On Aug. 24, the Dallas City Council unanimously approved 15 nominees to the inaugural City of Dallas Economic Development Corporation Board. The new board will oversee the City of Dallas Economic Development Corporation, which was approved by the city council in January 2022 to serve as a public developer and support business development within the city.

Meet the Dallas EDC board members

Biographies provided by the City of Dallas

Alan Dorantes

Alan Dorantes is currently a Senior Corporate Council at T-Mobile USA. Prior to his position at T-Mobile, Mr. Dorantes served as Chief of Staff/General Counsel for Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger relief organization. In this newly created role, he served as a critical partner to the CEO and the executive office, playing a connective role with both internal and external stakeholders helping to build strong relationships and ensure effective communication. Mr. Dorantes as responsible for overseeing Feeding America’s legal affairs as well as board development and governance. Prior to joining Feeding America, he was an Assistant Vice President, Senior Legal Counsel of Human Resources at AT&T. Mr. Dorantes has championed diversity as a member of the Dallas Hispanic Law Foundation and is a member of the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession. He is active with several additional community organizations as a member and board member.

Ardo Fuentes

Ardo Fuentes is the Senior Vice President of Investments at Stifel. He has served in various roles at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York City and Robert Stephens in San Francisco. Mr. Fuentes works to help individuals and family offices manage their financial needs, and helps businesses coordinate their exit strategies with their overall wealth management objectives and pursue profitability improvement. During his tenure in New York, he was Vice President in Global Corporate and Investment Banking, working as an Investment-Grade Debt Analyst. He is a board member Dallas CASA and a member of the advisory board of E-LEAD at UTEP’s college of engineering; Mr. Fuentes previously served on the board of Uplift Education.

Chris Bradshaw

Ms. Bradshaw is the Business Services Support Director for Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses at Dallas College, with extensive experience in business development, entrepreneurship and small business. Ms. Bradshaw has had a successful career in business development and consulting in the area of opportunity and taking the right steps to the next level for growth. She is skilled at turning data into narratives to drive action that helps small businesses navigate the current economic situation forward into their next business opportunity. “Gather the data, work the scenarios” is the adage she uses to motivate business owners to think beyond the now and ideate blue sky opportunities. In her current role she oversees day-to-day operations of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses team which includes recruitment, alumni engagement, partner management, and program delivery. She is a member of the Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas, a Partner with the National Association of Women Business Owners, the Women’s Business Council-Southwest, the Dallas Fort Worth Minority Supplier Diversity Council, and is active in several mentoring, education, and support organizations.

Debra Hunter Johnson

Mrs. Johnson is the Founder, President, and Principal Consultant of Reciprocity Consulting Group, LLC, a workplace/organization strategy and training company. Mrs. Johnson is also a business advisor, mentor, and investor to startups and early-stage businesses. She has deep experience in business development, entrepreneurship, community/quality of place, and workforce/education. She is a discerning thinker on the topics of organizational design and culture, leadership development, and economic development with more than 30 years of experience in human capital management, legal, and executive management in the airline, automotive, and consulting industries. Prior to becoming a small business owner and entrepreneur, Mrs. Johnson served in several executive leadership roles including Vice President – Global HR Services and Associate General Counsel at American Airlines and as an attorney at Chrysler Corporation. She is an engaged community leader who currently serves on nonprofit hospital and foundation boards.

