Every Last Word

Dallas Innovates’ signature series capturing what leaders across North Texas are saying — in their own words — about innovation, impact, and what’s next.

The Last Word: On the Opening Day Debut of the New Rangers Sports Network

by | Mar 27, 2025
It's opening day across Major League Baseball, and the Texas Rangers began the season at 3:05 p.m. with a 5-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Globe Life Field. Meanwhile, on screens across North Texas, viewers got to see the first-ever regular season broadcast by the team's new in-house Rangers Sports Network.
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The Last Word: Honoring Cancer Survivors with Public Art in Downtown Dallas
Later this spring, an inspiring work of public art is going up in downtown Dallas, honoring cancer survivors from its placement above the Cancer Survivors’ Plaza. The installation—originally conceived by artist and Aurora co-founder Joshua King in 2016—tells the deeply personal stories of four cancer survivors.
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The Last Word: When AI Rewrote the Famous “Barbie” Speech for Nonprofits
by | Mar 20, 2025
When AI rewrote the Barbie speech for nonprofits, it hit uncomfortably close to home from impossibly tight budgets to donor expectations. Social entrepreneur Suzanne Smith says it's time for leaders to dive in and try Gen AI for themselves.
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The Last Word: On Nasdaq’s Plans for a New Regional HQ in Dallas
by | Mar 19, 2025
With the Texas Stock Exchange slated to launch trading in 2026 and the New York Stock Exchange planning its own launch of NYSE Texas, the Nasdaq is setting up its own home on Y'all Street. Yesterday the Nasdaq held a luncheon in Dallas honoring Ross Perot Jr. for his contributions to the thriving Texas economy—and announced that it will be opening a new regional headquarters in Dallas.
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Michael Gorton’s latest book, “Tachyon Tunnel 2,” picks up the story of the Tranquility team as they take on a galaxy-spanning empire—blending in theoretical physics about particles that outrun light.

The Last Word: Teladoc Founder Michael Gorton on His Latest Frontier—Time Travel Sci-Fi

by | Mar 13, 2025
The Dallas entrepreneur’s new novel, “Tachyon Tunnel 2,” launches readers into space—built on the same big thinking that’s fueled more than 15 ventures.
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The Last Word: The TRA’s Victor Fishman on Why Advanced Mobility Is a Key North Texas Mission
by | Mar 12, 2025
The Texas Research Alliance helps businesses, public agencies, and governments engage with North Texas’ robust higher education research infrastructure to advance a wide range of goals. And yes, that includes mobility—which is why the TRA developed the North Texas Center for Mobility Technologies, a collaboration among industry, the North Central Texas Council of Governments, UNT, UTA, SMU, and UTD to develop advanced mobility technologies in North Texas.
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The Last Word: On the World’s First ‘Biolumenescent’ Flower, Going on Sale Friday at Calloway’s
by | Mar 11, 2025
They’re one of the first signs of summer: fireflies blinking out lime-green signals to their friends, potential mates, and spellbound humans. But you don’t have to go outside to watch a nightly light show. Now you can bring that biolumenescent magic inside your own home—in flower form—with Light Bio's Firefly Petunia, The glow-in-the-dark flower goes on sale Friday at Calloway's Nursery locations across North Texas, along with a special after-hours event.
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The Last Word: On Sam’s Club Donating $1.5M to Dallas’ Big Thought to Advance Youth Career Opportunities
by | Mar 6, 2025
Dallas-based Big Thought is one of two nonprofits who have each received a $1.5 million grant from Sam’s Club, part of a $3 million investment to help youth, aged 16-24, who are out of school and unemployed by providing them with meaningful career pathways.
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The Last Word: On the Center for BrainHealth’s Partnership With GoMo Health, 21 Impact Labs, and Virginia’s VHP

by | Feb 27, 2025
The Center for BrainHealth at UT Dallas has announced three "major new partnerships" it says will enhance its mission to empower people at all ages and circumstances with science-backed approaches for proactive brain health and fitness. The center will be working with 21 Impact Labs, Gomo Health, and Virginia High Performance to advance proactive brain health and fitness approaches.
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The Last Word: Inside the ‘Trick Shot’ World of Dude Perfect’s Epic New Frisco Headquarters
by | Feb 25, 2025
What do you get when you combine a giant smoke-ring cannon, a chocolate-covered bone-in ice cream, and an 80,000-square-foot facility that its CEO describes as a "sports lover's Barbie Dream House"? The answer: A tour of Dude Perfect's jaw-dropping new headquarters in Frisco at The Star Business Park.
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The Last Word: TCU’s Chief University Strategy and Innovation Officer Puts Down Roots
by | Feb 19, 2025
Last May, TCU named Tom Wavering as its first chief university strategy and innovation officer. The former executive director of the Tom Love Innovation Hub and entrepreneurship faculty member at the University of Oklahoma took up his post in July. But in order to advance TCU's mission and vision—focusing on fostering innovation and academic excellence—he wanted to put down roots of his own. He has since done that, with a home that already had its Fort Worth sense of place literally set in stone.
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The Last Word: Nominations Open for DFW Teachers to Experience ‘Teacher Retreat’ on Lake Austin
by | Feb 18, 2025
Do you know a deserving teacher in Dallas-Fort Worth who could use a break? Here's your chance to help. The Holdsworth Center, a nonprofit that builds stronger leaders for Texas public schools, is inviting North Texans to nominate a teacher for a weekend retreat at the center’s campus on Lake Austin—"a one-of-a-kind place dedicated to the idea that public education matters."
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The Last Word: How Advanced Therapies Week 2025 Positioned Dallas as a Life Sciences Leader

by | Feb 12, 2025
Advanced Therapies Week 2025—a conference focused on the latest innovations in cell and gene therapies, regenerative medicine, and other biotechnologies—attracted industry leaders, researchers, and visionaries to Dallas' Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in late January. Organized by London-based Phacilitate, the 4-day conference acted as a "collaborative hub" showcasing the intersection of cutting-edge science, transformative healthcare solutions, and dynamic regional collaboration.
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The Last Word: On Lyda Hill Philanthropies Partnering To Produce Women-in-STEM Movies and TV Shows
by | Feb 11, 2025
Today is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science—an ideal day for a Dallas nonprofit to align with a Hollywood movie star to celebrate women in STEM in film and television. According to the Dallas Morning News, Dallas-based Lyda Hill Philanthropies is partnering with Reese Witherspoon’s media company Hello Sunshine to produce and distribute movies and TV shows that champion women's achievements in STEM (science, technology, engineering & mathematics). 
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The Last Word: Dillon Dandurand on Why His ‘Not Beer’ Is for Drinkers and Non-Drinkers Alike
by | Feb 6, 2025
Last April, Dallas Innovates told you about Not Beer, a newly launched no-buzz beverage that “looks like a beer, feels like a beer, tastes like premium American sparkling water.” The brand's Dallas-based founder, Dillon Dandurand, launched his product just one month after Liquid Death—another sparkling water brand with attitude—got a valuation of $1.4 billion after announcing $67 million in new funding.
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The Last Word: CNN on Why Chili’s Has Become So Hot, It’s ‘On Fire’
by | Feb 5, 2025
Dallas-based Brinker International saw its stock (NYSE: EAT) jump 16% last Wednesday. One big reason: Its Chili's Grill & Bar casual dining chain posted a Q4 sales jump of 31% for restaurants open at least a year. That marked the brand's third straight quarter of double-digit sales growth—with a 20% boost in foot traffic, not higher prices, contributed to the Q4 leap.
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