Monica Lira Bravo
Dallas College Board of Trustees, District 4
Monica Lira Bravo is Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and is the founder and managing attorney of Lira Bravo Law. Her practice focuses on family-based visa petitions, citizenship, removal defense, humanitarian visas, as well as employment-based immigration. She has been named to D Magazine’s Best Lawyers in Dallas in 2016-2024. She was named to Dallas Business Journal 40 under 40 list in 2020 and recently received the 2024 New Leaders Council Dallas Community Changemaker Award.
Monica Lira Bravo was elected to the Dallas College Board of Trustees in June 2016, she served as Board Chair from 2020-2024 and currently chairs the Finance Committee. During her term in office, Dallas College has increased its enrollment in critical fields and developed new high-demand programs which lead to jobs. During this time Dallas College has become more student-centric due to the development of initiatives such as Dallas County Promise, the expansion of Early College High Schools, new industry partnerships and the transition from seven colleges to one. Her district covers East Dallas, Mesquite, Pleasant Grove, Balch Springs and Seagoville.
She is the outgoing Board Chair of the Callejo Botello Foundation Board and under her tenure, the foundation donated to city of Dallas the first sculpture of a woman (Adelfa B. Callejo) in the city. She currently serves as the co-chair of the Callejo Foundation Latino Leadership Academy, which is a leadership program focused on creating a pipeline of Latinos to run for public office. She currently serves on the Dallas Arboretum Board of Directors, YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas Board, SMU Hegi Career Development Center Board and Hockaday Alumnae Board.
Monica is a Past President of the Dallas Hispanic Bar Association, as well as founding chair of the Dallas Bar Association Immigration law section.
Monica received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in French from Southern Methodist University and her law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law. She lives in East Dallas with her husband and three daughters.
Tiska Thomas
Chief Financial Officer, Dallas College
Tiska Thomas serves as the chief financial officer at Dallas College. Although she works with numbers each day, she says her career is not about how well you understand math — it's how you can use strategic thinking to collaborate with others, solve roadblocks and tell the story.
Thomas credits navigating some of her career milestones to her fifth-grade teacher. While most think of their elementary school teachers as a memory, Thomas utilized her teacher as a mentor to provide sound life and career advice and help her face any barriers along the way. Thanks to the mentorship she received, she now returns the favor and helps employees on her team reach their career goals.
In addition to her official capacity at Dallas College, she also serves on the Standing Advisory Committee for Community College Funding with The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and is an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University where she teaches higher education finance.
Carrie Ellen Adamian
Chief Operating Officer of Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
Carrie Ellen Adamian joined the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra in 2020 as the Chief Marketing Officer and currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer since December 2024. She brought a wealth of experience to FWSO including management positions at The Dallas Opera, PACE Entertainment, SFX Entertainment, and Clear Channel Communications. She was instrumental in creating and selling one-stop shopping opportunities for live entertainment advertising directed at blue chip companies. Ms. Adamian became the marketing director at The Public Theater, one of New York City’s most renowned theatrical institutions, and later served in the same capacity at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where she reversed subscription base erosion by 40% within three years, grew the single ticket base by 20% and generated $9M in ticketing and venue rental revenues. A graduate of Fordham University, she performed in Broadway productions that included Tommy Tune’s Grand Hotel and Grease.
Linda McMahon
CEO of Dallas Economic Development
Linda McMahon is the inaugural CEO of the newly formed Dallas Economic Development Corporation (Dallas EDC). The Dallas EDC is a nonprofit Local Government Corporation created to support business development, business retention and serve as the public developer for the City of Dallas. The Dallas EDC will be responsible for marketing Dallas nationally and internationally. As an independent organization, the Dallas EDC was created to expand and strengthen the city’s economic development growth by attracting significant business investments, fueling job creation, and ensuring long term economic advancement.
Prior to joining DEDC, Linda was the President and CEO of The Real Estate Council organization, which includes The Real Estate Council, TREC Community Investors, TREC PAC and TREC Special Events. The Real Estate Council (TREC) is the largest and most influential commercial real estate organization in the State of Texas with over 2,000 members and 650-member companies. TREC focuses on Public Policy, Leadership Development and Community Investment through TREC Community Investors (a certified Community Development Financial Institution). Linda led transformative change within The Real Estate Council through her tenure. Linda was instrumental in the creation of the Dallas Housing Opportunity Fund in partnership with Local Initiatives Support Corporation which was seed funded by the City of Dallas with $6MM. This fund will provide equity and debt for affordable housing. Under her leadership, TREC Community Investors created the Dallas Catalyst Project that has created over $140MM of leveraged investment in the Forest District over the past five years. She also created the Dallas Collaboration for Equitable Development with a $6MM investment from JPMorgan Chase.
Prior to leading TREC, Linda spent three decades in banking, including 15 years with JPMorgan Chase Bank leading the Southwest Region Community Development group.
McMahon is a board member of Downtown Dallas, Inc., and the North Texas Commission. She is a member of the Dallas Assembly, the National Association of Corporate Directors, the Texas Economic Development Corporation, the Texas Economic Development Council, Site Selectors Association, International Economic Development Corporation, Forward Dallas, Texas Lyceum Alumnae Association, Leadership Dallas Alumnae Association, the Texas Blueprint Steering Committee and the Urban Land Institute.
Throughout her career, McMahon has received numerous honors recognizing her professional work and her commitment to Dallas and Texas. Ms. McMahon was recently named to the 2025 Texas 100 by the Business Journals of Texas and will be honored by the NTCAR Hall of Fame in April 2025 with the Industry Service Award. In 2024, she was awarded the D CEO Civic Impact Award. Previously, she was chosen for the inaugural Outstanding Community Service Award in commercial real estate from D CEO. She is an Honorary AIA named by the American Institute of Architects of Dallas. She was recognized as one of the “78 Women who are changing the Face of Dallas” by D Magazine and honored as one of the Dallas 500 by D CEO annually since 2015.
Ms. McMahon is a frequent speaker on issues related to economic development, neighborhood revitalization, and affordable housing. She earned her bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin and a certificate in corporate governance from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
www.Dallasedc.com
lmcmahon@Dallasedc.com
Linda McMahon's Profile on LinkedIn