Advisory Council

Arcilia Acosta
Chair, Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership Advisory Council (Denton)
President & CEO, Carcon Industries & Construction (Dallas)
Area of Leadership: Business

Arcilia Acosta serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Carcon Industries & Construction, specializing in commercial, institutional and transportation design and build construction. Acosta is the founder of Southwestern Testing Laboratories, LLC, and serves as its chief executive officer and president. She also is the chief executive officer and controlling principal of STL Engineers. Acosta has been a board member of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board since March 2016. She also serves on the National Board of Advisors at BBVA Compass Bank and is the chair of the Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce.

Dolores Barzune
Community Volunteer (Dallas)
Area of Leadership: Education

Dolores Barzune has been a community volunteer for more than 33 years. A former music and art teacher, she is involved in arts education and arts advocacy. Barzune has served on the advisory council for the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas in Austin, served as co-chair of the advisory board for the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University, chaired the Cultural Affairs Commission for the City of Dallas and the Board of Governors of the Dallas Symphony, and serves on the Dallas Planning Advisory Growth and Excellence Board for Texas Woman’s University in Dallas. Barzune is a Texas Woman’s University Distinguished Alumna, recognized for bringing honor to herself and her alma mater through outstanding professional achievements or notable contributions to society.

Charla H. Bradshaw
Managing Shareholder, KoonsFuller (Denton)
Area of Leadership: Business

Charla Bradshaw is an accomplished board certified family law attorney and Denton Managing Shareholder. Awarded 2016’s Best Divorce Lawyer by Murray Media’s “Best of Denton County,” Bradshaw has also been listed among the “Best Lawyers in America” since 2011. Bradshaw has written acclaimed articles in the world of family law and has received honors for those publications. She is a regular speaker at State Bar continuing legal education programs. She is the course director for the largest continuing legal education course in the State of Texas (Advanced Family Law Course). One of her most proud accomplishments in her profession is her service on the State Bar of Texas Family Law Council Legislative Committee where she has served since 2009. She has been instrumental in family law legislation, often testifying at the legislature on family law legislation. Bradshaw is a Texas Woman’s University alumna.

https://koonsfuller.com/

The Honorable Elizabeth Ames Coleman
Partner, Energy North America (San Antonio)
Area of Leadership: Business/Politics and Public Policy

Elizabeth Ames Coleman consults with clients in the federal and state energy regulatory arenas and provides strategic planning to companies navigating the intersection of their corporate planning with regulatory and political energy policy. Coleman served as one of three statewide elected commissioners and former chair of the prestigious Texas Railroad Commission, the oldest oil and gas oversight agency in the world. Coleman was only the second woman elected by the people of Texas to her position in the then 114-year history of the rulemaking body. She also served in the Texas House of Representatives from 2001 to 2005.

The Honorable Myra Crownover
Business Owner & Former State Representative (Denton)
Area of Leadership: Business/Politics and Public Policy

Myra Crownover is a businesswoman actively engaged in the banking, real estate, and energy sectors. Myra served in the Texas House of Representatives from 2000 to 2016. During her time as the State Representative from Denton, she was appointed chair of the Committee on Public Health, vice chair of the Calendars and Energy Resources Committee, and served as a lead negotiator for the House of Representatives on the Conference Committee on the Texas budget. Crownover holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern Methodist University and a Master of Arts from Texas A&M University at College Station, both in professional education.

The Honorable Maurine Dickey
Vice President, Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. (Dallas)
Area of Leadership: Business/Politics and Public Policy

Maurine Dickey served two four-year terms as a Dallas County Commissioner from 2005 to 2013. Prior to her election to the Dallas County Commissioners Court, Dickey served as the former chairman of the Parkland Hospital Board of Managers, and was the only county commissioner to have served on the Parkland Board. She serves as chair of the Barbecue, Boots, and Badges Foundation, was chair of the Texas Department of Protective & Regulatory Services, the Dallas County Child Welfare Board, and served on the County Juvenile Board. She was also a founding member of CPS Community Partners and The Rainbow Room in 1990. The Dickey family owns Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, a franchised chain of 500 restaurants nationwide.

The Honorable Lee Gabriel
Justice, Place 7 of the Second Court of Appeals of Texas (Fort Worth)
Area of Leadership: Business/Politics and Public Policy

Lee Gabriel was appointed as the first District Judge of the 367th District Court in Denton County and presided in that general jurisdiction for more than 20 years. In 2010, Governor Rick Perry appointed her to the position of Justice, Place 7 of the Second Court of Appeals of Texas. Gabriel has been appointed and elected to numerous State Bar of Texas and other professional boards and committees including the Judicial Section of the State Bar of Texas’ Ethics Committee and the Board of Directors of the Texas Center for the Judiciary. She is also president of the Eldon B. Mahon Inn of Court. She was previously the chair of Criminal Law Exam Commission of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and served on the Judicial Advisory Council to the Community Justice Assistance Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. She teaches criminal law at Texas Woman’s University and coaches a mock trial team.

