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Management Development Associate Program |
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MDA Fellows - Current
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Ray Africa earned his Master of Arts degree from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts in January of 1990. Prior to entering the MDA Program, he was a Management Assistant in the Park and Recreation Department at the Dallas Zoo and Aquarium at Fair Park from 1999 to 2005. Ray’s decision to join the MDA Program was a product of his ambition to acquire a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the purpose of government, bureaucracy, budgets, governance, and public affairs in the ninth largest city in America.
Since joining the Program in August 2005, Ray has rotated to three departments with projects that specifically focused on process improvements within those departments. Ray’s first departmental rotation was in the Department of Street Services where he consolidated and centralized equipment and fleet operations for better organizational management structure to assist in ISO 9000 certification. His second rotation was in the Office of Cultural Affairs where he made improvements to standard operating procedures for the department’s five cultural centers. Currently, Ray is assisting Sanitation Services with equipment and fleet analysis and collection operations. In addition to MDA projects, he has also served as a facilitator on a Budgeting for Outcomes Team for the FY 2005-2007 Budget. |
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Kathleen Coats Cervenka received her Master of Public Administration degree from the University of North Texas in 2004 and she has a Bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University. Prior to beginning the MDA program at the City of Dallas, she worked as a Grant Consultant at GrantWorks, Inc. managing Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) projects in communities across Texas. While she enjoyed consulting, Kathleen began her career in local government with the City of Cedar Hill and wanted to return to a local government team. The MDA program offers the opportunity to be involved in projects that impact the future of Dallas and learn various aspects of the organization in a brief amount of time.
Kathleen began the program in February of 2007 and was tasked with two process improvement projects associated with city-wide uniforms and the acquisition and management of computers. Working with a team of fellow MDAs, she met with numerous groups of city employees and managers, conducted research of comparable entities, and developed recommendations that were presented to the City Manager’s Office. Since the approval of the recommendations, the team has moved forward with implementation. Kathleen’s first rotation has included working on Special Projects in the City Manager’s Office. The projects have included gas exploration in the City, the Convention Center Hotel project, and building a new Courts facility. In addition to these projects, she has served as a facilitator on a Budgeting for Outcomes team. |
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Dennis Gakunga earned his Master of Public Administration degree from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University in July of 2005. His experience prior to entering the MDA Program includes working as a consultant for Deloitte Consulting, PricewaterhouseCoopers and an internship with the Director General’s Office at the International Organization for Migration, in Geneva, Switzerland. A strong passion for local government, public affairs and the desire to learn about the City of Dallas drove his decision to join the MDA Program.
Since joining the Program in February 2007, Dennis has had rotations in the Department of Street Services, the Department of Code Compliance and the Department of Aviation. While on rotation he has worked on various assignments including, coordination of a strategic planning project, recruitment and hiring of new personnel, project management support for special projects as requested by directors and executive teams and addressed citizen concerns. Dennis has also worked on two MDA projects with fellow participants: the implementation of a city-wide uniform quartermaster and the improvement of the computer acquisition process for all City departments and has served on a Budgeting for Outcomes Team for the FY 2008-09 Budget. |
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Bree Meadows earned her Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Montana in 2004 and holds an undergraduate degree in business from Baylor University. Prior to entering the MDA Program at the City of Dallas, Bree worked in the insurance industry, residential and multi-family building construction, and with Baylor University managing student recruiting. Bree feels the MDA Program will allow her to gain significant managerial experience in a broad variety of municipal governmental responsibilities and to have the opportunity to participate in multi-department projects within a nationally recognized City.
Since joining the Management Development Associate Program in 2006, Bree has worked on a number of projects with fellow participants, including the development and implementation of recommended changes to the City Council agenda development process and modifications to the contract management procedures for the City Manager’s Office. During her first rotation with the Park and Recreation Department, Bree worked on projects, including the creation of an annual operations reporting format, the management of accounts among multiple programs, and the mapping of the Department’s purchasing processes. In addition to her MDA responsibilities, Bree served on the Budgeting for Outcomes Team for the FY 2007-08 budget and the FY 2008-09 budget and served on the City of Dallas Performance Measurement Tactical Team. |
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Staci Thrasher earned her Master of Public Administration degree from Texas A&M University in May of 2007 and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Texas A&M University in May 2005. Prior to entering the MDA Program at the City of Dallas, she held an internship with the White House Office of Public Liaison during the summer of 2006. Staci’s decision to join the MDA Program was due to a desire to gain broad exposure and experience in local government where she could better observe the impact of policy on communities than in federal government.
Since joining the Program in June 2007, Staci has worked on two MDA projects with fellow participants: the implementation of a city-wide uniform quartermaster and the improvement of the computer acquisition process for all City departments. In addition to her MDA projects, she has also served on a Budgeting for Outcomes Team for the FY 2008-09 Budget. Staci’s first departmental rotation was in the City Manager’s Office where she worked with responding to citizen requests, staffing City Council meetings, the quarterly Employee Recognition Program and some economic development special projects. Her second rotation is in the Office of Strategic Customer Service where she is working on analyzing departmental performance measures and updating the current performance measurement system. |
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