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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Kimberly-Clark makes executive changes

Dallas-based Kimberly-Clark Corporation has made two executive leadership changes, effective Nov. 1.

Jeff Melucci

Jeff Melucci, who is the current SVP of Business Development and the general counsel, has been promoted to the chief transformation, business development, and legal officer. According to Kimberly-Clark, this will add responsibility for the transformation roadmap that is meant to build its global organizational capabilities.

Melucci is replacing Achal Agarwal, who announced he will retire at the end of the year after 12 years with the company.

Gonzalo Uribe, who has been with Kimberly-Clark since 2017, has been named president of the Latin American consumer business, a role responsible for all consumer operations across Latin America.

Gonzalo Uribe

Uribe is credited with building a record of results in the Andean region, and most recently, the North Latin America subregion. He succeeds Sergio Cruz, who was named to a newly created leadership role that’s focused on strengthening the company’s digital business foundation and capabilities.

Both Uribe and Melucci will report to Michael Hsu, Kimberly-Clark’s chairman and CEO.

“I appreciate Achal’s many contributions to Kimberly-Clark, and I wish him continued success in retirement,” Hsu said in a statement. “At the same time, I welcome Jeff, Sergio and Gonzalo’s leadership in these important roles and know that each of them will help accelerate execution of our global business strategy.”

Comerica names a lead of its community development lending program

Beatrice Kelly

Beatrice Kelly is rejoining Dallas-based Comerica Incorporated as its new senior vice president and director of Community Development Lending, a role that reports to Peter Sefzik, the executive vice president of Commercial Bank.

Kelly will be tasked with growing Comerica’s community development lending program, per a news release. She is a veteran of the financial services industry, most recently serving an eight-year tenure at Fifth Third Bank. There, she oversaw the building an maintaining of customized partnerships meant to advance CRA-related activities. 

Previously, she spent 17 years at Comerica, serving in roles related to Business Banking and Commercial Bank Training & Recruiting.   

“As we seek opportunities to further support community growth and development, Beatrice’s expertise will enable us to expand our ability to deliver critical resources, such as much-needed capital,” Comerica Bank Chief Community Officer Irvin Ashford, Jr. said in a statement. “Her leadership will help entrepreneurs and small businesses, especially those from low- to moderate-income communities, during a time when these communities still face incredible challenges ahead.”

The Dallas Institute announces a change of leadership

Dr. Seemee Ali

Local nonprofit the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture has named Dr. Seemee Ali as its first-ever President. 

The appointment comes at a time when the Institute is beginning its fifth decade of offering public programs for North Texans. Dr. Ali will replace Executive Director Dr. J. Larry Allums, who is retiring after nearly 25 years. Under his leadership, the Dallas Institute maintained a “long-standing commitment to urban issues” and “developed a reputation as a leader in the social justice dialogue,” per a news release.

Dr. Ali joins the Institute from Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin. She is known for founding the college’s Hannibal Lecture Series and establishing the Lincoln Forum for the Liberal Arts with her husband, Dr. Michael McShane. She has been closely involved with the Dallas Institute since the ’90s.

MPOWERHealth appoints a new chief medical officer

Adam Bruggeman

Addison-based MPOWERHealth, a provider of value-based care solutions for physicians, hospitals and payors, has named Dr. Adam Bruggeman as its chief medical officer and an advisory board member.

In the newly created role, Dr. Bruggeman will help strengthen the company’s offerings, per a news release. That includes its clinically integrated physician network solutions and value-added clinical services.

Dr. Bruggeman, who has more than 13 years of experience in the medical field, is a well-known Texas orthopedic surgeon who runs his own practice, Texas Spine Care Center. He is also a spine surgeon, published researcher, speaker, and the founder of NuHope, an outpatient center that specializes in pain management and treating opioid dependency.

Impact Shares adds a chief engagement officer

Impact Shares, a Dallas-based nonprofit that says it has the first-ever exchange-traded fund platform, has named Marvin Owens as its chief engagement officer.

Owens was previously the senior director of economic development at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The appointment comes at a time when Impact Shares’ NAACP Minority Empowerment ETF has become an important tool for investors to promote racial equity in the private sector, per a news release.

“This is a watershed moment for investing in social advocacy,” Ethan Powell, the president, CEO, and founder of Impact Shares, said in a statement. “Under Marvin’s leadership and with the ongoing financial support from partners such as The Rockefeller Foundation, investors will continue to have the opportunity to build long-term engagement on key social issues such as racial equality, and ultimately make meaningful change in the private sector.”

