Texas Women’s Foundation presents the Maura Women Helping Women Award, Leadership Forum and Awards Celebration on May 8 at the Omni Dallas Hotel. The day begins with #BESTSELF, an event designed to empower teen girls to prioritize their health and wellbeing, develop strong communication and conflict resolution skills, and lean into leadership opportunities. The evening dinner and Awards Celebration honors the 2025 Maura Women Helping Women and Young Leader recipients.
Co-chairs for the event are business and community leaders Debbie Dennis, Chief Customer Officer and SVP Human Resources and Corporate Affairs at Oncor Electric Delivery, and Brooke Hopkins, Managing Director at Alvarez & Marsal.
Texas Women’s Foundation President and CEO Karen Hughes White said, “We invite you to join us on May 8 as we pour into the next generation of leaders at #BESTSELF, and then hear from our stellar slate of honorees who have dedicated themselves and their careers to uplifting women, girls and families to strengthen our communities.”
Maura Women Helping Women Award
For 46 years, the Maura Women Helping Women Award has been presented to more than 230 courageous individuals who have catalyzed change for women and girls. Brenda Jackson, selection co-chair and former Maura Women Helping Women Award recipient, and Carrie Freeman Parsons, TXWF Board Chair and selection co-chair, led the committee to select the following honorees:
Cynt Marshall: Marshalling Resources Founder and The Dallas Mavericks (retired CEO)
Marshall has been a dynamic force in business over a 36-year career at AT&T. When she was hired as the CEO of the Dallas Mavericks in March 2018, she set her sights on a culture transformation. Her vision was for the Mavericks organization to become the NBA standard for inclusion, diversity, and workplace culture, and the Dallas Mavericks have twice received the NBA’s Inclusion Leadership award. She is founder of Marshalling Resources, a consulting firm. Her first book, You’ve Been Chosen, was released in September 2022 and was nominated for an NAACP Image award. Marshall is the recipient of several honors and awards including the 2024 Lone Star EMMYS President’s award, the 2024 Junior Achievement of Dallas Business Hall of Fame Laureate award, among others. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with degrees in Business Administration and Human Resources Management and holds four honorary Doctorate degrees.
Anne Chow: The Rewired CEO Founder
Chow is a transformative business leader whose trailblazing corporate career spans over three decades. She is currently Lead Independent Director on the Board of Directors of Franklin Covey and serves on the boards of 3M and CSX. She is a Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor of Executive Education at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and the national best-selling author of LEAD BIGGER: The Transformative Power of Inclusion. In her prior role as CEO of AT&T Business, she was the first woman of color CEO in AT&T’s 140+ year history, responsible for leading a $35B global operating unit comprised of over 35,000 people. Widely recognized for her role model leadership, Chow was named to Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in Business twice, Forbes inaugural CEO Next List of Leaders set to revolutionize American business and was inducted into the Dallas Business Hall of Fame.
Carine M. Feyten, Ph.D.: Texas Woman’s University – Chancellor and President
She has served as chancellor of the Texas Woman’s University System and president of Texas Woman’s University, the nation’s largest university with a woman-focused mission, since 2014. Spearheading the largest construction boom in the university’s history (nearly $500 million) and first ever comprehensive campaign, she has more than tripled the endowment, launched many major initiatives such as the Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership and the Doswell School of Aeronautical Sciences focusing on preparing women pilots. Personally, she is deeply committed to amplifying the impact that emerges from TWU’s distinctive campus where women comprise 90% of the student body. She has made strategic investments to extend the university’s mission to whole-person development. Her leadership fosters a supportive environment that prepares graduates to succeed in today’s complex global society. These efforts were recognized by the American Council on Education with the 2023 ACE/Fidelity Investments Award for Institutional Transformation.
Jennifer Bartkowski: Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas – CEO
Now the Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas (GSNETX), Bartkowski has held multiple leadership roles over the last 15 years. She pioneered a national Girl Scout STEM initiative built on the success of the $15M STEM Center of Excellence in southwest Dallas to change the workforce pipeline for North Texas. She is now leading a transformational strategy to reimagine Girl Scouts to serve more girls in more communities in more inclusive ways. Bartkowski holds a Master of Public Administration from Texas A&M University and has worked with a variety of organizations including United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the American Lung Association of Texas. She serves as Chair of the Leadership Dallas Alumnae Association and The Dallas Summit, Board Chair of Black Women in Nonprofit Leadership, sits on the Aggie Women Network Board of Directors, and is a founding board member of Carson’s Village.
Nirupama “Rupa” DeSilva, M.D.: Parkland Health, UT Southwestern Medical Center – Professor
A Professor of OBGYN at UT Southwestern, Dr. DeSilva is a specialist in pediatric-adolescent gynecology with her clinical practice at Children’s Medical Center. She also serves as Parkland’s Medical Director of Family Planning and Child Poverty Action Lab’s Expert in Residence. Throughout her career, Dr. DeSilva has had great interest in increasing access to effective medical care within her community, as well as educating people about their reproductive needs so that patients can decide if a contraceptive option is best for them. In her role as Medical Director of Family Planning, she is dedicated to working with her team to increase access to women’s health for marginalized women through innovation. In this vein, she has created many new projects, including a new mobile van that can make access to contraception easier for those women who desire it.
Young Leader Award
The Young Leader Award recognizes breakthrough leadership exhibited by a trailblazer who is achieving success in a field, initiative or sector, and creating a path of opportunity for other women to follow. This year’s recipients:
Haleigh Jones: Crawford, Wishnew & Lang -Attorney
An attorney practicing civil litigation in Dallas, Jones handles trials and appeals in high-stakes, commercial cases. She uses her law degree to effect positive change and advance the lives of women in Texas, most recently pursuing a school district for violations of Title IX that led to sexual abuse of a female minor student. Jones is a mentor in and servant of her local and state bar associations. She served as the president of the 2024 Dallas Association of Young Lawyers, a 2,500-member bar association with more than 30 committees whose two-fold mission is to improve the lives of young lawyers and to improve the DFW community. In 2021, the Dallas Women Lawyers Association recognized Jones as its “Rising Raggio.” The award, named after Louise Raggio, recognizes an outstanding young woman lawyer who has had significant professional accomplishment and acted as a leader in the Dallas community.
Cristal Retana Lule: Children’s Health – Vice President of Community Relations
Lule is committed to advancing equitable access to opportunities and resources to enhance the overall quality of life for all. As Vice President of Community Relations at Children’s Health, she leads the organization’s community outreach initiatives also focusing on local and regional advocacy. Lule is a first-generation Texas and proud daughter of Mexican immigrants. She began her public policy career as a legislative staffer in the Texas Senate and has held several influential roles at both the state and local levels. She also served as Mayor Pro Tem for the City of Farmers Branch where she launched several initiatives including the city’s first night court, youth commission, senior repair program and more. Lule has received numerous accolades, including the 2024 League of Women Voters Volunteer Award, 2023 DFW Hispanic 100 Emerging Latina Leader Award and was recently appointed to serve as the 2025 state chair-elect for the Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas.
One of the largest women’s foundations in the country, Texas Women’s Foundation (TXWF) knows that now more than ever is the time to create more equitable communities to build #StrongWomenBetterWorld. To learn more about this event and purchase a sponsorship, visit //txwfleadership.org/. For those interested in sponsorship, contact Joy Busch at maura@txwf.org or 214-525-5321.
