Staff

Paola Arreguin is the Administrative Assistant for Leadership Fort Worth and joined the team in January 2023.

She supports the Executive Director of Leadership Fort Worth and coordinates the administrative tasks for the organization.

Paola holds a degree from University of North Texas in Entrepreneurship and aspires to have her own business in the future. She has administrative and team management experience from previous roles in retail operations and with a membership organization. When she’s not working, she enjoys baking and spending time with her family.

Symone Dixon is the Program & Event Coordinator for Leadership Fort Worth.

She joined the team in October 2022 and brings diverse experience in event planning for nonprofit organizations, higher education and with a wide array of clients through her business, SylBelle’s New Day Event Planning, named after her grandmother. In this role, she will be involved in all of Leadership Fort Worth’s programs for adults and eighth graders as well as our annual fundraising events.

Symone is a native of Michigan and has called Fort Worth home for over seven years with her husband and three children. When she’s not working, she enjoys using her skills to volunteer with her children’s schools, traveling, baking desserts and crafting.

Sara Fairley-Luna is the LeadershipClass, LeadingEdge, and LeaderKids Program Director for Leadership Fort Worth.

Before joining LFW, Sara began her career as a Case Manager for Refugee Services at Catholic Charities Fort Worth, which motivated her to learn about transforming conflict and understanding peacebuilding tactics. Following graduate school, she moved overseas and spent a year living in a Monastery in Myanmar, developing and disseminating training curricula for adult learners. Sara returned to Fort Worth, in 2018 to support a local political race and to bring meaningful and impactful change to her hometown.

Most recently, she was the Chief Social Programs Officer with RAICES, one of the largest legal nonprofits in Texas, where she created a department, launched three new social service programs, increased case management capacity, and invested in the leadership of her team.

Sara believes relationship building is central to leadership. Sara always brings a sense of curiosity with her personally and professionally and is an avid reader, dabbles in creative projects, loves visiting and supporting local art in Fort Worth, and spoils her dog, Harley. She holds her Bachelor’s in Social Work from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Master’s Degree in Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding. Sara has lived and worked in Vermont, Washington D.C., Myanmar, and San Antonio.

Shirley Martin is the Program Director for LeaderPrime for Leadership Fort Worth and offers an insider’s view of government that is rare.

Before joining LFW, she honed her public-sector skills throughout a 28-year career with the city of Fort Worth as chief of staff to four different mayors. During that time, she also was responsible for oversight of the Public Affairs/Media Relations Division and was Director of Government Relations/Legislative Affairs Office. In addition, Shirley served for two years as Campaign Manager for Congresswoman Kay Granger. Her work allowed her opportunities to work closely with local, state, and federal officials and local business leaders. Shirley is experienced in both state and federal legislative issues.

Aside from her government career, Shirley has worked on many community efforts in public health and higher education. She has served on boards and committees with the University of North Texas Health Science Center, Resource Recovery Council, Community Enrichment Center, etc. She has been an adjunct professor for over 15 years, teaching Leadership, Organizational Behavior and Management, and Human Resource Management. She has also done preliminary coursework on her Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Arlington, has her certification in conflict resolution, and has received the “Woman of the Year in Education” from Zonta/DFW. She now is CEO of her consulting firm, The Martin Team, partners with Austin firms, and works with local organizations on special projects. Shirley has a B.A. in business administration and management and an M.A. in organizational behavior and management.