JLL Dallas lands a major top office tenant broker

Crib Altman, a leading Dallas-based office tenant representation broker, is leaving Cushman & Wakefield to join JLL.

In his new role, Altman will assist clients in addressing commercial real estate needs while using JLL’s global platform of services and roster of industry experts.

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A former Grubb & Ellis alum, Cribb joined Cushman & Wakefield in 2012 to focus on local and multimarket site selection, financial analysis, disposition, and acquisition, and lease negotiations.

JLL also recently announced that Christy Thelen Rhea has joined the firm as a senior associate for its office tenant representative team. Rhea specializes in agency leasing, conducting in-depth market research, completing detailed client-specific pitches, and managing transactions. She earned a bachelor’s degree from The University of Oklahoma.

JLL also announced it had promoted Brad Carbo as the new lead for JLL’s South Central Region Project and Development Services team. In his new role, he will be responsible for leading teams in several states and markets, including Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Kansas City.

As Managing Director and Austin PDS team lead, Carbo successfully tripled the market business’s size, leading a team of project managers and coordinators to ensure clients’ interests were represented throughout the project delivery process. He has over 15 years of commercial real estate and project development experience, including eight years with JLL. Vice President Sara Lounsberry will take over as the Austin PDS lead.

Two seasoned executives join Alkami’s Board of Directors

Merline Saintil

Plano-based fintech Alkami Technology, a leader in providing cloud-based digital banking solutions for U.S.-based financial institutions, has added Merline Saintil and Barbara A. Yastine to its Board of Directors.

Known as a seasoned customer-oriented leader, Saintil currently sits on the boards of Banner Corporation, Lightspeed, and ShotSpotter. 

She is credited with having expertise in operationalized strategy and developing global award-winning products in Fortune 500 and privately held companies.

Barbara A. Yastine

Yastine is a 30-year veteran of financial services who has experience in retail banking, consumer lending, investment/corporate banking and capital markets, insurance, and asset management and wealth advisory. She previously was the CEO of Ally Bank and the CFO for Credit Suisse First Boston and Citigroup’s Global Corporate and Investment Bank.

“We are excited to welcome leaders of Merline and Barbara’s caliber to our board,” Alkami CEO Mike Hansen said in a statement. “Each brings a depth of knowledge that will advance Alkami even further as we expand our market and continue to evolve how we help our remarkable clients grow with digital banking technology.”

The announcement follows Alkami recently closing of a $140 million funding round. In August, it reached nearly 10 million digital users under contract and crossed more than $130 million of annual recurring revenue under contract.

Cooksey Communications adds a senior vice president

Randy E. Pruett

Dallas-based Cooksey Communications, a strategic communications firm that specializes in issues-related communications, has promoted Randy E. Pruett to senior vice president and account manager.

Pruett currently leads or co-leads Cooksey’s account teams, which serves clients such as Jackson-Shaw, Bell Fort Worth Alliance Air Show,Toyota Music Factory, Butler Advisers, Irving Economic Development Partnership, City of Wylie, and more. He joined the firm in 2016 as a vice president and account manager.

“Randy’s high-impact communications strategies have repeatedly produced outstanding results for our clients,” Colby Walton, president of Cooksey Communications, said in a statement. “Many of North Texas’ leading businesses and governmental entities have come to trust in Randy’s guidance, which is a testament to his decades of experience, his unsurpassed commitment to client service and his abiding passion for public relations. This promotion is a well-deserved recognition of his leadership in our agency and the profession.”

INTRUSION boosts its consulting business with a new VP

Mike McClure

Plano-based INTRUSION, a provider of entity identification, high speed data mining, cybercrime, and threat detection services, has promoted Mike McClure to the newly created position of vice president of consulting. 

In his new role, McClure will manage and expand the consulting arm of INTRUSION’s business. He will be tasked with working to deliver robust, cyber-enriched investigative services to government and commercial-sector organizations.

“Mike has served in a consulting capacity to INTRUSION’s customers in the government space for over 10 years and is highly regarded and respected by both customers and our team,” Jack B. Blount, the president and CEO of INTRUSION, said in a statement. “As we work to optimize both sides of our business—commercial cybersecurity solutions and consulting—Mike has the experience we need to ensure the continued growth of our consulting business.”

Crescent Real Estate adds two new vice presidents

Tiffany Krauss

Fort Worth-based Crescent Real Estate LLC has promoted Tiffany Krass-Payan to vice president, fund controller, and hired Travis Jeakins as its vice president, construction.

In her new role, Krass-Payan will manage the accounting and reporting process for Crescent’s GP Invitation Fund I (Fund I) and GP Invitation Fund II (Fund II).

