Meet our 2024 Axios Dallas Power Players
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A pastry chef. A mayor. A DJ. It's not the start of a joke; those are the jobs of just a few of our 2024 Axios Dallas Power Players.
Why it matters: Dallas-Fort Worth grows more massive by the day, and our population boom is largely fueled by hundreds of thousands of young working-age residents, many of them new to the region.
- This year's Power Players are young people who are creating the future of North Texas.
State of play: This type of list doesn't exist anywhere else, even though there are many Gen Z and millennial professionals shaping our region in important ways.
- Our 2024 list represents several industries, capturing the scope and reach of our region. It features small-business owners, politicians, development leaders and other power brokers.
How it works: Over the summer, we asked readers to nominate influential rising professionals. We reviewed each submission carefully and reflected on our own reporting to choose who should be recognized.
- Thank you to everyone who submitted. The nominations gave us a nice list of story ideas for 2024.
Meet our Power Players:
Amber Venz Box
President, LTK
If you follow any influencers on social media, chances are you've seen them reference their "LTK site" with links to their hauls. Fashion blogger Amber Venz Box, of Dallas, launched the company with her husband in 2011 to monetize her posts. LTK is now valued at more than $2 billion and links more than 250,000 influencers and bloggers with over 7,000 brands, per CNBC.
Byron Sanders
President, Big Thought
Not all Dallas neighborhoods provide the same opportunities for residents. Byron Sanders saw that firsthand growing up in South Dallas while attending a predominantly white private school. He is now moving into an emeritus role after leading nonprofit Big Thought for nearly seven years. The organization works with tens of thousands of Dallas kids through literacy, art and justice programs.
Dancing Iglesias
Co-owner, Flipstone Vintage and Thrift
Dancing Iglesias' thrift store is trying to reclaim the ugly history of Fort Worth's relocation of Indigenous people, while also promoting second-hand living. Iglesias and her family opened Flipstone Vintage and Thrift on Fort Worth's White Settlement Road, hoping to educate the public about the area's history.
Eduardo Zaldivar
Managing partner, Mosaic ETA
Eduardo Zaldivar helps entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities using the lessons he learned watching his mom, an immigrant, operate a successful small business. Zaldivar co-founded Mosaic ETA in Dallas to help individuals from underrepresented communities find, acquire and operate small to medium-sized businesses.
Elizabeth Wattley
President, Forest Forward
Elizabeth Wattley and the nonprofit Forest Forward are working to revive a relic of Black history in southern Dallas. The Forest Theater was once a thriving venue that hosted popular Black artists including Prince, The Roots and Erykah Badu. Forest Forward is raising money to restore the dormant theater and revitalize the surrounding area.
Ivy Awino
DJ, Dallas Mavericks
Ivy Awino, known as DJ Poizon Ivy, is a woman of many firsts. She was the Dallas Mavericks' first female team DJ and the second in NBA history. And, in 2018, she became the first woman to DJ at an NBA All-Star Game. Born in Nairobi, Kenya, and raised in Dallas, Awino incorporates diverse genres into her mixes and advocates for other women pursuing careers in the music industry.
Jasmine Crockett
U.S. House member
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett has drawn adoring fans — and detractors — nationwide for her quick comebacks and witty barbs. But before she became easy social media fodder, she was a vocal civil rights attorney in the Dallas area. Crockett has represented families who have lost relatives to police violence, including the family of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards, who was killed by former Balch Springs officer Roy Oliver. She has since quickly moved from a freshman state representative to a well-known U.S. representative.
Maricsa Trejo
Owner, La Casita Bakeshop
Step into any coffee shop in North Texas and you'll likely see a homemade pop tart topped with pink icing and sprinkles. That's Maricsa Trejo's work at La Casita, a bakeshop that is branching into its own coffee and restaurant chain. Trejo uses her Mexican American heritage as inspiration for her pastries and business.
Mattie Parker
Mayor, City of Fort Worth
Fort Worth is one of the biggest U.S. cities with a Republican mayor, but Mattie Parker has promoted issues that she cares about without fixating so much on their partisanship. As one of the youngest mayors in the country, she has advocated for programming for girls, supported attempts to highlight the city's Black history, and chided Fort Worth ISD over low student performance.
Philip Hiatt Haigh
Executive director, The Loop Dallas
Dallas has a surprising number of trails, but for decades, the trail system has been disconnected and challenging to navigate. Philip Hiatt Haigh is changing that. His goal is simple: connect all the neighborhoods of Dallas to create a green, walkable city. The Loop has 50 miles of safe, walkable (and bikeable) trails connecting South Dallas to White Rock Lake to West Dallas.
Shahzil Amin
Founder, MySeema
Carrollton native Shahzil Amin likes solving problems through entrepreneurship. During the pandemic, he launched a medical supplies retailer to help alleviate supply shortages. His mother's health scare inspired him to launch MySeema, a concierge service that works with patients to coordinate their care and keeps their families in the loop. The company also offers services in several languages to help bridge the communication gap between patients of color and their providers.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to remove a reference to renaming White Settlement Road.