Tag: SMU

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Evelyn Parker, Hunt Institute Fellow

Evelyn Parker

Susanna Wesley Centennial Professor of Practical Theology
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

It is with pleasure we announce Evelyn Parker as a Hunt Institute Fellow. The Hunt Institute Fellows are appointed for their expertise and demonstrated excellence in their fields. During their tenure, they will collaborate on projects and contribute to the endeavors of the Institute.

Evelyn Parker is Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. She joined the faculty in July 1998. Parker received her Bachelor of Science (B.S.) from Lambuth College, Jackson, TN (1974), and her Master of Science (M.S.) from Prairie View A&M University (1983). Upon receiving her M.S., she served as a research scientist in the Department of Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. She attended the two week Christian Educators Seminar at Perkins School of Theology from 1986 until 1989 and received a Certificate as an Associate in Christian Education in June 1989. The seminars were the impetus for further study in theological education and the transition from a vocation in biological research to one in educational ministry. During the fall of 1989, Parker became a full-time student at Perkins and in 1991, she earned a Master of Religious Education. In December 1996, Parker earned her Ph.D from the Joint Program of GarrettEvangelical Theological Seminary/Northwestern University in Religious and Theological Studies, with an interdisciplinary emphasis in Christian Education, Womanist Approaches to Religion and Society, and Education and Public Policy. While at Garrett Seminary/Northwestern University, she was a Fund for Theological Education Black Doctoral Scholar from 1993-1995.

Parker is the editor of The Sacred Selves of Adolescent Girls: Hard Stories of Race, Class, and Gender (Pilgrim Press, 2006) and Trouble Don’t Last Always: Emancipatory Hope Among African American Adolescents (Pilgrim Press, 2003). She is the co-author of In Search of Wisdom: Faith Formation in the Black Church (Abingdon, 2002). Parker has also published several chapters and journal articles on adolescent spirituality. She is an active member of the International Academy of Practical Theology, the American Academy of Religion, the Association of Practical Theology, and Religious Education Association, where she has presented papers, coordinated segments of consultations and convened sessions.

Parker is a native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where she grew up in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME). She has served the CME church as a local and district Director of Christian Education. She has also taught numerous educational ministry workshops and seminars on local, district, Annual Conference and Connectional levels. She has represented the CME Church on the World Council of Churches (WCC), Faith and Order Plenary Commission from 1996 to 2006. During the WCC Ninth Assembly in 2006 she was elected to the Central Committee and serves until 2013. Within the WCC Central Committee she is co-secretary/reporter for the Nominations Committee. She is also a member of the 10th Assembly Planning Committee that will be held in Busan, South Korea in 2013. She is an active member of the Kirkwood Temple C.M.E. Church in Dallas, Texas where she serves as Christian Education Coordinator.

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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Dr. Simon Mak

Dr. Simon Mak (@profsmak) is Executive Director of the Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship and Professor of Practice in the Department of Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Business Economics at the SMU Cox School of Business. He directs the Caruth Institute staff and its many community service programs, such as the Dallas 100 Entrepreneur Awards, the Southwest Venture Forum, the Starting A Business certificate course, and the Startup Camp for Teens. In addition, Dr. Mak leads the academic entrepreneurship programs at Cox by overseeing the BBA Specialization in Entrepreneurship and the MBA/graduate program in entrepreneurship, managing a team of over a dozen adjunct professors in teaching over 20 entrepreneurship courses. Dr. Mak also works with the Lyle School of Engineering on the MS in Engineering Entrepreneurship degree program.

Dr. Mak is one of the leaders at SMU in researching blockchain and created an MBA class called Blockchain Entrepreneurship where he taught about CryptoKitties as one of the first NFT (Non-Fungible Token) startup business models. He has traveled to London, Berlin, Malta, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Israel, Beijing, and Shanghai researching blockchain startups. He has formed a company Genesis Blockchain Academy, LLC that is supported by the SMU Incubator.

