Month: December 2019

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South Dallas Soul Rep Theater

Left to right: Dr. Eva Csaky, Executive Director of HI, Soul Rep’s Guinea Bennett and Tonya Hollaway, Kyle Baker undergrad student designer, Dr. Jessie Zarazaga, HI Fellow and project advisor, and Corrie Harris, Assistant Director, Hunt Institute and GDL portfolio manager.

“The biggest dream is to have this as a stake in the ground in South Dallas and always be available to the community,” Soul Rep Co-Founder Guinea Bennett-Price said.

In the Spring of 2019, the Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity’s Global Development Lap (GDL) began a project for Soul Rep Theatre Company. The deliverable was a beautifully bound brochure to help communicate the vision and designs for renovations of a South Dallas building. The proposed building will serve as a community arts center, complete with a multi-use performance space, practice area, and communal gathering space. The project focuses on key areas like resilient infrastructure, the practice of employing human-centered design principles to engage communities, and fostering inclusive economic development which provides an opportunity for small businesses to function out of the area and reinvest into the local economy.

Soul Rep Theatre Company was founded in 1996 to provide opportunities for actors, writers, and directors to develop and share their talent with the Dallas arts community. The company, once run solely by volunteers, is now a professional theater company with a subscription-based season. According to its founders, their mission is to provide quality transformative Black theater that enlightens the imagination, the spirit, and the soul. The theatre also seeks to shift the paradigm of how the Black experience is valued by the world.

With renovation designs provided by this project, Soul Rep hopes to use the multi-purpose space to engage the community and foster collaboration in South Dallas. To help realize this goal, the renovation plans include a front porch restoration which to be used as an open space for neighbors and the Soul Rep community to connect. Soul Rep hopes that the front porch, and Soul Rep Arts Center as a whole, will revitalize Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, a street and area that has been long forgotten. The company envisions the space to be a unique and innovative “home” to curate, celebrate and collaborate as a community. “The biggest dream is to have this as a stake in the ground in South Dallas and always be available to the community,” Soul Rep Co-Founder Guinea Bennett-Price said.

The Soul Rep team hopes that the Arts Center will lift up not only the community but also the presence of Black Art in Dallas itself. Citing the lack of Black Art in the Arts District, Bennett-Price said she hopes that this center will reignite the Black Theatre Movement. “Grassroots is our identity,” Bennett-Price explained. “We want to grow beyond and we want to be the tree instead of the grass and the roots.”

Article was written by Jaclyn Soria, undergraduate Journalist

GDL team:

Dr. Jessie Zarazaga, Hunt Institute Fellow and project advisor

Kyle Baker, undergraduate research analyst and designer

Katherine Linares, grad Project Manager

Corrie Harris, Global Development Lab Portfolio Manager

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Spring 2019 Semester Update

Spring 2019

As we near the end of the second semester, the Hunt Institute is proud to highlight some of our student’s accomplishments from this academic year.

Varsha Appaji

Varsha has been working on a project dedicated to analyzing an inclusive economy and has discovered a great interest in the Internet of Things. This summer, Varsha will be interning in Washington DC.

Cullen Blanchfield

Cullen is currently making several videos for the Hunt Institute, including one about Evie-in-a-box to be used by educators in different countries.

Ryan Brook

This semester, Ryan worked on establishing a Project Management Organizational structure at the Institute. He is graduating this spring and has accepted a job at Hunt Oil Company.

Anna Grace Carey

This semester, Anna Grace was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. Additionally, Anna Grace was chosen as the Division of Journalism’s outstanding senior for writing and editing and was awarded with the John Goodwin Tower award. Anna Grace has accepted an offer to work as an associate at Sendero.

Daniel Dewan

Daniel has been working on the technological elements of the Hunt Institute’s web presence. Recently, Daniel has become an official member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.

Sienna Dugan

This February, Sienna received the 2018 Hope Award from Mending Kids, a testament to her dedication to making the world a brighter place.

Cole DeYoung

This semester, Cole has been working a project manager for one of the Hunt Institute’s exciting new projects. She plans to intern this summer at Mu Sigma, a consulting firm in New York City.

Alejandro Dominguez Garcia

At the Hunt Institute, Alejandro has been working as a project manager for one of the Institute’s exciting new projects. This summer, Alejandro plans to work as an integrated supply chain intern at NextEra Energy in Florida.

Gabrielle Gonzales

This spring, Gabrielle traveled to Guatemala with the International Esperanza Project, an organization based out of Dallas that provides free comprehensive medical clinics. Beyond her research at the Hunt Institute, Gabrielle has been working directly with the director of the Title IX office to shape future efforts and initiatives focused on Sexual Assault on campus.

Tristan Knotts

This semester, Tristan was honored with Lyle’s Outstanding Senior Award and has been nominated for SMU’s Outstanding Senior Award. Currently, he is working as a project manager at the Hunt Institute and oversees all student-driven projects. Tristan has also spent the year serving as SMU’s Chief Information Officer of the Student Advisory Board.

 Kyle Kolosziej

As a first-year student, Kyle has become heavily involved in the University. He currently holds leadership roles in Theta Tau and Mustang Fitness Club and is a member of Phi Delta Theta, Best Buddies and SMU Club Soccer. This summer, Kyle will be working with AGCO as a data analyst.

