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 people moves tied to innovation and technology in the region.

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Match Group names new CEO after longtime chief executive steps down

Mandy Ginsberg is stepping down as CEO of Match Group. [Photo: Courtesy Match North America; Evgeny Karandaev/Shutterstock.com]

Sharmista Dubey has been named CEO of Dallas-based Match Group following the Jan. 28 announcement that Mandy Ginsberg will be leaving after 14 years with the company. Dubey, who was Ginsberg’s longtime deputy, assumes her new role on March 1.

Ginsberg is stepping down following challenges in her personal life, including her home being hit by a tornado in October and recent surgery, reports The Wall Street Journal citing an internal memo.

Dubey currently is president of Match Group, which owns dating sites such as Tinder, Match, OkCupid, Hinge, and PlentyOfFish. Match Group also named Gary Swidler as its chief operating officer in addition to his role as chief financial officer.

Dubey has been a key leader within Match Group for 14 years, according to a statement. She has been president for the past two years and a member of the board since late 2019. Before becoming Match Group’s president, Dubey was the COO of the company’s Tinder business.

Swidler has overseen all accounting and finance, investor relations and corporate development activities since joining Match Group in  2015, just prior to its IPO. He also will oversee corporate communications, market research, corporate strategy, data security, advertising, and user safety across the portfolio of brands.

Also, Faye Iosotaluno was named chief strategy officer and Justine Sacco was named chief communications officer.

MoneyGram names Villaseñor general counsel and corporate secretary

Robert Villaseñor

Robert Villaseñor has been named general counsel and corporate secretary of Dallas-based MoneyGram International Inc., a global leader in cross-border P2P payments and money transfers.

The company said that Villaseñor will oversee global legal matters and communicate with regulators and lawmakers on matters that impact MoneyGram and the money transfer industry.

Villaseñor served as interim general counsel and corporate secretary since October 2019.  He joined MoneyGram in July 2018 as associate general counsel and assistant secretary, a role in which he oversaw the corporate securities and mergers and acquisitions legal function for the company. 

AVIO Consulting hires Slack as VP of sales and marketing

Mike Slack

AVIO Consulting, an Addison-headquartered tech services firm has hired Mike Slack as vice president of sales and marketing.

AVIO, which leads companies through digital transformations, said that Slack brings almost a decade of experience in sales and business development to his new role. Primarily, his focus on the past four years was in the technology space, AVIO said.

In his new role, Slack will lead strategic direction for all marketing initiatives to support client retention and drive new client acquisition.

Comerica announces new chief credit officer

Peter Guilfoile

Melinda Chausse

Dallas-based banking company Comerica announced that Melinda A. Chausse, executive vice president of commercial underwriting, will be named chief credit officer, effective May 1.

She will succeed Peter W. Guilfoile, executive vice president and chief credit officer, who announced that he plans to retire in the third quarter of 2020 after 37 years. From May 1 through his retirement, Guilfoile plans to remain an executive vice president.

Chausse began her Comerica career in 1988 as a credit analyst in Michigan and relocated to Texas with the acquisition of Grand Bank in 1989. She has held various credit and lending leadership roles, including relationship manager for middle market, chief credit officer of the Texas market, divisional credit administration officer for business banking and private banking nationally, and executive director of business banking nationally.

Prior to assuming the chief credit officer role in 2015, Guilfoile held a number of positions with the bank, including alternate credit administration officer and group manager for middle market banking, divisional credit administration officer for national business finance, and chief credit officer for the California market. 

Comerica also announced that Cassandra McKinney, senior vice president, retail delivery and strategic services, will be named executive VP, retail bank, effective April 1. She will succeed Michael Aust, EVP, retail bank, who plans to retire on May 1. From April 1 to May 1, 2020, Aust will remain an executive vice president at Comerica. McKinney will report to Curt Farmer, chairman and CEO.

Trademark Property Co. promotes Goldware to VP

Daniel Goldware

Daniel Goldware has been promoted to senior vice president of leasing by Trademark Property Co., the Fort Worth-based retail and mixed-use development, investment, and institutional services firm.

Goldware’s promotion makes him a second executive leader added by Trademark to its leasing team, sharing the executive role with the current senior vice president of leasing, Phil Pearson.

Trademark said the expansion of its leadership team comes as part of a focus on the changing retail market, while continuing to add value to a growing portfolio of retail and mixed-use assets.

PrimeLending names Hartke vice president

Nic Hartke

Dallas-based PrimeLending, a PlainsCapital Company, has promoted Nic Hartke to vice president of recruiting. 

Hartke has been with the national residential lender since 2018, working as a regional production recruiter, the company said. He covered the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions as a production recruiter, and PrimeLending said that during that time, he was instrumental in guiding new loan officers to the company while also seeing those regions produce record-breaking numbers.

Hartke has more than 15 years of experience in the mortgage industry.

RealFoundations promotes Seaton to enterprise sales executive 

John Seaton

RealFoundations, a Dallas-based provider of management consulting and managed services for the real estate industry, announced the promotion of John Seaton to enterprise sales executive.

To his new role, Seaton bring more than 15 years of experience implementing technology, sustainability, and outsourcing solutions for REITs, advisers, brokers, insurance companies, and financial institutions.