Dr. Mak also researches esports entrepreneurship and just completed a project with a graduate assistant researching startup business models in esports. He is the faculty advisor for the SMU Esports Club and co-director of the newly created SMU Esports Business Management Certificate. He has traveled to London, Stockholm and Israel researching esports startups. His newest research interest is in space entrepreneurship.

Dr. Mak specializes in ideation (having created an BBA course called Identifying Entrepreneurial Opportunities), emerging business models and strategies, corporate entrepreneurship (having created an MBA course called Corporate Entrepreneurship:Intrapreneuring), and global entrepreneurship (having created an MBA course called Global Explorations in Entrepreneurship and brought his students to Berlin, Zurich, Israel, and Kuala Lumpur to study their local entrepreneurship ecosystems). Dr. Mak also teaches strategic thinking in the SMU Cox Executive Education program called Transformational Leadership.

Prior to joining SMU, Dr. Mak worked as an engineer for Fortune 50 companies Raytheon and Digital Equipment Corporation, and then was an early employee of venture-backed software startup Mercury Interactive in Silicon Valley as a field applications engineer and then was the Texas Regional Sales Manager after the company’s IPO. He was involved in his own healthcare dot.com startup and presented to top-tier venture capital firms in Silicon Valley, and then was the vice president of sales and marketing for a startup Asian business magazine, and most recently he was vice president of marketing and business development for a small, Dallas-based private-equity backed Linux software company and led the sales expansion into the Japanese market and the eventual company sale to a large Japanese systems integration company.

When asked what motivates his work, he replied:

Give a person a fish and s/he will eat for a day. Teach a person to fish and s/he will eat for a lifetime. Inspire a person to build a fishing business, then s/he will feed her/his community for a lifetime. This is my personal mission as an entrepreneurship professor.

Dr. Mak earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, an MBA in Finance from the SMU Cox School of Business, and a Ph.D. in Applied Science (Systems Engineering focus) from the SMU Lyle School of Engineering, where his PhD dissertation was entitled: Improving Investment Performance of Venture Financing Utilizing Bayesian Fundamentals. Dr. Mak is also the recipient of the SMU Cox Teaching Innovation award, SMU Distinguished Community Service Award, the SMU Rotunda Outstanding Professor Award, and the Global Educator of the Year by the Dallas Global Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Mak is also the faculty advisor to the SMU Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Club, the MBA Entrepreneurship Club, the SMU Intervarsity Fellowship, is on the SMU Incubator Advisory Committee, and also helps judge the annual Big Ideas undergraduate business plan competition.

In January 2021, Dr. Mak helped launch the USASBE (United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship) Special Interest Group (SIG) on Tech Entrepreneurship and serves as the inaugural chair.

In January 2021, Dr. Mak was appointed to the Dallas Mayor’s Task on Innovation and Entrepreneurship where he chairs the Big Fat Hairy Audacious Idea Committee.

#PeaceLoveStartups #FollowYourCalling

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.

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Ryan Brook ’19, Hunt Institute Associate

Ryan Brook '19, IT Business Analyst & Project Manager at Hunt Consolidated

Ryan Brook ’19 joins the Hunt Institute as an Associate, bringing his experience in project management and the ability to overcome various challenges through innovative solutions.

Ryan Brook graduated in May of 2019 from SMU with a major in EMIS and a minor in Business Administration & Mathematics. Ryan is originally from Denver, Colorado. He was also an SMU Discovery Scholarship & Founders Scholarship recipient.

While at SMU, Ryan worked as an Undergraduate Project Manager in the Hunt Institute where he applied his knowledge from both the Lyle School of Engineering and Cox Business School to assist student researchers with their projects. In addition to contributing as a project manager, he mentored younger students in project management training and helped to shape a project management handbook for the Institute. His goal was to help projects define the scope, timeline, and budget so undergraduates would be better equipped to execute their projects successfully. While he is not a technical engineer, Ryan believes that he can contribute to the Hunt Institute mission by assisting others with their projects.

