Leeza Gibbons, Emmy Award-winning pop-culture icon best known as a co-host for Entertainment Tonight, host of syndicated talk show Leeza, and winner of Celebrity Apprentice, recently spoke to residents and invited guests at The Stayton at Museum Way as part of the community’s Red Carpet Speaker Series. Gibbons delivered a keynote, followed by a Q&A. After the presentation, she signed copies of her new book Fierce Optimism. Gibbons is an advocate for health, wellness and caregiving. She started the Leeza Gibbons Memory Foundation in 2002 as a promise to her mother. The foundation’s signature program, Leeza’s Care Connection, offers free services for family caregivers. During the presentation, Gibbons discussed her own personal challenges of caring for her mother after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at age 62.
ACCOUNTING/FINANCE
Hayden Grahm and Lindi Jacks, two certified public accountants have joined the tax services division at JTaylor. Grahm, who joins as a tax manager, previously worked with Alexander Booher & Associates. He earned his bachelor of administration, economics and finance degree from the University of Dallas. Jacks, who joins as a tax senior, previously worked for Moss Adams LLP. Her practice areas include personal, corporate, S Corps, partnerships, trusts, estates and not-for-profit. Jacks earned her bachelor of arts in accounting from Ouachita Baptist University.
ADVERTISING/MARKETING
Fort Worth-based GCG Marketing has added Kayla Cowart as operations specialist and Mallory Bransom as account coordinator.
Cowart most recently served as senior account coordinator at Simpli.fi, where she analyzed market performance data and worked with account managers in maintaining key client relationships. Cowart received a bachelor’s degree in strategic communication from Texas Christian University.
Bransom spent the previous two years as assistant media buyer and planner at Warren Douglas Advertising. In her role, she analyzed sales and consumer data to develop and evaluate integrated media campaigns and supported agency teams in formulating campaign strategies. Bransom graduated from Texas A&M University, earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing.
AWARDS/RECOGNITION
The Fort Worth chapter of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), has named Mayor Betsy Price as its chapter Patron. As EO celebrates its 30th anniversary, chapters have been encouraged to invite entrepreneurial leaders and leading public figures as patrons to share their knowledge and insights with the EO community.
BOARDS/COMMISSIONS
The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History has added two new members to its Board of Trustees. Marianne Auld and Ryan Harrington are Fort Worth natives with lifelong ties to the museum.
Auld is a managing partner of Kelly, Hart & Hallman, one of Fort Worth’s largest and most prominent law firms. Auld has visited museums around the world but says the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History holds a special place in her heart.
Auld graduated top in her class at Baylor University’s School of Law and is a strong believer in lifelong learning. “I don’t think there’s a better way to encourage our community to engage in lifelong learning than to be on this board,” she said.
Harrington, the founder and chief executive of Trinity Healthcare, has fond memories of visiting the museum as a child. Today, with four children of his own, he is still a frequent visitor. Harrington says his family is his inspiration for joining the Museum Board of Trustees. He is excited to get involved “in something that [his] kids would be interested in,” and he loves that the Museum is “such a great environment for families.”
Both Auld and Harrington begin their terms on the Museum’s Board of Trustees in September.
ENGINEERING
David Coffman, has joined Stantec as a senior geomorphologist in the firm’s Arlington office. Coffman brings more than a decade of experience providing stream restoration, mitigation and planning services for a variety of projects in both the public and private sectors. He is a Professional Geoscientist (PG) in Texas and Louisiana, a Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM), and holds a Level I Rope Access Technician certification from the Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians (SPRAT).
HEALTH CARE
Galderma has appointed Chris Chapman as the company’s new vice president and general manager of prescription business in the United States. Chapman previously served as vice president of strategic access for Galderma’s prescription business unit. In this new role, Chapman will manage Galderma’s broad portfolio of prescription medications including the full line of products that treat acne, psoriasis, eczema and rosacea.
LAW
Gracie Garcia as joined Kelly Hart & Hallman as an associate in the Fort Worth office’s Litigation Section.
Garcia graduated cum laude from St. Mary’s University School of Law, where she served as solicitations editor of The Scholar: St. Mary’s Law Review on Race and Social Justice. Garcia was the recipient of several noteworthy scholarships, including the Texas Young Lawyers Association Scholarship, the Henry B. Gonzales Scholarship, the Sarah K. Thompson Scholarship, and the Clayton Ramirez Law Firm Scholarship. She was a dean’s List recipient from the fall of 2015 through the Summer of 2017. Prior to law school, Gracie received her B.S., cum laude, in sociology and criminal justice from Texas Christian University.
K&L Gates LLP has added Joseph P. Regan and Adam L. Plumbley as partners in the Fort Worth office.
Regan focuses his practice on various aspects of civil litigation and appellate law with an emphasis on energy and real estate litigation, including eminent domain and real property disputes. He represents midstream energy clients in a variety of litigation and transactional matters involving real property rights acquisitions, easement negotiations, and throughout condemnation proceedings and subsequent trials.
Plumbley represents oil and gas producers and utilities clients in energy litigation, eminent domain matters, real property disputes and general commercial litigation. This includes product liability and royalty, title, environmental, and contractual litigation, as well as numerous other types of environmental, emissions, and nuisance claims.
The arrival of Regan and Plumbley follows the earlier additions of three other energy, infrastructure, and resources lawyers during the past six months: Zachary Ferreira in Houston and Elias B. Hinckley and James R. Wrathall in Washington, D.C.
NONPROFIT
Kelly Hart & Hallman is partnering with The Gatehouse at Grapevine and Tarrant County Volunteers Attorney Services (TVAS) to provide Gatehouse residents with pro bono legal assistance on wills and estate planning.
The Gatehouse is an initiative of the 501(c)(3) project HandUp, whose mission is to offer women a practical hand up with life’s challenges. The Gatehouse is a supportive living community where women — single or with children — in crisis receive safe refuge, ample time, practical resources, and healthy relationships to discover new paths for permanent, positive change.
On May 30 and Aug. 30, 2017, volunteer attorneys from Kelly Hart & Hallman met with Gatehouse residents at the Gatehouse facility to provide legal advice and instruction on wills and estate planning documents. Shauna Wright, Kelly Hart’s pro bono coordinator, managed and coordinated both events.