Philanthropist Lynn McBee is running for mayor. She filed her treasurer appointment report with the city secretary’s office and announced her run in an email to media at 5:31 p.m. on Friday.
McBee, the CEO of the Young Women’s Preparatory Network, is a former biochemist researcher who is known for her fundraising acumen for the city’s nonprofits. She has served as the chair of the boards of organizations as diverse as the Dallas International Film Festival to the Family Place Foundation, which supports victims of domestic violence. She currently is the board chair of The Bridge homeless shelter and is a member of more than a dozen other boards throughout the city. The Dallas Morning News last year called her a “super-fundraiser” when she won the Texas Trailblazer Award, which is given out by the Family Place. The nonprofit’s CEO, Paige Fink, said she was instrumental in helping it receive “almost $17 million in under two years.”
I’ll be chatting with McBee on Monday to discuss her platform. County appraisal records show she owns a home in Highland Park, although Shawn Williams—a spokesman with Allyn Media, which is handling at least communications for the campaign—says she recently moved downtown and put the Highland Park home for sale.
Her press release announcer comes with a list of endorsements that include Lucy Billingsley, the CEO of Billingsley Co.; Clay and Lisa Cooley, he of Cooley Auto Group, she a board member of the Callier Center at UT Dallas and McBee’s Young Women’s Prep Network; Richard Rogers, the former CEO of Mary Kay; and about a half dozen others that I’ll list below.
McBee joins a race that includes Oak Cliff businessman Albert Black, attorney and former Hillary Clinton aide Regina Montoya, and former city attorney Larry Casto. Real estate developer Mike Ablon has filed his treasurer appointment report but hasn’t said publicly what office he will seek; multiple sources have told D Magazine that it’s mayor.
Lucy Billingsley, CEO, Billingsley Co. and Trustee, Southwestern Medical Foundation
Clay Cooley, CEO of Cooley Auto Group
Lisa Cooley, Board Member, Callier Center at UT Dallas and Young Women’s Prep Network
Lyria Howland, Founder, Howland PR, Board Chair, Friends of Barack Obama Leadership Academy and Board Member of Mayor’s Star Council
Tom Karol, CEO of Cornerstone Automation and Former Chair, Dallas Housing Authority
Jennifer Karol, Board Member, The Bridge Homeless Center
Carol Levy, Board Member, KERA and Trustee, Dallas Museum of Art
John Levy, Co-CEO of NCH Corporation and Former Chair, Dallas Zoo
Sarah Losinger, Board Member, Salvation Army and Advisory Council, Dallas AfterSchool
Richard Rogers, Former CEO of Mary Kay