Cynthia Figueroa

Cynthia Figueroa is the Managing Attorney with The Figueroa Law Group, PLLC.  She is an experienced attorney, acting as counsel and general counsel for both private sector business and public sector clients.  She advises non-profits focused on job training and education, overseeing the legal regulations. For over 30 years, her career has focused on work at the intersection of public and private sectors, helping both to succeed.  She is a dedicated public and community servant with a breadth of knowledge in finance which includes experience as bond counsel to the City of Dallas on the Omni Hotel, Love Field Expansion and Dallas Water Sewer bond projects.  Her background includes service on numerous boards throughout the city of Dallas including the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, SMU’s Meadows Museum of the Arts, and The Family Place. She has served on the Texas Association of Business board of directors.  Her experience also includes transportation and education matters for DART, NTTA, and DISD.  She has served as a countywide elected official overseeing over 250 employees, courts and real estate, with a constituency of over 2 million people in 30 cities, Dallas being the largest. She has been involved in workforce and talent development, education, including assisting to create successful Early Head Start Programs in Dallas.  She has experience with Community Development Corporations, has assisted with past Dallas Disparity Studies, and has also served as an adjunct professor of law at SMU and as a hearing officer, overseeing liquor license appeals in Dallas.

Dania Duncan Moreno

Ms. Duncan Moreno is a Partner with Bell Nunnally & Martin LLP with experience in public development and community/quality of place. She focuses her practice in both domestic and cross-border corporate and real estate transactions, representing international and US companies in the acquisition, disposition, leasing, and development of real estate properties for hospitality, retail, industrial, and residential projects throughout Texas, Mexico, and Latin America. She advises clients in connection with mergers and acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures, and financing transactions in a broad range of industries. Ms. Duncan Moreno is actively involved with several legal associations, has published several articles, and has been recognized for her work in the legal profession.

Gilbert Gerst

Gilbert Gerst is a Senior Vice President and Corporate Manager of Community Development Banking at BOK Financial Corporation responsible for community development lending activity. He has over 35 years of experience in the financial services industry with expertise in community development lending and investment, economic development, small business financing, affordable housing, and workforce development. Mr. Gerst has also been a Vice President with Chase Bank’s Community Development Real Estate Group and served on the board of many local organizations.

Holly Reed

Holly Reed is a Principal and Advisory Practice Leader at Ryan, LLC where she works with internal tax experts to ensure that companies pay the taxes they owe. Prior to this position she worked for 25 years at Southwestern Bell/SBC/AT&T in a variety of capacities, spending most of her tenure focused on state and local initiatives that supported a healthy community environment to deploy capital. She was also employed as a Managing Director at the Texas Bullet Train where she was in charge of coalition building, government affairs, communication, media relations, and began working with minority business, small business, rural businesses, and workforce development. Ms. Reed has served in numerous leadership positions and on the board of organizations at the national, state, and local levels.

Jimmy Tran

Owner & Area Developer, Code Ninjas and Principal, Oak Lawn Group LLC
Mr. Tran is a business owner, nonprofit volunteer, board member, and civic leader with experience in corporate strategy, business development, entrepreneurship, small business, and education. He founded Oak Lawn Group LLC in 2010, which is a real estate investment firm that makes both direct and indirect investments focused on real estate and other income-producing assets. Mr. Tran is also the Owner and an Area Developer for Code Ninjas, a computer coding franchise where kids learn coding by creating games. He currently owns and operates 3 Code Ninjas centers in Dallas, Coppell, and Southlake. Prior to becoming a small business owner and entrepreneur, Mr. Tran led Corporate Strategy and Mergers & Acquisitions activity for a $10 billion+ business segment within CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate services company. Prior to CBRE, he worked as a management consultant for Bain & Company in Dallas, Hong Kong, and Singapore. 

John Stephens

Mr. Stephens currently serves as the General Partner of MJ Lupton Partners, a closely held fund investing in real estate, technology startups, and diversified equities. His experience includes business development, governance, affordable housing, and public development. He is the former Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ATT where he was responsible for financial planning, corporate development, accounting, tax, auditing, treasury, investor relations, and corporate real estate. He has extensive experience in tax incentive development, New Markets Tax Credits, Opportunity and Enterprise zones, and low-income housing and funding. His experience with economic development tax credits has assisted with successful efforts with housing, youth recreation, homeless services as well as hotel/business development. Since moving to Dallas in 2008, John has been committed to giving back, working with nonprofits, the business community, and others to address the needs of our community. These efforts have led to a strong belief that economic development – working with the overall community – can be a significant positive step in meeting the most pressing needs of the community. He has extensive experience serving on the boards of private companies, foundations, chambers, and other organizations.