Hilda Galvan
Partner-in-Charge, Jones Day Law Firm (Dallas)
Area of Leadership: Business

For more than 20 years, Hilda Galvan, a nationally recognized trial lawyer who focuses on complex intellectual property litigation, has represented plaintiffs and defendants in federal and state courts across the country. She has served as lead counsel for IBM, Texas Instruments and Essilor in the enforcement of their patent portfolios and in defending against allegations of infringement. She is chair of the Dallas Regional Chamber, serves on the board of trustees of the University of Texas School of Law, and on the boards of Parkland Hospital Foundation, Dallas Women’s Foundation and the Dallas Hispanic Law Foundation.

The Honorable Sarita Hixon
County Commissioner, Kenedy County, Texas (Houston)
Area of Leadership: History

Sarita Armstrong Hixon, the Kenedy County Commissioner Precinct 3, was an associate attorney with Andrews & Kurth, LLP. Hixon is the chair of the board of trustees of the San Jacinto Museum of History Association. She is a board member of the Texas State Historical Association, Friends of the Texas Historical Commission, Houston Hospice, and previously served on the San Jacinto Historical Advisory Board and the Friends of Communities in Schools board of trustees. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, she received a law degree from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.

Lynn McBee
CEO, Young Women’s Preparatory Network (Dallas)
Area of Leadership: Education

Lynn McBee is a seventh-generation Texan and great, great, great, great-granddaughter of Emily Austin, sister to Stephen F. Austin, The Father of Texas. She is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin where she received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. She worked as a consultant with a privately held biotech firm for 23 years. In January 2014, she was named the chief executive officer of Young Women’s Preparatory Network. McBee is best known for her leadership roles in the Dallas community and for her philanthropic endeavors. She serves on many boards including the Bridge Homeless Shelter, The Family Place Foundation, AT&T Performing Arts Center, the Dallas Women’s Foundation and the Texas History Museum.

Sara Madsen Miller
COO/Co-Owner, 1820 Productions (Dallas)
Area of Leadership: Business

As COO and co-owner of 1820 Productions, Sara Madsen Miller consults with business leaders on how to grow their business by increasing their brand and product awareness through digital marketing and paid media advertising. She is a results-driven business executive with more than 20 years of delivering revenue and successful outcomes by creating collaborative business strategies to help clients drive brand awareness. She also has served on the boards of the Cotton Bowl Classic Association, Dallas Regional Chamber, Dallas Women’s Foundation, The Family Place, and the Dallas Assembly.

http://1820productions.com/

Neena Newberry
President, Newberry Executive Solutions (Dallas)
Area of Leadership: Business

Neena Newberry has spent more than 25 years advising and coaching business leaders in Fortune 500 companies. Her 12 years of experience as a management consultant span strategy development, operations improvement, and leadership development. In the last few years of her 14-year career at Deloitte, she was on Deloitte’s U.S. HR Executive Committee and led performance management and career planning for 34,000 U.S. Deloitte employees. In 2008, she launched her own company. She is an adjunct professor in executive education at the SMU Cox School of Business and serves on the faculty for the Women’s Initiative Fellowship Program at the George W. Bush Presidential Center. Newberry serves on the boards of the Dallas Children’s Theater and the Akola Project, in addition to serving on committees at United Way and the Dallas Women’s Foundation.

http://newberrycoaching.com/

Nancy Painter Paup
Regent, Texas Woman’s University, Ex Officio Council Member (Fort Worth)
Area of Leadership: Business/History

Nancy Painter Paup manages and directs business, real estate and ranching interests in Texas. She received a gubernatorial appointment to the Board of Regents of Texas Woman’s University (TWU) and was elected Vice-Chair during her tenure. Nancy is an elected member of The Philosophical Society of Texas. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Humanities Texas, the state affiliate for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Executive Advisory Committee of The Handbook of Texas Women, Board of Directors for the Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art (CASETA), and co-founder of Nancy P. and Thaddeus E. Paup Lecture Series at TWU. Nancy has raised funds throughout Texas for the arts, higher education and historical preservation. Her academic degrees include master’s and bachelor’s degrees from TWU. Post-graduate work includes attending Dartmouth College, Harvard University, The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania, and receiving certifications in development, strategic leadership and private wealth management, respectively.

