas, as attractive places to live, work, and do business.

She will work with the DRC’s team to engage on key elements of its strategic plan. That includes Economic Development, Education and Workforce, Public Policy, and DEI.

She brings more than two decades of experience in championing marginalized communities, according to the DRC, which includes 10-plus years at Habitat for Humanity. Most recently, she was Habitat’s vice president of Government and Public Affairs. Read more here.

Pizza Hut CEO joins First Book’s Board

Artie Starrs

The CEO of Plano-based Pizza Hut, Artie Starrs, has joined the Board of Directors for national nonprofit First Book.

Washington, D.C.-based First Book is a social enterprise that aims to establish equal access to quality education. For the past four years, the nonprofit has been collaborating with Pizza Hut through The Literacy Project, a platform dedicated to tackling illiteracy.

Starrs, who is responsible for driving Pizza Hutt’s global growth strategies, franchise operations, and performance, has been directly engaged with the project to champion the importance of literacy. The initiative intends to impact 100 million lives over the course of a decade by enabling better access to books and educational resources.

Experienced tech CEO joins Interlock Partners

Carl Sparks

Dallas-based venture capital firm Interlock Partners is adding Carl Sparks, the former CEO of Travelocity and Academic Partnerships, to its team as a managing partner.

Sparks will serve on the firm’s Investment Committee, according to a release. He has vast experience in scaling business teams, processes, and tech, also previously serving in executive roles at Expedia, Capital One, Guinness, and PepsiCo.

He has also served on the boards of Vonage, Dunkin Brands, and Avis Budget Group. His expertise includes: technology, omni channel marketing, online and offline conversion, mobile, inventory management, yield maximization, and more. That experience will prove useful at Interlock, which focuses on backing companies that use technology, IP, proprietary content, and innovative solutions.

Revint names a COO

Kristina Bourke

Dallas-based Revint, a provider in revenue recovery solutions, has named Kristina Bourke as its chief operating officer.

Bourke joins Revint, which created the industry’s first-ever revenue integrity platform for healthcare providers, with more than 20 years of experience in leading healthcare tech-enabled service businesses. Most recently, she was the group senior vice president for Vizient.

In her new role, Bourke will lead daily operational functions for Revint’s revenue assurance, payer accountability, and medicare reimbursement solutions, according to a release. Her focus will be on how to improve efficiency for Revint to achieve growth.

Exxon Mobil Corporation names a new general counsel

Randall Ebner

Irving-headquartered Exxon Mobil Corporation announced that effective Nov. 1, Randall Ebner will retire from his role as vice president and general counsel. The Board of Directors has elected Craig Morford to assume the positions.

Ebner’s retirement comes after more than 40 years of service. He joined the Exxon Company, USA Law Department in 1980 and has served in numerous advancing roles since. The Board elected him as general counsel and vice president in 2016.

Morford, who is currently deputy general counsel, joined ExxonMobil in 2019. He previously served with the United States Department of Justice for more than 20 years. In 2007, he was named acting deputy attorney general by President George W. Bush.

HealthMine gets an executive vice president

Melissa Smith

Dallas-based HealthMine, a provider of tech-enabled member engagement and rewards solutions, has named Melissa Smith as its executive vice president of Consulting and Professional Services.

HealthMine calls Smith a well-known thought leader and healthcare strategist. Smith has more than two decades of experience in strategy, sales, and marketing, according to a release. She has worked with health plans, providers, pharmacy benefit managers, and industry vendors.

Most recently, Smith served as the SVP of Stars and Strategy at Gorman Health Group. Prior to that, she was an executive at Cigna-HealthSpring.

Suffolk adds a VP of Preconstruction for Texas

Dan O’Shea

Suffolk, a builder and real estate enterprise, has brought on Dan O’Shea as its vice president of Preconstruction in the Dallas office.

O’Shea’s reach includes projects in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, central and south Texas, and the South Central region. He will lead the critical preliminary planning, estimating, and design-assist services for Suffolk’s building construction.

Most recently, O’Shea was the vice president of Preconstruction and Estimating Manager at AECOM Hunt Construction. There, he is credited with revamping the company’s estimating and preconstruction systems, which led to more cost certainty and reliable guaranteed maximum pricing, per a release.

OneDay adds a director of People and Culture

Kelsey Rea

Dallas-based OneDay, which developed first-of-its kind video technology for the senior living community, has promoted Kelsey Rea to its director of People and Culture.

Rea has been with OneDay since last year, when she joined the company as an executive assistant. In her new role, she will be tasked with leading all people-related initiatives and furthering he company’s already strong culture.

Those responsibilities include HR, culture, talent acquisition and onboarding, learning and development, and compensation and benefits. According to OneDay, she has been working in operations in the tech/startup world as an executive assistant and office manager for the past five years.

Imaginuity names a chief media officer

Kristin Nuckols

Dallas-based Imaginuity has promoted Kristin Nuckols to chief media officer after she has spent four years at the company building best-in-class media planning and buying capabilities for traditional digital media.

Imaginuity, known for reimagining marketing for the connected age, said that Nuckols will be leading one of the largest in-house media departments in the Southwest. Imaguinity has brought media planning, strategy, and buying together to offer advantages via relationships, savings, and technology. 

“We are proud to name Kristin our first chief media officer—for years she has been the driving force behind assembling the exceptional talent and technology required to effectively convert our clients’ audiences into efficient conversions,” CEO Taylor Calise said in a statement. “By managing this in-house under Kristin’s leadership, we can create a frictionless experience as audiences journey through the media conversion path.”

Reserve Capital Partners expands Dallas presence with new hire

Matt Waldon

Private equity real estate acquisition company Reserve Capital Partners (RCP) has hired Matt Waldon as its vice president of leasing.

In his new role, Waldon will handle all in-house leasing for RCP’s portfolio. He has more than a decade of experience in the Dallas commercial real estate scene, handling more than 2.5 million square feet. Most recently, he was a vice president at Pillar Commercial specializing in in-house leasing and marketing.

RCP said that the hire is its next important step for strategic growth. He will help to propel the team to a new level.

Independent Insurance Group adds a chief strategy officer to its team

George Luecke

Dallas-based Independent Insurance Group (IIG) has hired George Luecke to serve as its president and chief strategy officer.

Luecke’s duties will include establishing IIG’s strategic direction and overseeing initiatives to enhance its market presence and operations. He brings more than 25 years of experience to the company, having served in multi-disciplinary roles in the insurance and reinsurance industries.

Previously, Luecke was an executive at MetLife and a number of startups. Before joining the insurance industry, he was an investment banker who specialized in mergers, acquisitions, and capital solutions at Merrill Lynch and Bank of America.

National Math and Science Initiative gets its first chief development officer

Laure O’Neal

The National Math and Science Initiative, a Dallas-based nonprofit dedicated to advancing STEM education, has named Laure O’Neal its first-ever chief development officer.

O’Neal is a veteran fundraiser who has more than two decades of experience in connecting corporate, foundation, and individual givers with academic institutions and other organizations. In her new role, she will be tasked with diversifying the organization’s funding sources alongside a restructured fundraising team.

In 2007, NMSI was founded with support from the ExxonMobil Foundation, Texas Instruments Foundation, and other corporate and philanthropic organizations. In 2018, it transitioned to a blended approach of on-demand and digital learning.

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