She will also assist with the financial structuring of transactions and compliance functions, per a news release. Krass-Payan joined Crescent in July 2016 as a senior financial analyst in fund accounting.

Travis Jeakins

Jeakins will be responsible for managing a team that oversees the construction and cost management of ground-up development projects.

Jeakins previously worked for Crescent from 2006-2013, where he was construction manager, a role that contributed to the design, construction, and budget of The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas Hotel and Residences.

Most recently, he worked for Dallas-based development firms such as Woodbine Development Group and HALL Group.

Lucid Energy Group appoints an independent director

Sandra M. Stash

Lucid Energy Group, a privately held natural gas processor, has named Sandra M. Stash as an independent director.

Stash is an industry veteran who has extensive international experience in commercial, operations and engineering, sustainability, risk and crisis management, external affairs, supply chain management, and more. Throughout her 39-year career, she has been a senior executive for global energy companies, including Tullow Oil, Talisman Energy, BP America, TNK-BP, and Atlantic Richfield.

Most recently, she was the executive vice president of safety, operations and engineering, and external affairs at Tullow Oil.

Medecision adds to its Advisory Board

Jesse Thomas

Dallas-based Medecision, a Dallas-based health management company that supports virtual care and digital health, has added healthcare innovator Jesse Thomas to its Advisory Board.

Thomas is currently the CEO of the Healthy Blue Medicaid segment at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. He joins a group of industry executives who work closely to provide strategic guidance to Medecision’s leadership.

According to Medecision, Thomas will bring extensive expertise serving Medicaid and other vulnerable populations in communities across the nation. As Medicaid enrollment continues to increase, his experience will be important to the Advisory Board as it brings integrated strategies and operational support to manage this growing membership.

Mortgage Contracting Services gets a new VP of Business Development

Jason Myers

Lewisville-based Mortgage Contracting Services, a provider of residential and commercial property services, has named Jason Myers as its vice president of business development.

Myers is an industry veteran with more than 17 years of experience in mortgage and real estate sales and business development. In his new role, he will lead new client acquisition, emerging market expansion, new product growth with existing clients, and sales strategy, per a news release.

Most recently, Myers was the vice president of enterprise sales and performance at Xome.

“Jason will strengthen our team with his sales and business development background as we continue to navigate this unique economic environment,” MCS Chief Executive Officer Caroline Reaves said in a statement. “Our services offer an exceptional value proposition during these challenging times for our customers because they are designed to minimize costs, mitigate risks and improve efficiency.”

Trivie expands its leadership team 

Dustin Joost

Frisco-based Trivie, an AI-based learning platform that helps employees work more efficiently, has hired Dustin Joost as its executive vice president of marketing and Eric Montgomery as its executive vice president of technology.

The new additions bring a combined three decades of experience to Trivie, per a news release. Both Joost and Montgomery will help position the company for upward growth and more opportunities to change the way humans learn.

Joost will lead all go-to-market and growth efforts for the company. He most recently was the VP of Sales and Marketing at YourCause, where he is credited with building the sales and marketing organization from the ground up.

Eric Montgomery

Montgomery will be responsible for SaaS-based software development, integration, strategy, and other technologies. He previously was the VP of Information Technology at Susan G. Komen, and before that led and managed software and technology teams at companies like Intuit and Raytheon.

“At Trivie, our mission is to empower people to know what they are supposed to know,” Lawrence Schwartz, the CEO and co-founder of Trivie, said in a statement. “Dustin and Eric both have a vast amount of experience to help foster that mission while bringing a tremendous amount of positive energy that our customers are accustomed to. We are ecstatic to have them join our growing company.”  

KAI hires a senior project architect in Dallas

Eduardo Ponce

KAI has hired Eduardo Ponce as its new senior project architect for the Dallas-Fort Worth office.

In his new role, Ponce will be responsible for developing, implementing and coordinating the design and documentation of projects from start to finish, per a news release. He brings a 22-year career to the firm, having previously worked as a project designer and architect for Pfluger Architects in San Antonio and a project architect for SkB Architects in Seattle and Carson Design Associates and Merrick & Company in San Antonio.

“Eduardo is well-versed in every aspect of the craft, from project design, documentation and detailing to client interaction, project management and construction administration,” KAI Enterprises President Darren L. James said in a statement. “His design experience is well-rounded and extensive, having designed for clients in the education, corporate, retail, commercial and residential markets. He is a great mentor to others, and we are excited to have him on our design team here in Dallas-Fort Worth.”

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