Session 3

Dr. Carroll's business and economics career dates from 1982 and includes service as a professor of economics, corporate controller, operations manager, and a corporate president. His research interests focus on regional economic development strategies and social economics. Dr. Carroll is Editor-in-Chief of Regional Science Policy & Practice and Associate Editor of Economic Development Quarterly. He serves on a number of editorial boards and international advisory boards. Dr. Carroll has published more than eighty academic articles, book chapters and policy monographs. Dr. Carroll has taught at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has held economics faculty positions at Bowling Green State University, West Virginia State University, Muskingum College, and currently, the University of North Texas. Dr. Carroll earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Wright State University and his Ph.D. from Colorado State University.

Lori Pampell Clark joined the Transportation Department of the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) in July 2005. She oversees various programs and policies to improve air quality. She also serves as Coordinator of the Dallas-Fort Worth Clean Cities Coalition, the local chapter of a Department of Energy program focused on increasing energy efficiency in the transportation sector. Her team focuses on clean vehicles and alternative fuels, including electric vehicles, as well as energy efficiency and renewable energy. Initiatives range from consumer engagement and education about electric vehicles to collaborating with fleets to identify strategies to meet specific goals and transition toward cleaner operations. Their work also includes energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Lori received a Bachelors Degree in Environmental Studies and Political Science from Baylor University. She also is active on the Board of Keep Grapevine Beautiful.

Joy Griffin BSN, RN, Director of Community Health Improvement- Tarrant/Parker Counties.

Joy graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington and is a registered nurse with 25 years of experience in a variety of areas including- medical-surgical, home health, pediatrics, case management, and community health. Joy has chaired and/or served on numerous coalitions and committees including Healthy Tarrant County Collaboration and Tarrant County Homeless Coalition. Additionally, she has served as Community Health Outreach subject matter expert assisting Texas Health Arlington Memorial to attain Magnet Designation and several other accreditations including Cancer, Stroke, and Baby Friendly designations. Joy was the 2010 Community Service Award recipient and Diversity and Inclusion Mosaic Pin recipient in 2012, both during her tenure at Texas Health Arlington Memorial.

Joy has been married for 24 years, has two Labradors and loves to read, hike, and spend time with friends and family.

Travis Liska, AICP, Principal Transportation Planner, manages regional land use / transportation planning projects for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Dallas – Fort Worth region. His experience includes transit-oriented development planning, parking management policy, and analysis on the economic relationship of land development to transportation through value capture, benefit cost analysis, and funding. He also led creation of NCTCOG’s Coordinated Land Use and Transportation Planning Task Force and the Transportation Department’s gentrification study. Travis holds a bachelor’s in Geography/GIS and a master’s in urban and Regional Planning from Texas A&M University

Nichole Manna is an award-winning investigative reporter for the Star-Telegram who focuses on criminal justice. Before moving to Fort Worth in July 2018, she was a reporter at newspapers in Tennessee, North Carolina, Nebraska and Kansas. She likes to spend time with her two dogs, Opie and Oliver.

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I help communities and companies create and tell their story while abiding by the Triple Bottom Line philosophy of social, environmental, and economic responsibility.

As an urbanist, my goal is to provide placemaking and development tools to cities, towns, and developers that enable them to build great places that speak to the soul and drive ongoing and equitable economic development. As a storyteller, I enable clients to better understand their core value proposition while conveying a compelling story to drive their brand and their business forward.

The interplay between the story of place and the implementation of placemaking and development visions is where things really get fun. The creation of story (place branding) helps inform how community-driven growth should occur; the implementation of those visions then re-inform how to communicate that vision to the local community and the world at large.

Few things are more rewarding than recognizing the inherent power of community to provide a bottom-up, cross silo approach that results in successful social and economic growth.

As a marketing strategist, I love working with communities and businesses of all sizes, but there is a special love working with local businesses, who represent the heart of our economy, and the soul of our social fabric. This is where my worlds collide: Main Street. The need to envision and build the right place while providing businesses the insights necessary to rise above the noise and become models of entrepreneurial success.

Proud to serve (and learn) as a Council member of the Urban Land Institute’s Mixed Use Development Council (national) and Transit Oriented Development Council (North Texas); Board Member of the Real Estate Institute at SBU, Form-Based Codes Institute and CNU North Texas. Graduate of ULI North Texas Center for Leadership Class of 2018; NC Certified from the National Charrette Institute.

My successes are nice to recall, but more so serve as a foundation to provide communities and businesses a more prosperous future. Whether it’s being a key development exec who led the entitlement of over $10 billion in mixed-use development, the co-creation of the groundbreaking Crowdsourced Placemaking public engagement program, or advising countless businesses on their branding, communications, and business strategy, these have all been opportunities for me to listen, to learn, and to better serve the needs of communities and businesses across the nation.

Renee Parker has been a workforce professional and public speaker for over 15years. She earned a Bachelor of Art’sdegree in Communications from the University of Texas at Arlington. Renee has worked for Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County for the past 12years, focusing on business development, community relations and workforce development. She works closely with Chambers and Economic Development Corporations to recruit and retain new businesses in Tarrant County. She manages the DFW Regional Aerospace Consortium through Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County, an industry driven board of Aerospace and Aviation companies working to grow the talent pipeline in the industry.Renee was Leadership Grapevine’s Class of 2015-2016Valedictorian and currently serves on the board for the Leadership Grapevine Alumni Association. She servedon the Blue Zones Project Worksite committee, which assists local Fort Worth companies adopthealthier workplaces. Renee received the Seven Seals Award for meritorious leadership and initiative in support of the men and women who serve in the National Guard and Reserve.She is currently the Chair of the Job Links board, an organization that connects companies with candidate providers and job opportunities.

Tony is a coordinator for Walkable Arlington, and is a student at the University of Texas-Arlington. After graduating, he plans on returning to UTA to earn a master’s degree in Architecture and in Urban Planning.

Shannon Stevenson has been on staff with the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG),the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the Dallas-Fort Worth area, since April 2001. She is a Senior Program Manager overseeing the collaboration of public transportation planning, funding, and operations for North Texas. Together with regional transportation partners, Shannon and her team identify opportunities for increased service, establish transit service in locations where it currently does not exist, and work to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of current systems. Before assuming responsibility for transit planning and operations for the region two years ago, Shannon managed a variety of NCTCOG air quality programs aimed at expediting the use of advanced technologies, implementing demonstration projects to study the feasibility of control measures for possible region-wide deployment, and drafting policies/legislation supporting emissions-reducing activities. Prior to joining NCTCOG, Shannon worked in research with the Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms at the University of Oklahoma where she oversaw various outreach programs and served as a liaison to American Airlines’ weather unit. Shannon received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Meteorology from the University of Oklahoma in 1998.