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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.
Chris Gannett [Photo: Dallas Regional Chamber]
The Last Word: Dreams Experience Academy President on The D.O.C. and What Dallas Needs Now
by Quincy Preston | Apr 8, 2025
“Welcome to the private debut of the Dreams Experience Academy—or as we call it, somewhat provocatively, DEA,” said Chris Gannett at the launch event at the Kessler in Oak Cliff last week.
The student-powered, purpose-driven nonprofit, co-founded by hip-hop icon The D.O.C., aims to unlock creative talent and open doors into the $3 trillion media, entertainment, and tech economy.
by David Seeley |
Apr 3, 2025
An art installation of 250 large, hand-made origami stars will appear later this month over the ice rink at Galleria Dallas. The vibrant work aims to advance the mission of Paper for Water, a nonprofit that's raising awareness of the global water crisis and the nonprofit's mission to bring clean water to communities worldwide. The charity was founded in 2011 by sisters Isabelle and Katherine Adams—then 8 and 5 years old—after they learned that a child was dying every 15 seconds from unclean water and that millions of girls like them were spending their day hauling water rather than attending school.
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by David Seeley |
Apr 2, 2025
The Medallion Theatre closed in 2001, but the Dallas moviehouse—once located in the Medallion Shopping Center at Skillman and Northwest Highway—hosted a key moment in film history. On March 26, 1975, it offered the first-ever public screening of "Jaws," the monster hit that invented the summer blockbuster. Now, with April here and summer looming, some are looking back at the screening that helped change Hollywood forever.
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by David Seeley |
Apr 1, 2025
Cardi B revealed her biggest skincare secret on Instagram Tuesday—and it has a North Texas connection. "Everyone always asks me how my skin looks so beautiful, so shiny, so amazing at the age of 32 with three kids, a job that stresses me out, and sleepless nights," the rapper said. "I've been using this new cream—it's the Cane's 'Moisturizing Sauce.' It's non-greasy, non-sticky, and it smells just like chicken."
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The Line Project is a public artwork coming to downtown Dallas that honors the stories of cancer survivors. [Photo: Business Wire]
The Last Word: Honoring Cancer Survivors with Public Art in Downtown Dallas
by Dallas Innovates | Staff Report | Mar 26, 2025
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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by David Seeley |
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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by David Seeley |
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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by David Seeley |
Mar 18, 2025
At the Dallas Regional Chamber's State of the Region event held in December, regional leaders addressed the opportunities and challenges of growth in North Texas—from mobility and high-speed rail to prioritizing green space over highways to ensuring health care for the uninsured.
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Texas Research Alliance Executive Director Victor Fishman [Photo: LinkedIn]
The Last Word: The TRA’s Victor Fishman on Why Advanced Mobility Is a Key North Texas Mission
by David Seeley | 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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by David Seeley |
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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by David Seeley |
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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by David Seeley |
Mar 5, 2025
Coppell-based Dave & Buster’s Entertainment is gearing up for spring break by dangling new enticements for visitors—including a new game that literally dangles guests up in the air. The all-new "Human Crane" experience is a life-sized version of the classic arcade claw machine—except here, guests act as the claw. Available in select Dave & Buster's locations nationwide, the Human Crane gently lowers guests into "a sea of oversized prizes," plus additional surprises throughout the year.
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Dude Perfect at their new HQ at The Star Business Park in Frisco. [Photo: Dallas Innovates]
The Last Word: Inside the ‘Trick Shot’ World of Dude Perfect’s Epic New Frisco Headquarters
by Quincy Preston | 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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by David Seeley |
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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by David Seeley |
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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by Dallas Innovates | Staff Report |
Feb 13, 2025
“Some moments are priceless.”
Fort Worth-based Bison Coolers
…. reflecting on the company’s Google Super Bowl ad appearance, via LinkedIn.
Despite the Cowboys missing out on Super Bowl LIX, a Fort Worth family business scored big during the championship game....
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