Dallas Summer Musicals has named former Texas Instruments executive Jane Schoen as its Chair of the Board of Directors, the first woman to hold that office in the organization’s nearly 80-year history.
“The timing is perfect,” said Schoen. “DSM is ready for a new dimension of leadership by the Board, and I wake up every day energized by DSM’s opportunities to entertain and enrich the lives of our community.”
Schoen joined the DSM Board in 2012 and has chaired the Development and Governance committees.
Now in leadership, Schoen says she aims to expand and exemplify diversity and inclusion in DSM’s membership and programming to serve a broader audience. She adds that she’s eager to put the organization’s strategic plan into action by sustaining a strong financial position, deepening DSM’s impact with community partnerships, pioneering opportunities for first-time or underserved patrons, and demonstrating the power of inclusive leadership.
Schoen retired from a 32-year career with TI in 2017, after managing technology initiatives in internet marketing, sales operations, and IT transformation; areas that were under rapid change or growth. In these roles, she led global efforts to drive business change with keen attention to people and culture concerns and needs.
While at TI, Schoen held leadership roles in nonprofit profit organizations that served the disadvantaged or minority. In 2007, she was a founder of the Women of TI Fund (now High Tech High Heels) which enables STEM programs for young females in the public schools.
Her other nonprofit involvement includes serving on the Dallas Women’s Foundation (now Texas Women’s Foundation) board from 2007-2013 and the board of Resolana, a Dallas nonprofit that enabled programming to incarcerated women, equipping them to transition successfully after leaving the jail, from 2012-2013.
Schoen says music performance has been a longtime passion for her, even when she collated band sheet music by hand as a summer job during college.
Kenneth T. Novice, Dallas Summer Musicals president, said: “Jane’s passion for DSM, her tremendous experience as a key executive at Texas Instruments, and her expertise in organizational transformation make her the perfect person to lead our Board of Directors during this continuing period of reinvention for DSM.”