Kelly Little

Earlier this semester, Kelly was presented with the Kappa Kappa Gamma Academic Excellence award. Proving that she was is worthy of such an honor, Kelly plans to work as a medical assistant at the top plastic surgery office in New York City this summer.

Liam Lowsley-Williams

This year, Liam has been working as a teaching assistant for Data Structures in the Computer Science department. Liam plans to intern as a software engineer this summer at McKinsey & Company in NYC. 

Caroline Matthews

Caroline will spend the summer interning in London, England. She plans to start a food blog to share her culinary adventures abroad with her family and friends. Already looking forward to next year, Caroline plans to start a tax internship with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in the spring of 2020.

Mitchell Morrison

This year, Mitchell received a spot on the honor roll with high distinction and is now a candidate for the Fulbright Commission. Mitchell has become very involved at SMU, serving as a team co-lead for Consult Your Community and joining the Delta Sigma Pi Professional Fraternity as well as the Society of Physics Students.

Andrea Nguyen

Throughout the semester, Andrea has conducted research on Blockchain technology and its cross-industry usage. Andrea has been invited to be a Foreign Service Institute intern with the US State Department.

Cydney Snyder

This semester, Cydney chaired a fundraiser benefitting Genesis Women’s Shelter and the One Love Foundation that raised over $126,000. At the Hunt Institute, she has developed a curriculum for a three-day summer camp focused on STEM education in rural areas. Continuing her passion for education, Cydney has accepted the opportunity to work as a teacher with Teach for America in Kansas City, Kansas.  

Jaclyn Soria

Jaclyn joined the Hunt Institute as a marketing specialist this semester and has been working on branding for the Institute’s exciting new projects. This summer, she plans to stay in Dallas and work on the Institute’s website.

Wilkie Stevenson

As a student senator for the Lyle school of engineering, Wilkie is committed to his many projects. Currently, he is developing a STEM kit series for all ages and has a patent pending for a wall-mounted wireless charger.

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2019 Social Enterprise Cohort

Hunt Institute's Social Enterprise Program

Our 2019 Cohort focused on developing and improving food systems across Dallas and around the world. Of the four Social Entrepreneurs in this cohort, only one was unable to continue work during the pandemic. As we approach the end of the year, below is a brief description of each social entrepreneur’s venture along with links to their work in order to read more and/or follow their progress in the future.

Break Bread, Break Boarders

Founder: Jin-Ya Huang

Break Bread, Break Borders is catering with a cause: empowering refugee women to earn a living through their existing cooking skills, while they also share their incredible stories with the community. Huang is an Affiliate of the Hunt Institute and one of our first Social Entrepreneurs​. The Dallas Observer featured her story in their December 19, 2019 edition. In addition, Huang was a member of the 2020 Class of Presidential Leadership Scholars. Most recently, Huang was featured as a TIME Magazine Community Bridge Builder.

Restorative Farms

Founder: Dr. Owen Lynch

Restorative Farms wants to grow a better Dallas. Their mission is to foster a vibrant and viable community-based urban farm system — an agrisystem — in one of the country’s largest food deserts: South Dallas, Texas. Lynch has been featured in several blogs describing his various community engagements and awards. He is a Senior Fellow in the Hunt Institute and has worked in this area of research for many years. Most recently, Restorative Farms was featured in the Dallas Morning News article Urban farm sprouts on unused DART property beside South Dallas station.

Janta Energy

Founder: Mohammed Njie

Janta is determined to significantly improve access to energy in The Gambia, where most rural citizens and institutions like schools have no electric power. One of Janta’s key energy sources is agricultural waste because farming is a primary economic activity in The Gambia. Njie has been recognized as a Grand Challenges Scholar, winner of SMU’s Big Ideas, and is also part of the SMU Incubator. He is the first SMU student to be invited to the Hunt Institute’s Social Enterprise Program receiving the title of Social Entrepreneur.

Garden of the World

Founder: Kunthear Mam-Douglas

Garden of the World aims to bring the connection between nature and mental health to light through a mindful world garden that promotes sustainable food systems in Dallas. This work is suspended until further notice due to the global pandemic. We remain hopeful it will resume soon.

Each of the Social Entrepreneurs has made a mark in their communities and a dent in the work that needs to be done in our sustainable food systems. As we embark on a new year, we celebrate the completion of this cohort and prepare for the next.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

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Javier Destarac ’20

Javier Destarac
Javier A. Destarac graduated from Southern Methodist University with a B.A. in Markets and Cultures. 
 
Javier was born in McAllen, Texas but grew up in Tyler, Texas to a multicultural family speaking Spanish at home and English in school. He enjoys learning from new cultures and helping others. Javier has experience in working in marketing over this past summer in his most recent internship, doing research in digital media at NYU. 
 
Javier worked with the communications team to develop and market Impact Nights as well as the marketing strategy of the Hunt Institute. In the future, he hopes to translate his work in the Hunt Institute to a career in Marketing while continuing to spread awareness for sustainability across all platforms. Javier also would like to continue his hobbies of playing tennis, playing the piano, volunteering.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.