Celestin Musekura of the African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM) will be the keynote speaker Feb. 24 at the Fort Worth Rotary Club’s second Hands On Peace Event (H.O.P.E.) at the Tarrant County College-Trinity River Campus.
Last year’s inaugural event was recognized internationally for the content of the conference.
Conference attendees will be able to engage with community leaders including Fort Worth Independent School District Superintendent Kent Scribner and Fort Worth Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald in a discussion on topics such as interfaith peace, civil discourse and social justice, community and international affairs.
Musekura, a native of Rwanda, is an internationally known speaker and author who lives in Dallas. He founded ALARM-Africa in 1994 in response to a crisis of Christian leadership in Africa after the Rwandan genocide, in which members of the Hutu ethnic majority in the east-central African nation killed as many as 800,000 people, mostly of the Tutsi minority. In 1997, five members of Musekura’s family and 70 members of his church died in revenge killings.
The Hands on Peace Event is sponsored by The Rotary Club of Fort Worth, Tarrant County College, Arcturis and Williams Trew.
Lillie Biggins, who recently retired as head of Texas Health Resources Harris Methodist Fort Worth, will deliver opening remarks on “Peace as It Relates to Race and Culture.”
GameStop appoints new CEO
Michael K. Mauler has been appointed CEO of GameStop Corp., the company announced Feb. 6. Mauler will also join GameStop’s board of directors.
Dan DeMatteo, executive chairman of GameStop, announced the new CEO on behalf of the board of directors of the Grapevine-based electronic game retailer.
Mauler, 56, has been with the company for more than 16 years. He previously was executive vice president and president of international, which consists of nearly 2,000 retail stores operating under the GameStop, EB Games, Micromania and Zing Pop Culture brands. Mauler has led the international division’s business and diversification initiatives since January of 2010, including launching the company’s global Collectibles business in 2014.
GameStop’s former CEO, J. Paul Raines, stepped down in November to focus on his health and family and will leave the company in March, the company said earlier in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Prior to heading the international business, Mauler was the company’s senior vice president of supply chain and international support, and before the merger between GameStop and EB Games, he was vice president of logistics for Electronics Boutique.
“Starting with its founders more than 30 years ago, GameStop has a tremendous legacy of continually transforming its business to meet the needs of its global customer base,” said Mauler. “I look forward to building upon that legacy and working closely with our senior leadership team and our more than 40,000 associates around the world to drive sustainable profitability and shareholder returns across our businesses.”
Previously, Mauler was a senior manager for Baxter Healthcare, Dade Behring and Fisher Scientific, where he led operations for 22 countries.
BANKING & FINANCE
Premier Bank Texas has added Dan L. Hanson as vice president, mortgage banking market manager. He is charged with expanding the mortgage loan base and will be responsible for recruiting new mortgage loan officers and developing a sales program for growing the bank’s residential loan portfolio in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
EDUCATION
The University of North Texas named Diane Bruxvoort as dean of libraries and librarian, effective April 1. She replaces Cathy Hartman, interim dean of libraries and former associate dean of libraries.
Most recently, Bruxvoort was the Libraries, Special Collections and Museums University Librarian and director at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Prior to that, she was senior associate dean at the University of Florida.
FOOD & WINE
Clay Pigeon has hired Bria Downey as executive chef. Downey was most recently the sous chef at Marcus Paslay’s other restaurant, Piattello Italian Kitchen. She has been cooking professionally since she was 15.
After studying culinary arts at El Centro College in Dallas, Downey worked as pastry chef at Bread Winners Cafe & Bakery, Meddlesome Moth and Bird Cafe before becoming the sous chef at Meddlesome Moth. She then served as executive chef at Winslow’s Wine Cafe before joining the opening team at Piattello.
HONORS & AWARDS
Autobahn BMW, one of Autobahn Fort Worth’s six luxury auto dealerships, has been named BMW Dealer of the Year in DealerRater’s 2018 Dealer of the Year Awards. The dealership has an average 4.9/5-star rating from its 472 customer reviews on DealerRater.com.
Autobahn BMW was also one of five Autobahn Fort Worth dealerships to win DealerRater’s Customer Satisfaction Award, which recognizes dealerships that are in the top 10 percent of their franchise dealers based on their PowerScore.
LAW
Heidi McClain Angel has joined Kelly Hart & Hallman as an associate in the Estate Planning and Probate Section of the firm. Angel was an associate at Palmer & Manuel LLP, where she represented individuals in estate planning, probate, guardianship and corporate law.
Leslie Ritchie Robnett has also joined the firm. She is a sixth-generation Texas attorney whose practice centers on civil litigation at the trial and appellate levels in a range of commercial matters, including technology and IP/trade dress issues, trade secrets, construction litigation, oil and gas matters, business torts, complex commercial contract disputes and insurance coverage claims. Robnett also maintains an active regulatory law practice, representing parties before state and federal agencies on transactions ranging from complex mergers and acquisitions to basic contract negotiations
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NONPROFITS
Camp Fire First Texas has appointed Christina Middlebrook as vice president of development. Middlebrook joined Camp Fire First Texas in March 2016 as the vice president of outdoor programs. As vice president of development, she is responsible for fundraising, including annual giving, special events and corporate and foundation gifts.
Previously, Middlebrook developed and directed Green Revolution, an environmental leadership platform focused on increasing environmental stewardship and E-STEM skills of students at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas.
She serves on the TCU LiiNK Advisory Board and several Read Fort Worth Committees. Middlebrook is a member of Leadership Fort Worth, the North American Association for Environmental Education and the Texas Science Education Leadership Association.
The Ronald McDonald House of Fort Worth has appointed three new board members for the 2018 calendar year: Anthony DeFelice, owner of Amplus Agency; James Hudson, general manager at Martin Brower; and Dave Riley, a neonatologist at Cook Children’s Medical Center.
REAL ESTATE
Colt Power, executive vice president in NAI Robert Lynn’s Fort Worth office, has earned designations from the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) and as a Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM). At 28, Power is one of the youngest brokers in Texas to earn his SIOR designation, according to NAI Robert Lynn.
After two years with Peloton Land Solutions Inc., senior project manager Nathan Thompson has been promoted to associate principal in the company’s Frisco office. He is a registered professional engineer in Texas and has been admitted to the State Bar of Texas. He has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M University and a law degree from Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law.
Heather Ferrier Laminack, a member of the Greater Fort Worth Builders Association board of directors, has been appointed as the second vice chairman of the Young Professionals Committee for the National Association of Home Builders. Her three-year term began Jan. 11 and she will serve as first vice chairman in 2019 and chairman in 2020. The Young Professionals Committee focuses on programs and events for members under the age of 45. Laminack is a general manager at Ferrier Builders.
Crescent Real Estate LLC has promoted Andrew Lombardi to senior vice president, general counsel. Lombardi has been instrumental in structuring equity and debt related to real estate transactions secured through the company’s GP Invitation Fund I. He joined Crescent in March 2010 as asset management counsel. In 2014, he was promoted to vice president/corporate counsel, acting as sole legal counsel for the company.
Send newsmakers to Robert Francis at rfrancis@bizpress.net.