The Dallas Foundation held an event Thursday spotlighting documentaries about the lives of two local Black CEOs—from their childhoods through their current work at change-making nonprofits.

The event, Giving Voice: Black CEOs in Their Own Words, was held at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Cedars. It featured a screening of the two short films, which are part of The Dallas Foundation’s Voices of Hope initiative. The “Giving Voice” series tells the stories behind some of Dallas’ most impactful nonprofit leaders.

‘Twice as Good’

L to R: Drex Owusu, Chief Impact Officer at The Dallas Foundation, with short film subjects Kimberly Williams and Byron Sanders. [Photo: The Dallas Foundation]

“Twice as Good” tells the story of Kimberly Williams, CEO of Dallas-based Interfaith Family Services, which empowers families in crisis to break the cycle of poverty by providing housing, rent and utility assistance, job training, wellness programs, and more. In the documentary, Kimberly recalls her childhood and her early notions about poverty, reconciling her deeply internalized desire to be “twice as good” to prove her worth as a Black leader in a White-dominated space. You can see “Twice as Good” for free by going here.

‘Technicolor’

“Technicolor” explores the life of Byron Sanders, CEO of the Dallas-based nonprofit Big Thought, which works to close the opportunity gap by giving youth in marginalized communities the skills and tools “to imagine and create their best lives and a better world.” The short film looks back at Sanders’ boyhood as a superhero-obsessed Black kid from South Dallas. The opportunity to attend a predominantly white private school led to his reckoning with race and class, putting him on a path to lead one of the city’s most influential nonprofits. You can see “Technical” for free by going here. 

Produced in collaboration with The George and Fay Young Foundation

The two short films were produced by Los Angeles-based Universe Creative in collaboration with The George and Fay Young Foundation, with a mission “to spur deeper conversation about the necessity of diverse leadership in effective philanthropy, not as a box to be checked, but as a key to engaging with communities authentically and meaningfully.”

Third doc in production focuses on For Oak Cliff co-founder

L to R: Lynn McBee, Mayor Eric Johnson’s Workforce Czar and CEO of Young Women’s Preparatory Network; Drex Owusu, Chief Impact Officer at The Dallas Foundation; and Taylor Toynes, co-founder and and executive director of For Oak Cliff. [Photo: The Dallas Foundation]

A third film in the “Giving Voice” short film series is now in production, featuring a look at the life of Taylor Toynes, co-founder and executive director of For Oak Cliff, a nonprofit that “aims to provide culturally responsive programming to liberate South Oak Cliff from systemic oppression by creating a culture of education.” 

For Oak Cliff was born out of Toynes’ experience as a fourth-grade teacher at Oak Cliff’s W.W. Bushman Elementary School. Toynes saw that most of his students didn’t have school supplies, which Toynes realized stemmed from the community’s extreme poverty. Now he’s working to turn For Oak Cliff into a transformational force in that same community.

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