Local community and business leaders work together to advance our mission to ensure public schools are places all students can thrive.
Noelle currently serves as Publisher of D Magazine and is a brand strategy consultant focused on helping organizations and people take their brand to the next level by maximizing their efforts, resources and ideas.
Previously, Noelle was the CMO of Visit Dallas, the marketing arm of the City of Dallas. In 2012, Noelle launched the BIG Campaign to rebrand Dallas, including a traditional media buy, as well as a social/public engagement campaign. The campaign has won several awards including the DFW AMA Marketer of the Year in Branding and a regional Addy for Integrated Campaigns. In 2013, Noelle was honored by Skift.com as one of the 50 top travel marketers in the world.
Prior to joining the Bureau, she served as interim vice-president of Marketing/Public Relations for Children’s Medical Center. While at Children’s, she also co-produced a 13-part television documentary that aired on the local ABC affiliate. Her experience includes 20+ years in marketing communications. Noelle received her B.S. in math from Spelman College. In 2006, she co-founded Dress for Success Dallas, a non-profit organization for disadvantaged women. In 2010, she published a children’s book, I Miss You When I Sleep. In 2014, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and has started sharing what that experience has taught her through her blog: Confessions of a Single Mom with Cancer.
Ken Barth is Catalogic’s Chief Executive Officer. Ken has over 20 years of management leadership experience in the technology industry. The Founder of TekTools, Inc, he served as the Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company from November 1997 until January 2010. During his tenure, the company developed and brought to market the KAWA and Profiler products.
KAWA, a Java Integrated Development Environment, garnered more than 50,000 users worldwide before the product and the development team was acquired by the Allaire Corp. (NASDAQ: ALLR) in November of 2000. Profiler, an IT Infrastructure Monitoring and Reporting suite, grew to well over 1,000 customers prior to its acquisition by Solarwinds in January 2010. Prior to that, from 1993 to 1997 he was a founding shareholder and helped to build Micromuse, Inc from a U.S. startup to a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: MUSE).
Ken is a graduate from the University of North Texas and actively supports a number of education focused organizations in the not-for-profit community.
In January 2024, Monica Christopher was named the inaugural Dallas Campus President for Texas Woman’s University. In this role, Monica is responsible for developing a strategy to grow TWU Dallas’ enrollment, visibility and community partnerships. She is also charged with cultivating and stewarding local philanthropists and TWU alumni to grow philanthropic support for the campus.
Prior to joining TWU, Monica worked for 15 years at Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT), most recently as the foundation’s Senior Vice President, Chief Giving and Community Impact Officer. In this role, she oversaw the teams responsible for grantmaking, cultivating and stewarding donor relationships, and the implementation of North Texas Giving Day, all toward CFT’s mission of creating a thriving community for all.
During her tenure with CFT, she has served in a variety of roles including Chief Relationship Officer, working with individuals, families, and companies to make their giving easy, effective, and enjoyable. She also served as Senior Director of Strategic Philanthropy, where she led CFT’s grantmaking from the W.W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation, which makes transformational investments in the areas of education, public safety, and medical research. Before joining CFT in 2008, Monica served as Senior Director of Community Services for The Dallas Morning News and WFAA-TV, where she oversaw more than 150 Dallas-based community sponsorships and programs, and managed the annual Dallas Morning News Charities campaign, which raises money to support direct services for the hungry and homeless. A native of Canton, Ohio, Monica earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from The Ohio State University. In her free time, she volunteers with several local nonprofit organizations. She is a past president of the Junior League of Dallas Sustainers (2022-23), the Women’s Auxiliary to Children’s Medical Center Dallas (2017-18), and Leadership Dallas Alumni Association Board (2016). She currently serves on the executive committee of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association and is an active member of Charter 100, the Dallas Summit, and the Dallas Regional Chamber’s Executive Women’s Roundtable.
Pam Gerber has dedicated her career to civic engagement and social justice. During her 14 years as the Executive Director of the Entrepreneurs for North Texas and ten years with City Year, Pam has developed strategic alliances with the private, public and nonprofit sectors to make positive social impact in the community.
Since retiring, Pam continues to be civically engaged through volunteerism. She is currently serving as a Commissioner on the City of Dallas’ Ethics Advisory Commission and is a founding and continuing Member of the City of Dallas’ LGBTQ Task Force. She is also a member of the Dallas Summit and the WNBA Dallas Wings Foundation.
Pam has served on the Texas Women’s Foundation Board of Directors, the Dallas Police Department’s Community Advisory Board, the City of Dallas’ Citizens Police Review Board and the Community Development Commission. Additionally, She is a Founding Board Member of the national AmeriCorps program City Year Dallas.