The Honorable Betsy Price
Former Mayor, Fort Worth (Fort Worth)
Area of Leadership: Politics and Public Policy

Betsy Price, a Fort Worth native, was elected in 2011 as the 44th mayor of the City of Fort Worth. In 2019, Price was re-elected for her fifth two-year term. Along with her focus on promoting jobs, strengthening education, fighting crime and improving mobility, Price has made significant strides along the path toward her vision of a healthy, engaged and fiscally responsible city. Price graduated from Arlington Heights High School and earned a bachelor's degree from University of Texas at Arlington. Since then, she has been an active mother and a leader in the Fort Worth community, serving on numerous boards, commissions and professional associations. After running her own successful business for 17 years, Price turned to public service and was elected in 2000 to serve as Tarrant County's tax assessor, where she quickly made her department one of the most efficient in Texas, saving taxpayers millions of dollars. 

Rienke Radler
Commissioner, Governor’s Commission for Women (Fort Worth)
Area of Leadership: Business/Art

Rienke Radler is a community volunteer and philanthropist. Previously, she worked as a physiotherapist in South Africa and the United Kingdom. Rienke currently serves on the Governor’s Commission for Women Board. She is also on the executive board of directors for the Fort Worth Pregnancy Center and the Radler Foundation and served on the Texas Ballet Theater Board. She is a group leader at Bible Study Fellowship International. Radler earned a Bachelor of Science in physiotherapy from the University of the Free State in South Africa. She is a native of South Africa and currently resides in Fort Worth.

Jean Stuntz, PhD
Professor of History, West Texas A&M University (Canyon)
Area of Leadership: History

Jean Stuntz has an academic background teaching Texas history, U.S. women’s history, Spanish Southwest, historical methods, U.S. history surveys and world history. Stuntz is a board member of the Texas State Historical Society and is involved in professional history organizations like the West Texas Historical Association and the Southern Association for Women Historians. She currently serves in her second term as president of H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online, the largest scholarly organization in the world.

Carla Thompson
Senior Vice President - Wealth Management, UBS Financial Services, Inc. (Fort Worth)
Area of Leadership: Business

Carla Thompson has been in the investment business for more than 35 years, working with clients, various institutions and money managers. Within the team, she is responsible for bond trading. Thompson also manages client relationships and oversees the team’s technology operations. She is active in the community, serving on several boards of nonprofit organizations primarily in the arts including the Van Cliburn Foundation, Inc., and Kemp Family Farms.

http://financialservicesinc.ubs.com/team/rtkap/index.html

Roslyn Dawson Thompson
President and CEO, DAWSON Communications + Strategy + Governance (Dallas)
Area of Leadership: Business

Roslyn Dawson Thompson is CEO of DAWSON Communications + Strategy + Governance, a consultancy serving corporate and nonprofit organizations. She was previously President & CEO of Texas Women’s Foundation from 2011 to early 2022, where she led ambitious strategic initiatives in women’s economic security and women’s leadership. During her tenure, the Foundation raised more than $85 million, increasing its assets by 43 percent, and its grants and programs by 180 percent, and deployed 100% of its assets in a mission-aligned gendered impact portfolio benefiting women and girls. From 1986 to 2011, Dawson Thompson was Chair and CEO of Dawson + Murray + Teague Communications, a marketing communications agency she founded that served regional, national and global clients in a broad array of industries – from technology and telecommunications, banking and professional services, to healthcare and nonprofit. Dawson Thompson is a frequent speaker on women’s leadership, philanthropy, gender equity and gender lens investing. She is chair of the board of Tides, a global charity focused on shared prosperity and social justice, is a former chair and board member of Women’s Funding Network, the association of women’s foundations, and currently serves on the boards of International Women’s Forum - Dallas and Dallas Medical Resource, as well as the advisory boards of the Dallas Mavericks and the Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership at Texas Woman’s University. She is a graduate of Baylor University (BA) and Vanderbilt University (MA). She is married to Rex Thompson, retired professor of finance at SMU. Their family includes three adult children.

Fran Vick
Retired Publisher and Author (Dallas)
Area of Leadership: History

Fran Vick is the retired publisher and founder of E-Heart Press and the University of North Texas Press. She is the 2011 president of the Philosophical Society of Texas and president of the Texas State Historical Association, 2008-2009. She is a former president of the Texas Institute of Letters and a fellow in the Texas Folklore Society. Vick serves on the development board at The University of Texas, the advisory board for the College of Liberal Arts, and the Heritage Society of Texas Exes. She serves on the advisory board for Texas A&M University Press and the President’s Council at the University of North Texas.

Trea Yip
CEO, TY Commercial Group (Dallas)
Area of Leadership: Business

Trea Yip formed her company in 1990 and currently serves as TY Commercial Group CEO. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Loyola University of Los Angeles, and her master’s degree from Southern Methodist University. She currently holds a Texas Real Estate Broker License. Yip serves many notable organizations including Baylor Health Care Systems, the Portfolio Advisory Board of Texas Women Ventures, North Texas Public Broadcasting (KERA), and is the former chair of the Dallas Women’s Foundation.

https://www.tycommercial.com/