RealFoundations said that Seaton has cultivated valuable relationships across all real estate sectors. He’s a member of its business development team, and his experience has enabled him to consistently align client objectives with strategic solutions to provide better outcomes.

Toglia to head life sciences practice at Higginbotham

Brian Toglia

Brian Toglia will serve as life science practice leader at Fort Worth-based Higginbotham after merging his Galiot Insurance Services operations with Higginbotham.

Toglia was president and CEO of Galiot Insurance Services in Tomball. He has more than 20 industry practice groups that cater to companies with specialized risks—through Galiot, Toglia served startups’ needs to multinational biotech companies in 22 states. He will assume direction of Higginbotham’s existing life science group to increase its market presence. 

Higginbotham said joining with Toglia provides additional expertise to serve the life science industry while expanding risk management service to his existing clients in the areas of loss control, claims support, and risk management technology.

Optym taps Dallas-based Keller as chief executive officer

Vic Keller

Dallas-based Vic Keller has been appointed as chief executive officer of Optym, a privately-held global provider of new-generation optimization software solutions based in Gainesville, Florida.

Optym Founder Ravi Ahuja has been appointed to chief science officer.

For more than 20 years, Keller has established, grown, and operationally optimized national and international companies. Keller was appointed to Optym’s board of directors in July. Optym’s advanced algorithm-based technology has applications in many sectors, including automotive, defense, energy, finance, and healthcare.

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Ryan announces eight promotions to principals

Dallas-based global tax services and software provider Ryan, announced it has promoted eight individuals to the leadership role of Principal.

Here are the promotions: 

• • Vance Shull specializes in commercial real estate tax consulting, providing representation to owners in ad valorem tax appeals of retail properties, shopping centers, malls, office buildings, apartments, and entertainment venues in Ryan’s Dallas office.
  • Jamie Sieffert, based in Ryan’s Dallas office, specializes in providing commercial real estate property taxation services, including valuation and reporting for both real and personal property assets, with a focus on multifamily assets in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
  • Michael Abbatemarco specializes in commercial real estate property tax consulting. He’s based in Ryan’s Chicago office.
  • Landon Julius, based in Ryan’s Kansas City office, specializes in providing multijurisdictional transaction tax advisory services, including audit defense, refund reviews, general representation, and education.
  • John Minogue leads the Commercial Real Estate Business Development team in the Chicago office and is responsible for more than $20 million of sales annually. 
  • Teresa Sharp, based in Ryan’s Houston office, is seasoned in multistate jurisdictional personal property compliance, analysis of real and personal property values, equity of assessment review, informal and formal negotiations, audit defense, property tax accrual and budgeting management, and other comprehensive tax services. 
  • Samuel Tae, based in Ryan’s Atlanta office, specializes in global tax minimization and recovery and advises multinational clients on complex cross-border transactions.
  • Trey Weaver, based in the San Antonio office, is seasoned in commercial property tax services focusing primarily on office and retail properties in Central and South Texas, while managing appeal work on a national basis for large real estate portfolios.

WFF elects six to the board and names Skeans treasurer

Tracy Skeans

Dallas-based Women’s Foodservice Forum has elected six senior leaders to its 2020 Board of Directors and named Executive Committee Member Tracy Skeans to serve as treasurer. 

WFF said the board of industry executives, and the global brands they represent, are committed to supporting the forum as it steps up its role as the thought leader on gender equity solutions and premier leadership development organization for women.

Skean is chief transformation and people officer at Yum! Brands, the parent company of Plano-based Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell.

The new WFF Board members serve two successive, three-year terms. They are: Jean Chick, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP and the Restaurant and Foodservice Industry Leader; Alisa Gmelich, VP of marketing for IHOP Restaurants; Heather Neary, president of Auntie Anne’s and responsible for the overall strategic direction for all functional areas of the organization; Merary Simeon, VP, Diversity & Engagement for PepsiCo North America; Libby Wanamaker, a veteran HR leader who currently serves as VP, Talent Experience for Chick-fil-A; Colleen Wolf is SVP & Chief Information Officer at Ventura Foods.

Crestline Investors names Jordan a partner

Frank Jordan

Frank Jordan has been named a partner by Fort Worth-base Crestline Investors Inc.,  a credit-focused institutional alternative asset manager.

Jordan joined Crestline in 2016 as managing director and head of business development. He’s a member of Crestline’s Management Committee and leads Crestline’s Client Partnership Group.

Before joining Crestline, Jordan spent 10 years at GoldenTree Asset Management as partner and co-head of business development. He was also a member of the company’s executive committee.

Oilfield Water Logistics appoints Reid as in-house counsel

Jennifer Owen Reid

Dallas-based Oilfield Water Logistics has appointed Jennifer Owen Reid as in-house counsel and director of land.

The firm is a provider of produced water infrastructure solutions in the Permian and Powder River Basins.

Reid is an established legal professional with over a decade of experience advising businesses in the midstream and oil and gas sectors. She will serve as Oilfield Water Logistics’ strategic counsel as the company continues to expand its footprint and enhance value to customers.

Reid comes to Oilfield Water Logistics from EnLink Midstream Operating LP, an American midstream platform operating in the Permian Basin, Oklahoma, North Texas and the Gulf Coast, where she served in a variety of senior roles, including senior attorney and director and legal counsel of land.

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