After leaving SMU and the Hunt Institute, Ryan continued his work in Project Management with Hunt Consolidated, Inc. in Dallas. Ryan was recruited into Hunt to help rebuild their internal office of Project Management and was able to apply his skills and lessons learned from his time with the Institute doing the same. Over the past two years, Ryan has worked in many different areas within IT as a Business Analyst, Technical Project Manager, and Pseudo Developer, helping the business identify weaknesses and needs while providing roadmaps and application solutions. Hunt was faced with many unforeseen difficulties over the past two years, and Ryan was able to help the business stay nimble and adapt to the ever-changing landscape. Having overcome various challenges, Ryan has now resumed work as a Project Manager, implementing enterprise-wide SAAS solutions and continuing his growth in the specialization of IT Project Delivery.

In addition to school and his work with the Hunt Institute, Ryan was a member of Lyle Ambassadors, a group of students that assist with recruitment and retention. Ryan has a passion for helping other people succeed, especially in the areas that he has struggled through before. He continues this work by taking his skills into the professional workspace as an IT Business Analyst & Project Manager at Hunt Consolidated.

After working as a professional in the industry, we asked Ryan Brook what he felt about impact work. He said, “Impact work is important to me because for me, it is a choice, and I hope that one day it can be a choice for everyone. The beauty of life is in what we choose to do with what we are given, and helping people…is what I choose to do.”

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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Nicos Makris, Hunt Institute Fellow

Nicos Makris, Ph.D. Addy Family Centennial Professor in Civil Engineering, Hunt Institute Fellow, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Southern Methodist University

Dr. Nicos Makris is a Hunt Institute Fellow collaborating in the Global Development Lab focused on his passion for researching low-cost seismic solutions, more specifically in rocking isolation. The initial project began with Dr. Makris’ work on Filling the Gap for Seismic Protection. During the COVID 19 pandemic, the work shifted to focus on Resilient Shelter, Phase I with Kostas Kalfas (Ph.D. student and researcher), Corrie A. Harris (Portfolio Manager), JuliaGrace Walker (Undergraduate Project Manager), Sam Borton (Undergraduate Research Analysis). The conclusion of Phase I resulted in a report titled Seeking Low-cost seismic Protection for Urban Masonry in an Unstable Terrain.

Professor Nicos Makris received his Ph.D. (1992) and his Master of Science (1990) from the State University of New York at Buffalo, USA; while he holds a Diploma in Civil Engineering from the National Technical University, Athens, Greece. He has more than thirty (30) years of research, academic and professional experience in the areas of structural-earthquake engineering and structural mechanics-dynamics.

He has served as Assistant Professor at the University of Notre Dame (1992-1996) and at the University of California, Berkeley (1996-1998); Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley (1998-2002) and Professor at the University of California, Berkeley (2002- 2005), the University of Patras (2003-2014), the University of Central Florida (2014- 2018) and at Southern Methodist University (2018-present).

His research interests include the analysis, design, and protection of structures against natural and man-made hazards—from modern tall bridges and buildings to unreinforced masonry and historic structures, system identification and health monitoring studies, soil-structure interaction, and the reconstruction-preservation of ancient monuments and stone arches in areas with high seismic hazard. He has published more than 110 papers in archival journals, 120 papers in conference proceedings, and 30 technical research reports and monographs. His citation index is more than 9,200, while his H-index=52.

He has served as Associate Editor for the Journal of Engineering Mechanics, ASCE, and the Chair of the Dynamics Committee on the same Journal. He is a member of Academia Europaea “The Academy of Europe”, a distinguished visiting fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the UK, a member of the Congress Committee and General Assembly of IUTAM; while, he has been honored with several international prizes and awards including the Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) for his original contribution on the development of energy dissipation devices and for improving our understanding on the role of damping for the seismic protection of structures, the T. K. Hsieh Award from the Institution of Civil Engineers, the U.K. for the best paper in the Geotechnique Journal during year 1997, the Shah Family Innovation Prize from the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), USA and the CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, USA. He has directed as Principal Investigator more than 30 funded research projects in the USA and Europe with emphasis on structural testing and experimental methods. Professor Makris has also served for six (6) consecutive years as the Director of Reconstruction of the Temple of Zeus in Ancient Nemea, Greece. During that period (Jan 2004—Dec 2009) four entire columns and their capitals have been reconstructed.

When asked what his motivation is to do impact work he replied, “Part of our role as structural engineers is the design and construction of structures that are affordable to the local society and meet acceptable performance levels as present and the years to come without compromising the ability of future generations to use them, maintain them, and benefit from them.” Achieving this is his motivation.

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.

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Anna Grace Carey ’19, Hunt Institute Associate

Anna Grace Carey '19

Anna Grace Carey ’19 joins the Hunt Institute as an Associate, bringing with her a passion for marketing and giving back to the Institute as an alumna of SMU and the Hunt Institute.

Anna Grace is a Marketing Specialist at Sendero, a management consulting firm in Dallas. Prior to joining the marketing department, she worked as an Associate Consultant at Sendero where she led various organizational change management initiatives in IT departments at two Fortune 500 companies. She graduated cum laude from Southern Methodist University in 2019 with majors in journalism, fashion media, and political science; and minors in law & legal reasoning and history of visual & performing arts.

Outside of the office, she is a member of the Genesis Young Leaders Board of Directors and volunteers through the Junior League of Dallas. She enjoys writing, traveling, and spending time with Henry, her energetic Goldendoodle.

During her time at SMU, Anna Grace worked at the Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity as the Communications Team Lead. She created the communication strategy and edited blog posts for the Hunt Institute Digest. She also developed the Sages & Seekers Podcast with the Hunt Institute for her honors distinction thesis in the SMU Division of Journalism. The goal of the podcast is to facilitate conversations about community and resiliency.

While at SMU, Anna Grace also completed research on the Supreme Court and copyright law.  She contributed to “Give Me a ©: Refashioning the Supreme Court’s Decision in Star v. Varsity into a More Complete Copyright Protection for Fashion Designers,” a paper written with Professors Jared Schroeder and Camille Kraeplin. This work was published in the UCLA Entertainment Law Review. Additional honors and awards include membership in Pi Beta Kappa and Kappa Tau Alpha, the Outstanding Senior in Writing & Editing award for the Division of Journalism, and the John Goodwin Tower award for leadership in political science.

When asked what her motivation is for doing impact work she replied, “Nothing is more rewarding than doing work in the impact space. Contributing to initiatives that move us towards a more sustainable, inclusive and conscientious future is such a gift.”

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.

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Gabrielle J. Gonzales ’20

Photo of Gabrielle J. Gonzales

 

 

 

 

2020

Research Analyst, Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Majors: Electrical Engineering with the Biomedical Specialization

Minors: Philosophy

I just started working with the Hunt Institute this semester to work on our Hydrogen Powered Fuel Cell Project that will hopefully work in conjunction with other sustainable projects and communities like Evie, our mobile urban farming unit.

Gabrielle graduated from Southern Methodist University with a degree in Electrical Engineering – Biomedical Specialization, with a goal of going into the Biotechnology. She has always been interested in science and medicine. After deciding against medical school in High School, she found a way to unite many of her interests in Engineering and Biology.

While at SMU, she was involved in Not On My Campus, Society of Women Engineers, Engineering Without Borders, SMU Ballroom, Loyd Commons Purpose Committee, Intermural Sand Volleyball, Mustang Corral (Freshman Orientation) Leader. Before joining the Hunt Institute, Gabrielle worked as a Student Ambassador out of the Engineering Office for Recruitment, Retention, and Alumni Relations.

Gabrielle had worked with the Hunt Institute since her freshman year through organizations like Engineering Without Borders, housed in the Hunt institute facilities. She has volunteered with communities in Dallas through Plant Lab, a committee of Engineering Without Borders. Plant Lab works with local communities in South Dallas located in some of Dallas’ food deserts and pockets of poverty. She also got involved with International Esperanza Project, an organization based out of Dallas who works with rural communities in Guatemala to provide free comprehensive medical clinics with staff from Guatemala and The U.S. and offers low-cost, donor aided solution for clean water and well ventilated high-efficiency wood burning stoves for cooking and heating.

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.

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Cydney Kay Snyder ’19

Photo of Cydney Kay SnyderClass of 2019
Research Analyst, STEM Education
Majors: Human Rights, Public Policy, Political Science
Minor: Economics
Cornerstone Scholar
Honors College
Engaged Learning Fellow

Cydney Snyder graduated from Southern Methodist University with bachelor’s degrees in Human Rights, Public Policy, and Political Science. She is also a Cornerstone Scholar, an Engaged Learning fellow, and a member of SMU’s honors program.
 
Cydney is from Celina, Texas – a small, rural community, an hour outside of Dallas. While she worked on education research projects throughout her time at SMU, Cydney became passionate about STEM education after watching her brother struggle through the college application process. She has developed a STEM camp for rural communities, using place-based pedagogy. Cydney hopes that this camp provides students in rural communities more exposure to STEM as well as educates students on the applications of STEM in their everyday communities.
 
Outside of the Hunt Institute, Cydney had many leadership positions on campus. She served as the treasurer of the SMU Human Rights Council, and is the Vice President of Philanthropy for Alpha Chi Omega, and served as an Orientation Leader this past summer.
After graduating from SMU, Cydney earned a Master’s of Education from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis and is currently working as a Teaching Fellow at Ewing Marion Kauffman School.

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.

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Tristan Knotts ’20

Photo of Tristan KnottsClass of 2020
Project Manager
Majors: Computer Science, Mathematics
Lyle Scholar
SEAS Award
Lyle Senator
Lyle Ambassador

Tristan Knotts graduated from Southern Methodist University, majoring in Computer Science and Mathematics. He was a Lyle Scholar, SEAS Award recipient, and a member of the Lyle Ambassadors program, the face of the Lyle School of Engineering and Lyle’s primary recruiting organization. Tristan has held many key roles within the organizations he is involved, including Lyle Senator within SMU’s 104th Student Senate, the captain of his intramural football team, and Treasurer of the Cyber Security Club.

In  summer of 2018, Tristan, worked at AT&T, a global leader in technology, media, and communications, as a software developer and project lead, designing and developing a software application. At AT&T, he gained valuable insight into the technology and communications industry, as well as experience in an innovative corporate environment. He was given a key role within a new project that allowed him to complete most of the project development lifecycle and saving AT&T operation costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next few years.

In the summer of 2017, Tristan, worked at the defense contractor Raytheon, as a cybersecurity intern, designing application frameworks, and conducting software testing. Tristan also worked at SMU’s Caruth Institute for Engineering Education for two weeks, teaching high school students the fundamentals of engineering, and drone piloting.

At the Hunt Institute, Tristan worked as a project manager, where he oversaw student-driven projects through the project lifecycle. He was drawn to the institute by its inspiring mission to help others and provide solutions to real-world humanitarian and environmental issues. He enjoys the opportunity to make an impact on the global community, and hopefully inspire others to make a difference.

“Upon first walking into the Hunt Institute I could see the passion, integrity, and innovation the team expressed daily. The projects taken on by the Hunt Institute are highly innovative and all have the potential for positive impact, making it rewarding to participate. The institute’s encouraging and supportive environment inspires me to work to help others and give back whenever I can. I look forward to working with the institute throughout my college career to make a difference in the community.”

After graduating from SMU, Tristan has been working as a Business Analyst at Deloitte Consulting.

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.

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Andrea Dac Chau Nguyen ’20

Photo of Andrea Dac Chau NguyenClass of 2020
Research Analyst, Blockchain
Majors: Markets and Culture, Anthropology
Minors: History, Human Rights
Dedman College Scholar
Dean’s Scholar
Honor Roll
President of Career Development Ambassadors
Andrea graduated from Southern Methodist University with B.A. degrees in Markets and Culture and Anthropology and Minors in History and Human Rights. She was also an SMU Dedman College Scholar and President of the Career Development Ambassadors.
She lives in Allen, Texas and is passionate about how blockchain technologies are applied in social impact spaces. Andrea conducted research for the Hunt Institute on the history of blockchain technology and its cross-industry usage, with the goal of contributing vital information to Dallas nonprofits and start-ups interested in beginning their own blockchain applications.
While at SMU, she worked in various locations on- and off-campus, with experience working as an intern at the International Rescue Committee, with the SMU student newspaper, tutoring on-campus, and engaging in interdisciplinary research in sociology and political science. After graduating from SMU, she is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Transportation Technology and Policy at the University of California, Davis.

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.

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Jessica Burnham, Hunt Institute Fellow

It is with pleasure we announce Jessica Burnham as a Hunt Institute Fellow. The Hunt Institute Fellows are appointed for their expertise and demonstrated excellence in their fields. During their tenure, they will collaborate on projects and contribute to the endeavors of the Institute.

Jessica Burnham has a BFA in Communication Design from the Metropolitan State University of Denver and a MFA in Design Research and Innovation from the University of North Texas. She got her start in community engagement and community-based design through her thesis project that looked at how community can be built through communication. She wanted to research transitioning from Communication Design to Designed Communication and wanted to investigate areas of the city that have gone through physical renovations but needed to also go through relational renovations. Her efforts led to creating a business association on Lowest Greenville Avenue called the Lowest Greenville Collective which led to her role as the Executive Director of the Deep Ellum Foundation for three years.

During her time in Deep Ellum she was integral with rebranding the Deep Ellum Foundation, the Deep Ellum neighborhood-wide website, and initiating extensive policies and procedures. The largest effort she helped create was the Deep Ellum Public Safety (DEPS) program that recognized the need for more public safety elements in the area and worked with property owners and business owners to raise funds on a monthly basis to hire off-duty officers and private security to patrol the neighborhood on foot during peak entertainment hours. This program has tripled the original Public Safety budget and has gotten extensive recognition and attention from the Dallas Police Department, the City of Dallas, and other Public Improvement Districts throughout the city.

Jessica also played a major role in creating a living prototype and proof of concept to shut down one of the small cross streets in Deep Ellum, Crowdus Street, to be a pedestrian only street. She headed up a design team that included members from SMU-MADI, Gensler, StudioOutside, Event Nerd, and Stash Design to build out three blocks of the street as a pedestrian plaza and then programed 52 events in 30 days. The goal of the project was to show the possibilities of what could happen in space that was exclusively for people. Her team put together a list of events and programs that could happen in a year and tested them throughout a thirty-day period. At the end of the month-long test several staff members from the City of Dallas were invited to see the space and asked about transforming the street permanently. The project proved to be successful and is slated to be a part of the 2017 Bond Program as a part of the Commerce Street Redo and should be complete by 2022.

Currently, Jessica is the Program Director and Clinical Assistant Professor of the Master of Arts in Design and Innovation (MADI) program at SMU. This program trains students to use Human-Centered Design to help solve and improve unwieldy social problems. Jessica lives in Richardson, Texas and loves finding new restaurants, going on long road trips, and exploring any art history museum she can find with her husband and two young boys.

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.