Johnnie King

Johnnie King, Jr. is a native of South Dallas with over 40 years of experience in the Dallas business community. He is currently President and C.O.O. of KG Concessions, LP. and Domain Enterprises, LP., which own and operate airport concessions including Pappadeaux, Pappasitos and Fridays at DFW International Airport. Prior to the concessions business, Mr. King owned and operated The King Group, Inc., one of the largest African American-owned advertising and public relations agencies in the country. The King Group’s client list included Dallas-based corporations – Southwest Airlines, The Southland Corporation, Brinker International, Blockbuster, TGI Fridays, as well as The Texas Lottery. The King Group’s major awards include the Dallas Ad League “Minority Agency of the Year” and an international “Batchy” Award for commercials for the Texas Lottery. Mr. King spent his early professional career at The Southland Corporation in various roles of management, marketing and advertising. His last position was Society. He is involved with numerous community programs and organizations throughout the city.

Kim Noltemy

Ms. Noltemy is the President & CEO of the Dallas Symphony Association with community- building experience and a track record of using the arts as an economic driver. Since her arrival in 2018, the DSO has embarked on a bold strategic plan that has demonstrated a long-term impact locally and nationally. Highlights of her tenure include the creation of an equity, diversity and inclusion plan that is transforming the organization from artistic programming to board composition; the transition of management of the Meyerson Symphony Center from the City of Dallas; and the implementation of a Southern Dallas Residency, including the creation of the Young Musicians program serving more than 800 students to date. She negotiated a partnership with Bloomberg Media for the global distribution of six DSO concerts, resulting in a 2022 Daytime Emmy Nomination. Noltemy launched the DSO’s Women in Classical Music program, an initiative designed to increase female representation in the field. Noltemy serves on the board of the Dallas Black Dance Theatre, and she is a member of the Charter 100, Dallas Assembly, Dallas Summit, Dallas International Women’s Forum and Executive Women’s Roundtable. Prior to the DSO, Noltemy was the Chief Operating and Communications Officer for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. 

Linda McMahon

Linda McMahon is the President & CEO of The Real Estate Council (TREC). TREC is the largest and most influential commercial real estate organization in the State of Texas with over 2,000 members and 675 member companies. Ms. McMahon knows both commercial real estate and Dallas well with three decades in banking, including 15 years with JP Morgan Chase bank leading the Southwest Region Community Development Group. She is passionate about building communities, and currently serves on multiple boards and commissions.

Michon Fulgham

Ms. Fulgham is a Principal Consulting Advisor and serves on Inwood National Bank’s CRA team. focused on Community Development Lending and CRA performance as a Coach-Director. She brings almost five decades of experience in community economic development, lending, and public-private partnership development across the country with governmental entities and nonprofit boards as well as contract and regulatory compliance. Prior local experience includes serving as a Vice President of Community Reinvestment Services in the Dallas/Fort Worth region for Compass Bank, chairing a City of Dallas TIF board, mediating community-bank merger application protests, and serving as an Advanced Ombudsman-Mediator for the Department of Defense. Ms. Fulgham is known for her leadership, collaboration and consensus-building skills, bringing experience in public development, business development, governance, and community/quality of life through championing affordable housing entities and seeking ‘best practices’ resources towards developing innovative methods to impact meeting business, LMI, and community needs. She has also served on the board of several local organizations.

Walter ‘Alan’ Walne

Walter Walne is the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Bottom Lien Consultants, Inc. He has owned a collision repair center for more than 40 years, with eight locations in North Texas. He was a member of the Dallas City Council and served as chair of the Business and Commerce Committee. Mr. Walne has also served on numerous boards and commissions while running and expanding his business, to include serving on the board of Trustees for Parkland Hospital and as chair of the finance committee when Parkland designed and broke ground on their new site.

Read the story here.