Nicole Small

Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, Lyda Hill’s IF/THEN Partner on Sunniefest STEM Event Saturday

by | Nov 13, 2025
“Sunniefest will be such an inspiring day—bringing incredible talent, partners, and experiences together to show girls that if they can see it, they can be it," Nicole Small, CEO of Lyda Hill Philanthropies, LH Capital, and co-founder of IF/THEN, said of Saturday's STEM event at Pegasus Park in Dallas.
MORE
‘There’s So Much Energy in Our Space’: Innovators, Investors Invigorate Sold-Out 2025 Venture Dallas Conference
by | Nov 5, 2025
From North Texas founders including John Carmack and Ben Lamm to investors like John Redgrave of DTX Ventures and Draper’s Andy Tang, the summit's speakers tackled hot topics from humanoid robots and tech transfer to AI, VC trends and Y’all Street. A call was also heard for more risk-taking by DFW’s innovation ecosystem: ‘We’ve got to be bravery hunters.’
MORE
In a side room at Old Parkland, entrepreneur Mark Cuban. left, and Houston philanthropist John Arnold compared notes for the Texas Business Hall of Fame's Creators 2025 speaker series. [Photo: Grant Miller Photography]
How Billionaires Mark Cuban and John Arnold Say CEOs and Consumers are Being Ripped Off by a ‘Busted’ Healthcare Market
by | Mar 6, 2025
Cuban and Arnold told an audience of businesspeople at Old Parkland Wednesday that high healthcare costs have multiple causes—and that efforts to significantly reform the system are likely to take a while.
MORE
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). 
MORE

OpenAI CFO Featured in Launch of Pegasus Park Speaker Series

by | Oct 28, 2024
OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar, the former CEO of Nextdoor, was the inaugural guest at last week's launch of the Pegasus Park Speaker Series at the biotech hub in Dallas. The fireside chat before 200 "tenants and friends" of Pegasus Park featured interviewer Nicole Small, CEO of Lyda Hill Philanthropies and LH Capital, and was followed by a Ladies Who Launch event.
MORE
Venture Dallas Names First Round of Speakers for 2024 Summit
by | Oct 11, 2024
Featuring leaders like Jesse Draper of Halogen Ventures, Jim Lee of the Texas Stock Exchange, and Christopher Darby, former CEO of In-Q-Tel, the October 30 event at the Bush Center in Dallas will focus on emerging trends in sectors such as healthcare, national security, and the creator economy.
MORE
Federal Health Agency Plugs Into Texas With Ambitious Clinical Trials Push
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health—or ARPA-H— wants to enable 90% of eligible Americans to participate in clinical trials within 30 minutes of their homes. The agency officially launched its new Texas "customer experience" headquarters at Dallas' Pegasus Park on Thursday, which will be home base for the initiative.
MORE
The Last Word: Nicole Small On Why the Dallas-Based ARPA-H Hub Is Focused on Clinical Trials
by | Oct 20, 2023
The Dallas-based customer experience hub of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health had its official launch yesterday at Pegasus Park. The hub's first mission: making it easier for Americans from across the country to take part in clinical trials, through the Advancing Clinical Trial Readiness Initiative.
MORE

Three Cities Join Forces on Bid to Bring National Health Research Hub to Texas at Dallas’ Pegasus Park

by | Apr 24, 2023
A newly established federal agency—Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), a $2.5 billion initiative modeled after the successful DARPA—aims to revolutionize medical research. To secure one of its three national centers, three Texas cities have formed a consortium that's set to propel the Lone Star State to the forefront of effort. If their pursuit is successful, the hub would land in Dallas—and have spokes across the Lone Star State.
MORE
Research Bridge Partners and Lyda Hill Philanthropies Fuel UT Southwestern’s Biotech Spinouts With $4 Million Investment
by | Apr 20, 2023
The initial investment will support the commercialization of life science research, including identifying researchers with entrepreneurial mindsets, safeguarding intellectual property, and recruiting key executives.
MORE
Five Impact Entrepreneurs Compete for $250K in Prizes in United Way’s Social Innovation Competition
by | Apr 11, 2023
Five finalists. One mission. United Way's Social Innovation Competition brings together innovative North Texas minds in social entrepreneurship for a chance to change the future. In a Shark Tank-style showdown, they'll pitch their solutions to improve education, income, and health in the community.
MORE

Meet 12 Women Shaking Up the Future of Startup Investment Funding in Dallas-Fort Worth

by | Jan 12, 2021
A constellation of North Texas female funders has emerged. They're bringing new perspectives and new deals to the table.
MORE
DFW Leaders Discuss How COVID-19 Has Fueled Innovation in Health Care, Philanthropy, and More
by | Oct 12, 2020
"The downside of a pandemic is that it's frightening. The good thing is, sometimes it speeds up things that probably needed to happen. Like telemedicine," Nicole Small, CEO of LH Capital/Lyda Hill Philanthropies, said during the event.
MORE
Children’s Health Innovators Program Lifts Veil on Health Care Research and Breakthroughs
by | Oct 6, 2020
Health Wildcatters CEO Hubert Zajicek, Perot Jain Principal Cindy Revol, Lyda Hill Philanthropies CEO Nicole Small, and others will be on a panel about how the health care and tech industries have been innovative during COVID-19 as part of the new Children’s Health program launch on Oct. 8.
MORE
Gates Foundation Scientist Joins Dallas Philanthropist to Talk Status of COVID-19 Vaccine—and Biotech in DFW
Dr. Lynda Stuart of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation talked with philanthropist and entrepreneur Lyda Hill in a virtual discussion moderated by Nicole Small, CEO of LH Capital/Lyda Hill Philanthropies.

Here's the takeaway.
MORE