“We are proud to welcome our new board members who bring with them a diverse set of leadership skills and backgrounds,” said James Powell, Chair, United Way of Tarrant County Board of Directors. “They each have a passion for the community and are dedicated to creating a vibrant Tarrant County. They have joined the board at a critical time for our community, and I look forward to working with them as we continue to respond to increased community needs related to COVID-19 and begin to rebuild a stronger community in the future.”
New members of the United Way of Tarrant County Board of Directors are:
Dr. Keon Anderson
Dentist, JPS Correction Center
Dr. Keon Anderson is a general dentist in Fort Worth. He works in leadership with JPS Health Network, Acclaim Physician Group and the Tarrant County Department of Corrections as Dental Director of Correctional Health for Tarrant County. Dr. Anderson is a member of several professional societies, including the Texas Dental Association, Fort Worth District Dental Society, American Dental Association and the National Dental Association. He is a Louisiana State University Foundation Member, a Board Member and Scholarship Chairman of the L.S.U. A.P. Tureaud Black Alumni Association, a Life Member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and is Polemarch for the Fort Worth (TX) Alumni Chapter.
Dr. Anderson has a passion for philanthropy, and he and his wife have established the Minority Health Professions Scholarship at LSU and TCU to assist with the recruitment and retention of African Americans in health majors.
Dalton “DJ” Harrell
Assistant Director, Planning and Development, City of Fort Worth
Dalton “DJ” Harrell is an Assistant Director in the Planning and Development department of the City of Fort Worth. His primary responsibilities include staffing the City of Fort Worth Community Facilities Agreement (CFA) office, Transportation Impact Fee Program and Project Facilitation. One of Mr. Harrell’s most recent projects was a business process improvement that resulted in a reduction of 60 percent of the processing time associated with the Infrastructure Delivery portion of the Fort Worth development process.
Through his association with service organizations like Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated, D.J. enjoys volunteering in areas such as youth mentorship, food and toy drives, and various community enhancement initiatives.
Jarrett “Jay” Jackson
Precinct Administrator for Commissioner Devan Allen
Jarrett “Jay” Jackson serves as Precinct Administrator for Commissioner Devan Allen, who represents Southeast Tarrant County. He started his career in the Texas state capital working for a west Texas freshman legislator in 2013, helping craft legislation to give access to clean water to west Texans during a major drought. Afterwards, Mr. Jackson decided he wanted to make an impact in his hometown, so he began working for Congressman Marc Veasey in his Fort Worth District Office. During his time with Congressman Veasey, he created and implemented key programs like Congressman Veasey’s annual Teen Summit, Senior Seminar and Grant Writing workshop.
Mr. Jackson was raised by a single mom, so he understands the need for quality after school and summer programs. His own experiences are why he has led many youth leadership and mentoring activities, and he currently serves on the boards of Camp Fire First Texas and Clayton Youth Enrichment. He is the recipient of the Alpha Phi Alpha 2020 Dr. Marion J. Brooks Legend in the Making Award for Politics.
H. Richard Payne
Fort Worth Managing Partner, Assurance Partner, EY
Richard Payne is a Managing Parter and Assurance Partner for EY’s Fort Worth office. He has more than 26 years of experience in the accounting and client service industry, including nearly 14 at EY in Fort Worth. In addition to supporting a variety of asset management and real estate clients with assurance services, he leads a team of about 100 professionals providing audit, advisory, tax and transaction services in Fort Worth. Mr. Payne has extensive experience serving asset management and real estate clients, including both public and private investment funds and REITs investing in various asset types. He also has expertise in SEC registered investment advisors and real estate funds that report under the Investment Company Guide, and is a member of EY’s Real Estate Fund Network.
A native of Fort Worth, he is passionate about the local community and highly involved as a member of Leadership Fort Worth, and in prior positions on the boards of Easterseals North Texas and the March of Dimes in Tarrant County.
James Sharp
Strategy Director, VLK Architects
James Sharp is a Strategy Director at VLK Architects. He is an experienced director of strategy and planning with more than 15 years of experience managing the design and execution of strategic planning, stakeholder engagement and new knowledge generation. He is certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners and is a licensed LEED Green Associate.
Mr. Sharp is active in his community and has volunteered for many organizations including serving as a board member for the Oak Cliff Gateway TIF District and Dallas Housing Finance Corporation for the City of Dallas, an Urban Plan Facilitator for the Urban Land Institute, a member of the President’s Sustainability Committee—Administration Outreach for the University of Texas at Arlington, and a Committee Member for BoardBuild. He currently serves as a Board Member for the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition. He is a graduate of the 2018 class of Leadership Fort Worth.
Dr. Abbie Shipp
Professor of Management and Faculty Director for ‘The Adaptive Leader’ Executive Education Program, TCU Neeley School of Business
Dr. Abbie Shipp is a Professor of Management and Faculty Director for ‘The Adaptive Leader’ Executive Education Program at the TCU Neeley School of Business. She is an award-winning professor, teaching undergraduate, graduate and executive audiences on topics such as adaptive leadership, employee engagement and leading change. Her research focuses on the psychological experience of time at work including: how individuals think about the past/present/future, trajectories of work experiences over time, how individuals react to change and how time is spent on work tasks.
She has published a two-volume book on how time impacts work environments, and she is currently an Editorial Board member of four primer journals in management. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of ZOE, a North Carolina based non-profit focusing on the empowerment of orphans and vulnerable children around the world.
