Featuring
Storm Reid
Emmy-Nominated actress
Storm Reid is an Emmy-nominated actress, producer, and current student at USC. With numerous credits to her name, Reid has emerged as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after young actors.
Ashleigh Everett
EVENT CO-CHAIR
Deborah Ferguson
MODERATOR, NBC5
Yolanda Garcia
EVENT CO-CHAIR
DENA JACKSON
INTERIM PRESIDENT & CEO.
TEXAS WOMEN’S FOUNDATION
AMANDA VELA KRAEMER
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, TARGET
Cynt Marshall
CEO, DALLAS MAVERICKS
Ashleigh Everett
Ashleigh Everett is Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Hunt Oil Company, where she oversees the legal function for Hunt’s domestic and international oil and gas exploration and production activities. She has been with the Hunt organization for 12 years and is the current chair of Hunt’s “All IN” Inclusion & Diversity initiative. Ashleigh is proud to support Hunt’s continuing legacy of giving back to the community and impacting the lives of women and families, and is honored to serve as a co-chair of the Texas Women’s Foundation’s 38th Annual Luncheon.
Ashleigh began her legal career at the law firm Thompson & Knight, LLP prior to joining Hunt. She received her JD from the University of Oklahoma College of Law and her BS in Agricultural Economics from Oklahoma State University. She is also a graduate of the first cohort of the Texas Women’s Foundation’s Women’s Leadership Institute.
She and her husband Grant, a partner at the law firm Baker Botts LLP, live in Dallas with their two daughters, Alex (age 7) and Sydney (age 4). Ashleigh grew up in a small Oklahoma town where she watched her mom navigate a career that led to positions of leadership and influence, all while raising her two daughters. Ashleigh credits her mom as being a key influence in her passion to support and enrich the lives of women and girls – promoting their economic security and amplifying their voices through leadership opportunities.
Deborah Ferguson
Deborah Ferguson co-anchors NBC 5 Today weekday mornings from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. She joined the station in 1991 after starting her journalism career as a reporter/anchor for WBAP Radio in Fort Worth.
She’s earned professional recognition throughout her career including a regional Edward R. Murrow Award and a Gracie Award for Outstanding Anchor – News presented by American Women in Radio and Television. Other honors come from the American Women in Communications, the Association for Women Journalists, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the Texas Medical Association, the Dallas Press Club, and the Lone Star EMMY Chapter.
Deborah’s time out of the newsroom is frequently spent at community and charitable events especially those focused on empowering girls through education or in area schools encouraging future journalists. Her pet project is the Foundation for the Young Women’s Leadership Academy of Fort Worth which supports YWLA, the first all-girls school in the Fort Worth ISD.
She graduated from Texas Christian University with a degree in broadcast journalism which set her on the path to achieve her lifelong dream of becoming a reporter. While in college, she interned at NBC 5 and joined the staff just a few years later. Deborah is married to WBAP sports anchor Steve Lamb.
Yolanda Garcia
Yolanda Garcia is the co-leader of Sidley’s Securities and Shareholder Litigation practice group and co-chair of the firm’s diversity committee. She maintains a varied practice, working beyond securities and derivatives ligation in domestic and international arbitrations, national class actions, bankruptcy litigation and other types of multi-jurisdictional cases. She serves clients from a variety of industries, including energy, retail, financial services and airlines.
Chambers USA ranked Yolanda for her work in Litigation: General Commercial (2022–2023) and Litigation: Securities (2023). Yolanda was selected to appear in Latino Leaders Magazine 2021 as a “Top Latino Lawyer.” She has consistently been listed as a “Litigation Star” for Securities work by Benchmark Litigation, most recently in its 2023 edition.
Outside of work, Yolanda, a mother of four, is active with civic organizations in the Dallas area, primarily those focused on educational attainment by children from underserved communities. She currently serves on the board of Penrose Foundation, a scholarship organization, and has previously been a board member of the Dallas Women’s Lawyers Association and the Concilio, a community-building nonprofit focused on empowering and connecting Latino families. Several times a year, Yolanda takes part in school career days where she leads short trial trainings and speaks to students of all ages about the practice of law. Yolanda’s career has been made possible because of the passion and investment of other women – her mother, her partner mentors, her clients – and this drives her to want to help other girls and women reach their greatest potential.
Dena Jackson
Dena L. Jackson, Ph.D. is Interim President & CEO at Texas Women’s Foundation where she has served in multiple roles since 2012. She works across departments on projects and initiatives while also leading the Foundation’s research, policy advocacy and Housing Stability work always driving to the bottom line of building a better Texas for women, girls and families.