Charles Glover is Vice President of Grants at The Meadows Foundation, one of the largest private philanthropies in Texas, where he leads and aligns all grantmaking with the Foundation’s strategic priorities. He oversees and manages day-to-day operations, program staff, grants review process, evaluation, and learnings.
Mr. Glover is an experienced leader and has an extensive background in the nonprofit sector. Prior to the Foundation, he was a senior fellow at Bellwether Education Partners and served as a cabinet member in the Dallas Independent School District, the second-largest school district in Texas. Previous to that, he was the founding executive director of Teach For America in Dallas-Fort Worth after starting his career as a middle school teacher in Durham, North Carolina.
As a thought leader in Texas philanthropy, Charles has served on numerous nonprofit boards and councils, including the Dallas College School of Education Advisory Board, The Commit Partnership, City Year, Workforce Solutions of Greater Dallas Board, and Philanthropy Advocates Leadership Committee, among others. He has a Bachelor of Science in sociology from Texas A&M University and a Master of Education in education policy and management from Harvard University. An alumnus of Leadership Dallas, Charles was also recognized by the Dallas Business Journal’s 40 under 40. He is a cancer survivor, spends most of his free time with his wife and children, and has a rescue dog named Falkor.
Mr. Gruber joins Dorsey from the Dallas-based business litigation law firm of Gruber, Hail, Johansen, Shank LLP where he was a co-founding partner. Before co-founding Gruber Hail in 2006, he was a partner in a number of Texas-based firms for over 20 years.
He has a B.S. degree from Southern Methodist University and a J.D. degree from the SMU Dedman School of Law, where he served as editor of the Law Review and as president of the Student Bar Association. Mr. Gruber has been recognized by Texas Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America. He has also been selected as a “Best Lawyer in Dallas” in the area of Business Ligitation by D Magazine and as one of the most influential business leaders in Dallas. Mr. Gruber is extremely active in the legal profession and in the Dallas community. He has chaired multiple committees of the Dallas Bar Association and has served as a Criminal Justice Act panel attorney eligible for appointment by the U.S. Federal Court to represent individuals in criminal cases who are unable or financial reasons to retain counsel.
He is the 2018 Mask Award Honoree for service to the United Negro College Fund for the Dallas Region. He also received the Sagar Award from the national Minority Corporate Counsel Association for his sustained commitment to improving the hiring, retention, and promotion of minority attorneys. In 2015, he received the SMU Dedman School of Law Distinguished Alumni Award. He has also received the Dallas Bar Association Justinian Award and the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers Award of Excellence in recognition of his service to the profession and to the community. Mr. Gruber serves as Chairman of the Southern Gateway Project and the Lieutenant Governor’s Legislative Committee on Economic and Workforce Development. He has served as Chairman of the Board of the Dallas Zoo, the Dream Dallas project, Habitat for Humanity, the Dallas Nature Center, and the North Texas Region of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He has been very active in numerous other charitable and civic organizations, including the Basic English Program, Catholic Foundation Advisory Board, Children’s Education Fund, North Texas Entrepreneur Foundation, North Texas Region of Big Brothers, among many others.
Susan Hoff serves as Chief Impact and Strategy Officer for United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. Before joining the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas team in 2009, Susan was the CEO and President of ChildCareGroup and prior to that was the Executive Director of Educational First Steps.
In addition to senior leadership roles, Susan’s professional experience includes the positions of teacher, child care center director, and parent educator. She is a highly sought-after trainer and public speaker, has developed curricula and educational publications for children and adults, and is an accomplished fund developer. Susan is a well-known children's advocate at the local, state, and national levels.
Susan serves on the boards of TexProtects, Texans Care for Children, City Year, and TXPOST. She was appointed by Dallas Mayors Rawlings and Johnson to the board of Workforce Solutions Dallas County in 2012, 2015, 2018, and 2021. Susan is a past president of the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children and past board chair of Social Venture Partners Dallas, First3Years, and the Jr. League of Richardson.
Mr. Karam was named Executive Vice President — Chief Financial Officer effective October 31, 2022. Mr. Karam has over 20 years of experience in finance and accounting, most recently as the Chief Financial Officer of Santander Consumer USA since September 2019. Mr. Karam previously served as Santander’s Head of Pricing and Analytics from May 2018 to September 2019 and as Executive Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development from September 2015 to May 2018.
