The Latest News for You from the Northeast Leadership Forum

May 2023 Newsletter

Greetings from your NLF Chair, Dr. Eli D. Mercer

We honor fallen heroes this week as we prepare for another change of season. Welcome summer 2023!

Leadership is about much more than holding office, having title or influence, advocating for position, or hosting meetings and events. Leadership is about sacrifice.

“There’s no greater love than to lay down one’s life for friends.” -John 15:13 NIV

This week we honor all who laid down their lives for people they love, and for us. We thank their families and we pray for them in this season of reflection. We also pray for the leaders in this country, state, county, and our communities. May we learn from their example and become more selfless and servant-hearted each day.

Hearty Congratulations to Class of 2023!

You are our hope and inspiration.

Thank you again to all who organized and participated in our spring breakfast honoring NLF Foundation Scholarship recipients. Thank you again to all the community leaders and organizations who came together and provided the scholarships for them to attend colleges and trade schools to advance their goals and careers.

If you’d like to join our community of leaders, or if you know a true leader in the community who’d make a great member, please reach out. The NLF provides a forum for collaboration, dialogue, and engagement to build stronger communities through relationships. Click here to download the membership application.

The weather is beginning to warm and school is officially out for summer!

Families are preparing for summer projects, camps, excursions, and vacations. Businesses are in full swing for the year. It is an active time, but also one of great promise for the future. The summer provides a time to celebrate, recreate, reflect, regather, and allow kids and families to enjoy life together without distraction.

This time of year always reminds me of the classic Gershwin tune, Summertime.

🎵 Summertime, and the livin’ is easy.

Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high...🎵

We wish you and your families a happy, healthy, and fun summer season together.

With tremendous gratitude,

-Dr. Eli D. Mercer, Chairman of the Board of NLF

eli.mercer@kingdomecosystems.com

NLF May 9 Meeting Agenda:

Preparing Leaders of Tomorrow, Today!

Our May 9 quarterly breakfast focused on our Northeast Leadership Forum Foundation Scholarship Program and introduced 17 of our 2023 scholarship recipients along with their parents.

We enjoyed the surprised look on each student’s face when they learned they would go home with a new Dell Laptop Computer, compliments of Arca Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages.

We congratulate these deserving high school graduates from our area schools and we are honored to help contribute to their education at their chosen universities, community colleges, and vocational schools.

The history of our scholarship program:

NLF began raising funds throughout meetings with the goal of supporting the schools, and specifically Great Texas Scholars. The NLF created the NLF Foundation to serve as a conduit for providing honorees with medals as NLF volunteers visited schools and explained the need for “stretch goals” to enrich each student’s future.

The purpose was to encourage students to take more challenging courses than what was required.

In 2018, the purpose was converted and the NLF funds provided were used to offer scholarships to graduating seniors from each of the high schools in Northeast Tarrant County.

NLF has raised funds through the NLF Award Luncheon (most recently held on March 30) and the Heart of North Texas (scheduled for November 1) that are provided to the Foundation to distribute through scholarships.

This year marks the fourth year that the Nancy & Alan Hamm Foundation has provided an additional $22,000 – thus doubling our NLF amount to a total $44,000, In addition, the Hamm Foundation has contributed $11,000 for vocational/technical scholarships, and Tarrant County College Foundation has agreed to match the amount of the scholarships of students attending a TCC campus.

We thank our scholarship selection committee members for their diligence in reviewing over 100 applications:

Larry Darlage, Chairman

Faye Beaulieu

Randy Clinton

Bob Golden

Jim Griffin

Craig Hulse

Tito Rodriguez

Nick Sanders

Carolyn Sims

Shannon Watt

Membership Continues to Be Our Source of Growth

As you interact with business and community leaders who impress you, please invite them to sit at your table for our next NLF breakfast on Tuesday morning, August 8, at the Hurst Conference Center. These influencers are making a difference in our area, so let's invite them to participate in NLF. Membership is the lifeblood of our organization.

For any prospective NLF members you may know, click here to download the membership application. We want both established and emerging leaders to continue to join our organization to further the dynamic growth of Northeast Tarrant County.

We specifically ask you to welcome visitors and new members to our breakfast meetings because growing the power of networks is one of the main benefits of NLF.