Dena’s leadership in developing the Foundation’s Economic Issues for Women research series has helped to position the Foundation as a catalyst for statewide social and economic change with a focus on child care, education, health care and housing. This timely and targeted research helps donors, grantees, lawmakers and community leaders come together around a common understanding of the issues, and fuels efforts to raise the collective voices of women, girls and their families.
Dena serves in multiple volunteer leadership roles supporting economic security of women and girls for organizations including Asset Funders Network (both national and North Texas chapter) and Philanthropy Southwest.
Following 14 years in healthcare administration and consulting, Dr. Jackson joined the nonprofit arena 2001 starting with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, as a fund-raising consultant in South Florida and then to the University of Texas at Dallas to open both the Foundation Relations and Research Development offices during five years as Assistant VP. This all set the stage for Texas Women’s Foundation.
A native Texan, Dr. Jackson earned her Doctoral degree in Health Studies at Texas Women’s University. She is a graduate of Leadership Texas, Leadership North Texas and is also a member of The Dallas Summit. She spends her free time cooking, reading, playing with her two rescue cats and one rescue dog and traveling with husband, Bob.
Amanda Vela Kraemer
Amanda Vela Kraemer is a successful executive with more than 23 years of retail leadership experience; the last 17 of which she has spent at Target. Currently, she is the Senior Vice President of Stores leading strategy and operations for more than 500 stores in the Southern United States. In this role, Amanda and her team are continually focused on putting the guest at the center of everything they do to help fulfill on Target’s purpose of ‘Helping all families discover the joy of everyday life’.
Amanda joined Target in 2005 as an Executive Team Leader of HR in San Antonio, Texas. Since then, Amanda has held a variety of leadership roles across the country including Store Director, District Senior Director, Group HR Director, and Group Vice President.
Amanda received her bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Amanda and her husband, Jason, enjoy golf, watch sports, and play with their 4-year-old twins.
Cynt Marshall
Cynt Marshall has been a dynamic force for inclusion and diversity within the Mavericks organization and over a 36-year career at AT&T. When Cynt was hired as new the CEO of the Mavs in March 2018, she set her sights on a culture transformation.
Prior to her joining the Mavs, Cynt founded Marshalling Resources, a consulting firm specializing in Leadership, Diversity & Inclusion, Culture Transformation and overall optimization of people resources. Upon the company naming its first Chief Inclusion Officer in June 2017, Cynt worked with The Dow Chemical Company to develop and implement a strategy for institutionalizing an inclusive culture.
Cynt’s notoriety began many years ago as a young Officer at AT&T and grew exponentially when she served as Senior Vice President – Human Resources & Chief Diversity Officer at AT&T. There she was responsible for identifying and developing leaders, aligning employees with the company’s vision and priorities, overseeing major business unit HR support, performance development, employee engagement, skills transformation initiatives, EEO and Affirmative Action. Cynt also led the team that created a world class Diversity and Inclusion culture, landing AT&T in the top 3 on Diversity Inc’s 2017 Top 50 list of companies. She also spearheaded the work that for the first time placed AT&T on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list in 2017, one of only two Fortune 50 companies.
Before her SVP-Human Resources and Chief Diversity Office roles, Cynt served as President-AT&T North Carolina where she became the first African-American chair of the North Carolina State Chamber of Commerce.
Widely recognized for her visionary leadership and ability to get things done, Cynt is the recipient of several honors and awards. Most recently, Cynt was touted as one of Adweek’s 30 Most Powerful Women in Sports and was selected as one of the 2019 Women of Power Legacy Award honorees by Black Enterprise. In 2017, she was honored by The Network Journal as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in Business. In 2017, Cynt was awarded the ATHENA® Leadership Program Award by the Dallas Regional Chamber. In 2019, she was selected as one of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Corporate America” by Black Enterprise magazine and named to Ebony magazine’s 2016 “Power 100” list. In 2014, industry analysts and members of the press conferred on Cynt the HR Executive of the Year – Best in Biz Award. Cynt received the prestigious Leadership North Carolina Governor’s Award, which honors just one citizen each year for lifetime achievements.
Cynt graduated from the University of California-Berkeley with degrees in Business Administration and Human Resources Management and holds four honorary Doctorate degrees. She has is currently on the board of Dallas CASA, Dallas Regional Chamber, Texas Women’s Foundation and a member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC).
The fourth of six children, Cynt grew up in Richmond, California, and lives in the Dallas area. She and her husband, Kenneth Marshall, have four adult children.
Opening Performance - "Brave"
PERFORMED BY TIFFANY SOLANO AND VOCAL ENSEMBLE FROM HIGHLAND PARK HIGH SCHOOL
Words and music by Sara Bareilles and Jack Antonoff
For 38 years, Texas Women’s Foundation has been the leading community-supported foundation in Texas that invests in the power of women and girls to drive positive change. Texas Women’s Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization.