Executive Council
Matt Rose
Chairman, Read Fort Worth
Mr. Rose serves on the Board of Directors of AT&T and Fluor Corp and on the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Texas Christian University. He also serves as Chair of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank Board of Directors.
Matt Rose is chairman of Read Fort Worth and executive chairman of BNSF Railway Co. He served 13 years as BNSF chief executive officer and 11 years as chairman. BNSF became a Berkshire Hathaway-owned company in 2010.
Betsy Price
Mayor, City of Fort Worth
Betsy Price, a Fort Worth native, was elected in 2011 as the 44th mayor of the City of Fort Worth. In 2015, Price ran unopposed and was re-elected to a third two-year term. As the 16th largest city in the United States, Fort Worth remains one of the fastest growing large cities in the country.
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, educated and fiscally responsible city.
Dr. Kent P. Scribner
Superintendent, Fort Worth ISD
Dr. Kent Paredes Scribner is superintendent of the Fort Worth Independent School District, serving more than 87,000 students and 11,000 employees. During his tenure, Dr. Scribner has reduced executive administration and other central office positions to better support teachers and students by redirecting those resources to schools. He’s placed a renewed emphasis on universal pre-kindergarten, broken ground for the I. M. Terrell Academy for STEM and Visual and Performing Arts, and begun implementation of FWISD Leadership Academies at five underperforming District campuses. Dr. Scribner introduced 100X25FWTX, an early literacy goal for the District to have 100 percent of third-graders reading at grade level by the year 2025.
Dr. Scribner began his career in education in Philadelphia, then became a principal and district administrator prior to serving as a superintendent in Phoenix for 13 years. He earned his BA from Carleton College, Master’s of Education from Temple University, and Ph.D. from Arizona State University. Together, he and his wife Suleyka have four children.
Teresa Ayala
Trustee, Tarrant County College District
Mrs. Teresa Marie Ayala was elected to the Tarrant County College District Board as a Trustee in May 2015. The Board oversees a $400M budget and approximately $1B in assets. She brings to her role vast professional experience working in top 25 Fortune companies, mentoring and managing employees throughout the US, Mexico, Canada, South America and Asia. She also served as a substitute teacher in the FWISD. She currently works as a contracts subject matter expert in the healthcare industry.
In 2016 Ayala was recognized as a Great Woman of Texas, for her significant contributions in business, civic, social and for her dedication to family and her community. Ayala has volunteered with several youth organizations and has served on the City of Fort Worth Parks and Recreation Advisory, the Commission for Women Boards and the Community Development Council. She has also worked closely with the Rotary, HWNT, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and North Texas Area Community Health Center (NTACHC).
Mrs. Ayala attended Tarrant County College and Texas Christian University where she earned her Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Liberal Arts.
C. Donald Babers
Retired Regional Administrator for Region VI
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Donald Babers, after having amassed decades of experience during his industrious career with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, made the decision to continue his contribution to the U.S. housing industry.
As sole owner and President of Babers Group, Incorporated, Donald is a seasoned professional positioned to deliver a wide array of value-added services to improve an organization’s competitiveness and effectiveness in the delivery of quality housing products and services in the marketplace.
Having been a leader in the development and implementation of policies, procedures and processes for the preparation for and recovery from the most serious of environmental disasters of all kinds, Donald Babers provides the finest in leadership for your Disaster Preparation and Disaster Recovery teams.
Kevin Buehler
Retired CEO, Alcon Laboratories
Kevin Buehler retired from Alcon Laboratories, a division of Novartis, after 30 years of service. During his career horizon, the sales revenue for Alcon Laboratories increased from roughly $300 million in 1984, to over $11 billion in 2013.
Since the merger of Alcon into Novartis in April 2011, he served as the division head for the Alcon business and as a member of the executive committee of Novartis. From 2009 to 2011, Mr. Buehler was President and Chief Executive Officer of Alcon Laboratories and served on the public company board of directors.
Mr. Buehler holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Carroll University with concentrations in business administration and political science. He completed the Program for Management Development at the Harvard business school in 1993.
Mr. Buehler currently participates on the following boards: Acelity (private equity owned wound care company), United Way of Tarrant County, and Carroll University.
Loretta Burns
Executive Director, AB Christian Learning Center
Loretta Burns is founder and Executive Director of AB Christian Learning since 2006. She is responsible for the day to day operations, and development of policies and procedures for the organization. She is also the founder and chairperson of the “Power of 7”, a community based parent engagement initiative.
Ms. Burns serves as chairperson for Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies, Healthy Community. She also serves on the Parent Engagement Team for Fort Worth’s Early Learning Alliance, and on the Board of Directors for East Fort Worth Montessori.
She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington where she received a Bachelor’s in Management and a Master’s in Interdisciplinary Studies. She believes that increased parent involvement improves academic outcomes for all students.
Grant Coates
President & CEO, The Miles Foundation
In 2001, Mr. Coates joined Miles Production Company, Ellison Miles’ predecessor oil and gas business. Mr. Coates served in various financial roles for Miles Production Company and, subsequently, for The Miles Foundation, for three years.
In 2009, Mr. Coates was elected to the Board of Directors of The Miles Foundation, and in 2011, he was named President. In this role, Mr. Coates is responsible for the general management of the Foundation, including the oversight of the grant submission and selection process, as well as the stewardship of the Foundation’s investments.
Mr. Coates takes great pride in the positive change The Miles Foundation continues to achieve for local communities through its grant projects and partners.
Mr. Coates earned a bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of North Texas, and an MBA from Texas Christian University. Mr. Coates currently resides in Fort Worth, Texas.
Darien George
Managing Partner/Founder, Mackenzie Eason
Darien George is a thought leader and expert in the talent industry, having spent eighteen years focusing on culture, talent acquisition, talent development, organizational leadership, and organizational change.
Darien is the managing partner and founder of Mackenzie Eason, an executive search and consulting firm, and founder of Talent Metrics, an AI cloud-based software that measures an organization’s culture and provides actionable intelligence for executives.
Darien holds a bachelor of business administration from the University of Texas at Arlington and graduated from the Talent Management Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Entrepreneurial Studies Executive Course at London Business School, and the Howard University Sherpa Executive Coaching course. Darien also currently serves on the Fort Worth Public Library Foundation, the board of YTexas, and involved in Downtown Rotary, Leadership Fort Worth, and the UTA Leadership Circle. Darien is married to his wife, Laurie, with two young boys, Harrison and Merritt, and daughter, Madeline.
Rick W. Merrill
CEO & President, Cook Children’s Health Care System
As president and CEO of Cook Children’s Health Care System located in Fort Worth, Texas, Rick W. Merrill oversees the not-for-profit, integrated delivery pediatric health care organization comprised of a Medical Center, Physician Network, Home Health company, Health Plan and Health Foundation.
Merrill has vast experience in for-profit and not-for-profit health care facilities and serves on numerous national, state and community advisory boards.
A native of South Texas, Merrill received a Bachelor of Science from Texas Tech and a Master of Science in Health Care Administration from Trinity University.
Mattie Parker
Chief of Staff, Mayor Betsy Price, City of Fort Worth
Mattie Parker currently serves as the chief of staff for Mayor Betsy Price and the Fort Worth City Council, overseeing all policy, strategy and communications. Prior to joining the Mayor and council’s staff, Parker served for over a decade in national and state public affairs along with practicing law in Fort Worth.
Mattie has a passion for public policy and has enjoyed working for well-respected leaders in our state. For Parker, politics is not about party affiliation, but instead grounds public service in efforts to make our communities the best places to live and raise a family. After adopting their daughter, Mattie and her husband have focused their philanthropic efforts on children in the foster care system, promoting adoption and providing all children a forever home. In addition to their daughter, she and her husband David, have two boys.
Parker graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in government and with a law degree from Texas Wesleyan School of Law (now Texas A&M University School of Law) where she was awarded the prestigious MacLean & Boulware Endowed Law Scholarship.
Perry Reed
Chief Executive Officer, Armada Exploration
Jeremy Smith
Executive Director and Co-President, Rainwater Charitable Foundation
