The Future of Work in Dallas: Local Solutions to Support Working Families

Jennifer Bartkowski serves as CEO of Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas (GSNETX). She has been with GSNETX since 2009, serving as Chief Development Officer and EVP/Chief Operating Officer prior to assuming the role of CEO.
Jennifer’s leadership is transforming GSNETX which serves more than 25,000 girls across 32 counties. Her commitment to changing the workforce pipeline of North Texas includes chairing a national STEM initiative inspired by the success of GSNETX’s $15M STEM Center of Excellence, a 92-acre campus where girls can explore science, technology, engineering, and math. Jennifer’s focus on building a 21st-century business at GSNETX has led to a 25% increase in revenues, strong board leadership, and significant local and national partnerships. Today, GSNETX is seen as the leader in giving girls opportunities to thrive and reach their full potential. Jennifer has held leadership positions at United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, the American Lung Association of Texas, United Way/Capital Area, and Charitygift. Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Public Administration from Texas A&M University. Jennifer is a graduate of Leadership Dallas, serves on the Leadership Dallas Alumnae Board, the board of Carson’s Village and is a member of Dallas Summit.

Long time Dallas resident Hyiat El-Jundi began volunteering at  Farmers Assisting Returning Military (F.A.R.M.) in 2015, joining the team in 2016  after leaving the foodservice industry where she worked with chefs who pioneered the ‘farm to table’ movement in North Texas.
After becoming heavily involved in the local food movement, she quickly realized her calling was in growing food and educating the community on the importance of fresh food.
The founders of Farmers Assisting Returning Military invited Hyiat to participate in the pilot program of their internship in 2016. After the completion of the internship, F.A.R.M. hired Hyiat as their first paid staff member overseeing daily operations and programs.
Hyiat believes in the importance of community service and to not only help provide fresh, organic foods to the community but also assisting and mentoring Veterans to take on the task of feeding and healing communities themselves.

Jin-Ya Huang is a social impact, community development, and creative innovator with a focus on the intersection of human-centered design, equity, diversity and inclusion. She is the founder of Break Bread, Break Borders (BBBB),  catering with a cause social enterprise empowering refugee women economically through the storytelling of cooking, food, and culture. She is an expert in  sustainable global supply chain, and has over 16 years of extensive background in marketing for the Fossil Group, JCPenney, and Neiman Marcus. Jin-Ya is an acclaimed interdisciplinary artist who has shown in  galleries in Dallas, Miami and New York. Her work examines her Asian identity and diasporic immigrant experience. She has produced innovative and interactive experience projects with museums in the DFW Metroplex. Her focus is on social justice, food security and human rights issues in K-12 and higher education programs. Jin-Ya is an accomplished, published writer and public speaker. Her work has been featured at the Bush Institute, Dallas Festival of Books and Ideas, Vignette Art Fair, Amon Carter Art Museum, Crow Museum of Asian Art, Texas Lyceum, Toyota of North America TAASiA Corporate ERGs and more. With an eye towards new approaches to entrepreneurship, empowering women and improving race relations, she serves on the Advisory board of the LiftFund, The OpEd Project, Creative3 Center at Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Independent School Social and Racial History Board and Metropolitan Arts Media. Jin-Ya is highly regarded for her ability to bring communities and people of all backgrounds together. Her reputation as a community builder won her an appointment as a social entrepreneur at SMU Hunt Institute Economic Inclusion Consortium and City of Dallas Task Force of The WCIA (Welcoming Communities of Immigrant Affairs). She is a proud member of the Orchid Giving Circle, a fund of The Texas Women’s Foundation, also she is a current fellow of the Presidential Leadership Scholars Program.

Diana Ramirez serves as the Director of Civic Engagement for Workers Defense, a statewide workers rights organization. Through her career, Diana has worked with construction workers to fight for basic rights in the City of Dallas and statewide like Rest breaks, wage theft, workers compensation, and Earned Paid Sick Time.  Through personal experience, Diana knows first hand what is like when a business-friendly city fails to protect its workers. Diana also has two daughters that attend DISD schools and enjoys soccer weekends all over DFW.

A Texas native, Michelle Williams currently serves as Executive Director over the Dallas Entrepreneur Center’s southern sector expansion. Prior to The DEC, Michelle worked as the Dallas Program Manager for Leadership ISD. Having sat on multiple boards and commissions around both the city and the nation, Michelle is committed to serving her community wherever she is needed. Much of her work and passion is fueled by the belief that access to high-quality education, health care, justice, economic equity and housing are basic civil rights in our American society. In 2013, Michelle had the honor of working with the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans: a cross-agency effort aimed at identifying evidence-based practices to improve student achievement. In 2016, Michelle was honored by Texas State Senator Royce West as a recipient of the Outstanding Texan award for Senatorial District 23. Michelle is the immediate past President of the Dallas-Fort Worth Urban League Young Professionals where she was awarded the prestigious title of President of the Year by the National Urban League. That same year, Michelle was awarded with the YP honors award. In 2018, she was named one of the top 15 Innovators Reshaping Texas by Texas Monthly magazine. Michelle is currently pursuing an Executive MBA from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University where, in 2020, she was appointed to the school’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Board.