Jennifer Wichmann
Assistant City Manager, City of Arlington
Jennifer Wichmann is an Assistant City Manager for the City of Arlington, a position she has served in since September 2003. While with the City of Arlington, she has held roles in the Mayor and Council Office, Office of Management and Budget, and Administrative Services. Her most recent position was Director of Management Resources.
Currently, Jennifer serves the City of Arlington as the Assistant City Manager for Shared Services. In this capacity she oversees Arlington Housing Authority, Arlington Tomorrow Foundation, Asset Management, Communication and Legislative Affairs, Municipal Court and Strategic Initiatives.
Barbara M. Williams
Managing Partner of Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP
Barbara Williams is a Managing Partner in the Fort Worth Office of Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP, where she is a member of the management committee. She is a licensed attorney and admitted to practice before U.S. District Court, Northern and Western Districts of Texas. She is a member of the Tarrant County, Clark County and American (State and Local Government Law Section) Bar Associations; State Bar of Texas (Taxation Section); State Bar of Nevada; Tarrant County Women’s Bar Association; Tarrant County Bar Foundation.
Ms. Williams is active in her community and served on the 2019 United Way of Tarrant County Women United Steering Committee. She also served on the Board of Directors for SafeHaven of Tarrant County, Fort Worth SPARC, Girls Inc. of Tarrant County and the Women’s Policy Forum, Fort Worth.
Dedicated members remaining on the Board of Directors for a second term include:
- Brian Coltharp, P.E., President and CEO, Freese and Nichols
- Melinda M. Johnston, Managing Director and Senior Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch, Chair, Women’s Leadership Council
Members of the current Executive Committee and Board of Directors are:
Executive Committee
- Board Chair: James Powell, Assistant General Counsel for Transportation, North Central Texas Council of Governments
- Chair of the Annual Campaign: Hadley Woerner, President-Tarrant Region, Frost Bank
- Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee and Compliance Officer: Josh McNamara, CPA, Partner, Hartman Wanzor LLP
- Chair of the Compensation and Benefits Committee: Jill Lyttle, Executive Vice President Human Resources and Leadership Development, First Command Financial Services, Inc.
- Chair of the Investment Committee: Kristy Odom, Co-Chair Community Investment Cabinet
- Chair of the Diversity Committee: Shannon Fletcher, Chief of Staff, Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office
- Chair of the Governance Committee: Justin R. Chapa, Of Counsel, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP
- Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee: Cheryl Mobley, CEO, reCalibrate
- Member-At-Large: Melinda M. Johnston, Managing Director and Senior Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch, Chair, Women’s Leadership Council
- Non-Voting Member: Leah King, President and CEO, United Way of Tarrant County
- Non-Voting Member: Beverly Boyd, Corporate Secretary, United Way of Tarrant County
Directors
- Dr. Keon Anderson, Dentist, JPS Correction Center
- Stevan (Steve) B. Bobb, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, BNSF Railway
- Earnest Boon, Secretary/Treasurer District Lodge 776, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
- Carlo Capua, Co-Owner, Z’s Cafe
- Brian Coltharp, P.E., President and CEO, Freese and Nichols
- June Davis, Board President, Crowley ISD
- Joseph DeLeon, President, Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth
- Sean Donohue, CEO, DFW International Airport
- John Flack, II, Partner, KPMG, LLP
- Dalton “DJ” Harrell, Assistant Director, Planning and Development, City of Fort Worth
- Scott Hickson, Partner, EY, Fort Worth
- Jarrett Jackson, Precinct Administrator for County Commissioner Devan Allen
- Dr. Melody Johnson, Scholar in Residence, Texas Christian University
- Dr. Peter Jordan, President, Tarrant County College South Campus
- Dr. Pat Linares, Former Interim Superintendent for Fort Worth and Crowley Independent School Districts and Education Consultant
- Allison Mullis, Executive Vice President of Human Resources, Bell
- Martin Noto, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of Inwood National Bank
- Brian D. O’Neill, PE, CFM, Principal, Pacheco Koch
- H. Richard Payne, Fort Worth Managing Partner, Assurance Partner, EY
- James Sharp, Strategy Director, VLK Architects
- Dr. Abbie Shipp, Professor of Management and Faculty Director for ‘The Adaptive Leader’ Executive Education Program, TCU Neeley School of Business
- Tom Stallings, Founder, Firm Strategies
- Gloria Starling, Managing Partner, The Capital Grille Fort Worth
- Daniel Torres, General superintendent-Texoma Service Unit, Union Pacific Railroad
- Jeff Whitfield, Partner, Kelly Hart
- Jennifer Wichmann, Assistant City Manager, City of Arlington
- Barbara M. Williams, Interim Managing Partner of Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP
- Darwin Winfield, Manager of Public Affairs, Atmos Energy
Board Members and Voting Ex-Officio
- Chair, AAA Advisory Council: Amanda Robbins, Program Director, Fort Worth Emergency Services Collaborative
- Chair, United Way Arlington Steering Committee: Patra Stroemer
- Chair, United Way NE Steering Committee: Kristin James, Assistant Director of Neighborhood Services, City of North Richland Hills
- Co-Chair, Women United: Brooke Goggans, Mosaic Strategy Partners
- Co-Chair, Women United: Susan Medina, Principal, SKM Communications Strategies, LLC
- Brian Golden, President, Tarrant County Central Labor Council AFL-CIO
Rolling off the Board:
- Mona Bailey, Community Volunteer, Texas Silver-Haired Legislator
- Dan Berce, President and CEO, GM Financial, Inc.
- Corey Fickes, Attorney at Law/Partner, Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP
- Olivia Templeton, Director, BNSF Railway Company
- Glen Sirles, Community Volunteer