Prior to his roles at Santander, Mr. Karam spent 12 years at JP Morgan Investment Bank, where he ended serving as an Executive Director. Prior to JP Morgan, Mr. Karam served as a Senior Associate at Deloitte Audit Assurance Services for two years. Mr. Karam received his Bachelor’s degree and Master of Accounting from Baylor University, and he is a Certified Public Accountant.
Dominique S. McCain is a change management expert and organizational solutions maven. She’s spent over twenty-years capacity building and working directly with influencers and thought leaders in identifying and implementing solutions to some of their most thorny challenges.
A proven cartographer of connection with diverse, educational leadership experience in both large urban educational systems and the non-profit sector, her knowledge and expertise of building equity within systems has helped to challenge and equip partners to attain their desired outcomes. She centers the work on the facilitation of self-actualization to improve outcomes and impact.
As a career strategist, Dominique has led transformational projects including full re-designs and re-orgs, collective impact work with a historical early childhood coalition in North Texas, and leadership development and training. Her natural ability to successfully navigate the complexities of systems and her focus on organizational culture and structure leads to mission driven, proven, and effective impact and outcomes. She has deep knowledge and expertise in literacy and literacy instruction as a social justice impact play, pedagogical best practice, and teacher development. As a the Chief Strategy and Impact Officer at Educational First Steps, she positively impacts the organization’s overall approach to their work and positive impact and outcomes for the communities she serves. Her core value of “students first” led to her playing a critical role in supporting the collection of proof points and advocacy plays and wins for the landmark 2019 Texas legislative session. She has led teams throughout her career and has a proven method for team development, cohesion, and distributed leadership. She is dedicated to continually “enlarging her territory” and influence to serve as many stakeholders as possible.
Renda Mathew serves as the Dallas Market President at Truist. She is a life-long resident of the Dallas area. As a Banker, she has worked with privately-held middle market sized companies for many years.
Her twenty plus years in banking allows her to bring solution based financing and planning. Her background aligns with the Bank’s key components of partnering with the community and empowering healthy economic growth while enhancing the quality of life for her hometown. Renda attended the University of Texas at Arlington.
Renda serves on the board for the Parkland Health Foundation, Turtle Creek Conservancy, Nexus Recovery Center and is an Advisory Board member of United to Learn. She is co-Chair of the Women’s Inclusion Network for Truist, and participates on the Local Advisory Council for the Truist Foundation. She is also alumni of Leadership Dallas and is a member of the Dallas Assembly, the Dallas Summit and the International Women’s Forum.
Sam is a Managing Director in Deloitte’s Telecommunications Media & Technology (TMT) industry practice. He has 30+ year’s experience working collaboratively with senior executives to navigate the most complex challenges facing their business and deliver transformational results. He currently serves as a senior leader serving global telecom and technology clients and is responsible for building senior executive relationships, leading alliance partnering efforts, business development and global account management.
Throughout his career in professional services serving multiple clients, Sam has developed a strong working knowledge of the telecom industry issues companies face. Leveraging this experience, he has been a trusted advisor to many of his clients over the years.
Don is currently serving as Chief Technology Officer at Santander Consumer USA, overseeing technology transformation and growth strategies. Don is an experienced C-level executive with a 30-year career spanning roles as CIO, CTO, and SVP, and possesses deep expertise in various IT disciplines including architecture, information security, cybersecurity, risk management, legal compliance.
Don has a proven track record of orchestrating successful platform transformations, modernizations, and delivering cloud-based solutions across diverse systems. He excels at fostering collaboration between business and technology teams to drive strategic initiatives and achieve tangible results. His exceptional organizational skills, budget management, and ability to lead large, diverse team have contributed to his success. Don has been recognized for innovative thinking and dedication to delivering efficient, transformative, and cost-effective solutions.
Among Don’s notable roles are: - As EVP & Chief Information Officer at Common Securitizations Solutions, led the delivery of the Common Securitization Platform, managing 1M securities and $5T of principal balances. - Drove technology and operational excellence as Chief Technology Officer at Black Knight Financial Services, expanding resources, revenue, and product offerings. - Led technology initiatives at J.P. Morgan Chase as SVP in various roles, achieving significant ROI and successful integration of major acquisitions. - Directed technology delivery and support as Vice President at MetLife, contributing to a successful IPO and launching MetLife's first ecommerce online services. - As Principal Consultant at Microsoft Corporation, delivered strategic technology planning for notable clients and organizations. - Directed worldwide financial systems strategy at The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, realizing substantial cost savings and implementing global messaging architecture. Don studied Computer Science at Northeastern University and Dean College.
