Martin Riojas earned his Masters of Public Administration degree from the University of North Texas in May of 2005.  Prior to joining the City of Dallas, Martin worked at Raytheon as an Information Security Representative and served 4 years in the United States Marine Corps.  Martin applied for the MDA program out of a desire to work in local government.

As part of the inaugural MDA class of August 2005, Martin worked on two MDA projects with fellow participants: the potential separation of the 311 and 911 call center functions and the 2006 Bond Program.  In addition to working on these MDA projects, Martin also served on Budgeting for Outcomes Teams for the FY 2005-06 and FY 2006-07 budgets.  In June of 2006 Martin left the MDA program for a permanent position of Quality Assurance Manager in the Office of Strategic Customer Services.  In October of 2006 he was hired for the position of Assistant to the City Manager where he manages the Agenda Office, the Management Development Associate Program, and assists the City Manager in responding to high priority, and complex citizen requests.

Kurt Steward began his career with the City of Dallas as a police officer in February of 2004.  After finishing the police academy, he was assigned to the Southeast Patrol Division as a patrol officer.  In July of 2006 he transferred from the Police Department and joined the Management Development Program to further his understanding of city government and to gain the opportunity to contribute in a different way to the exciting and innovative things that the City of Dallas is doing to enhance its services for its citizens.  He completed his Master of Public Administration in December 2006, and has since completed one year of course work towards a Ph. D. of Public Administration.

Kurt’s first assignment as a management development associate was to assist with the implementation a new contract management processes city-wide.  Similarly, his second assignment was to assist with the implementation a new city-wide council agenda process.  Both experiences were extremely helpful to understand how the City of Dallas operates and works together to ensure the citizens of Dallas get the service that they deserve.  After the implementation of the city-wide agenda process, Kurt was hired by the Department of Street Services as a business analyst for its ISO 9001 quality management system.  Kurt currently serves as the Management Representative for that system, which includes oversight of quality processes, and implementation of process improvements.

Juanita Tovar earned her Master of Public Administration degree from the University of North Texas in May of 2007 and her Bachelor of Arts from Southern Methodist University.  Before entering the MDA Program with the City of Dallas, she had an internship with the City of Bedford.  Juanita decided to join the MDA Program in order to broaden her experience in local government.

Since joining the Program in October 2006, Juanita has worked on two MDA projects along side other MDAs: 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 the Trinity River and E³ Government Budgeting for Outcomes Teams.  Juanita’s first departmental rotation was in the City Manager’s Office where she assisted with the City Manager’s quarterly Employee Recognition Program, facilitated the A Carrot A Day Employee Recognition Training and assisted with responding to citizen requests. In June 2007 Juanita joined the Intergovernmental Services department and is currently with the City Manager’s Office as an Assistant to the City Manager.