Please reach out to Craig Hulse, our membership chairman, if you have a prospect: chulse@nrhtx.com or 972-849-3858.

New Member Profiles

Please welcome three of our newest members of NLF.

Judge Tim O’Hare

Tarrant County Judge

Judge Tim O'Hare is a 5^th generation Texan and lifelong resident of our area. After graduating from The University of Texas at Austin in 1991 with a BBA in Finance, he went on to earn his law degree from SMU School of Law in 1995.

Prior to taking the Oath of Office as Tarrant County Judge on January 1, 2023, Judge O’Hare built a successful law firm and real estate investment company. He has been named a Texas Super Lawyer 10 consecutive years. Judge O’Hare also served on the National Board of Directors for the Christian Legal Society and their Center for Religious Freedom Committee.

Judge O’Hare has served in multiple positions before becoming County Judge. He previously served his hometown of Farmers Branch as Mayor from 2008-2011 and on the City Council.

Texas Governor Rick Perry appointed Judge O’Hare to the State Dental Board in 2013 to clean-up Medicaid fraud in the dental industry. In 2018, Judge O’Hare was appointed by Sheriff Bill Waybourn to serve as Chairman of the Tarrant County Civil Service Commission. And now, in his capacity as County Judge, Judge O’Hare serves as the Chairman of the Tarrant County Workforce Governing Board and on the Executive Board of the North Central Texas Council of Governments.

Judge O’Hare and his wife Christen live in Southlake with their four daughters, where he coaches recreational youth sports. They are members of First Baptist Grapevine, where the Judge serves as a Deacon. Judge O’Hare and his wife are long-time volunteers in the Children’s Ministry.

Matthew Flippen

President, Hartwell University

Matthew Flippen married his high school sweetheart, Heather, 31 years ago not long after they graduated from high school in College Station, Texas. They both attended Texas A&M University. Matthew went on to earn an MBA from Cornell University and then relocated their family to Austin, Texas.

Matthew has led numerous entrepreneurial ventures over his career that include companies in technology, construction materials, financial services, and education. Each of these ventures progressed Matthew towards social impact where economic advancement for the under-resourced became possible.

In 2010, when the devastating earthquake hit the country of Haiti, Matthew felt led to leave his work in Austin to establish an impact construction materials venture outside of Port au Prince. For almost 8 years, Matthew led this effort that included a high-capacity concrete block plant, a ready-mix concrete operation, and a mining division.

When this effort came to an end in 2018, Matthew and his family returned to Texas and established Hartwell University in Dallas. Hartwell was uniquely and intentionally launched to help address the need for qualified teachers by providing an affordable online teaching degree for the paraprofessionals and non-certified staff already serving in K-12 schools.

Matthew and Heather have four children, two of which are grown with families of their own, and twin 16-year-old boys.

Seetha Modi

Director of Community Relations at Texas Health HEB

As a seasoned community health professional, Seetha Modi leverages her expertise to establish innovative and sustainable solutions that focus on long-term outcomes.

Her career has spanned the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. The common thread among all her roles is the satisfaction of knowing her work meaningfully improves the lives of others.

Seetha earned her MBA and MPH from Emory University and is also a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Seetha has always had a passion for service in the healthcare field, working previously with the American Heart Association, the Centers for Disease Control, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and the March of Dimes.

Starting and raising a family in the area, community is woven into every aspect of her life. Communities are where lives intersect and these connections make us all stronger. The ultimate purpose of Seetha’s work is to make the world kinder, safer, and healthier for this generation and the next.

She met her husband Jaimin while they were both volunteering at a 5K. They have two beautiful children, Jia (9) and Jai (7).

She says, “I look forward to meeting you all and learning more about how we can support this wonderful community!”

August 8 Program to Focus on Highway Mobility

Our chair-elect/program chairman, RaDonna Hessel, has established 2023 as the year of “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” for our quarterly breakfasts.

Our February 14 breakfast featured Trinity Metro President/CEO Rich Andreski, who shared the current and future importance a well-thought-out multi-model transportation system that focuses on mass transit.

We look forward to Tuesday, August 8, when Michael Morris, Director of Transportation for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, will keynote our next breakfast. He will address the overall strategic planning for roads and highways, and the cars that use them to travel throughout Tarrant County and beyond.

Thank you to our meeting sponsor!