Today we’d like to introduce you to Jen Sanders.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Growing up in D.C. and Chicago, if you told me I’d have made Dallas my home, I would have thought you were crazy! After finishing school at the University of Virginia (Wahoowa!), I wanted to try a new city, so I could learn to forge a life on my own and dispel any fear of taking on a relocation later in my career. The first job that came about was in Dallas and I thought it would be rare to find as different an experience as Texas, so off I went. I imagined I’d be here two or three years and make it back to Chicago – and that was 13 years ago. What really struck me about Dallas was not only that it had all of the elements I thought I’d be giving up – green space/lakes, museums, music scene, etc. – but that it was a great city that had yet to reach its full potential, and there is something so inherently exciting about being a part of that ascension.
In 2014, I was a part of the Mayor’s Star Council, which seeks to develop young leaders who are looking to more deeply serve the city. I learned so much about Dallas that year – its challenges, how the city works, and perhaps the most valuable element was that I got to know so many of the leaders and organizations who are in the trenches supporting our friends and neighborhoods. This year changed the trajectory of my life and career here in Dallas. Having spent my career in consulting, focused on public affairs, change management and communications; I started to see this profound convergence between my clients in technology, energy, and economic development. It discussed the need to create advanced infrastructure and application of big data and technology to create a “smart city”. I was hooked and spent hours and hours in research, attending seminars. In 2015, Trey Bowles and I were having a conversation about how Dallas really has an opportunity to get ahead of the curve with smart cities, and if we did, would drive tremendous impact. Conversations with city leadership ultimately led to the creation of the Dallas Innovation Alliance, and within a year I was blessed to become its Executive Director. It’s been a wild but immensely fulfilling ride.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
A handful of years ago, I knew my current career wasn’t my “lifetime” path, but I had no idea how I was going to be able to make that jump – or where that jump would land me. As my curiosity and passion for the smart cities movement took shape, and my co-founder Trey Bowles and I worked to establish DIA, I knew this was my purpose to serve the city and find innovative ways to prepare cities for the future. I now joke that the best way to make a career transition is to create a position for yourself, then go out and hustle to make the organization successful!
The biggest advice I can offer to young women is to find mentors that can provide support and advice personally and professionally; as well as a peer group of women who actively provide support in getting each other to their goals. These mentors/peers do not necessarily need to be in your industry; I’m lucky to have two core groups of women, one in my industry and one that are also on personal and professional journeys and that I trust implicitly. My industry group has been frustrated by the lack of women present speaking at conferences, and tired of being the only woman on panels. So we (tongue in cheek) have created a ‘binder full of women’ that are experts in our field and provide that list to conference organizers when they say they ‘just can’t find enough women’. We need to be proactive advocates for ourselves and others. Finally, a few years ago a woman I greatly respect helped create a personal board of directors that I can turn to for advice on areas across my life and career. This has been transformational for me.
What should we know about Dallas Innovation Alliance? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The Dallas Innovation Alliance is a nonprofit public-private partnership whose mission is to support the City of Dallas in developing and executing a smart cities strategy to benefit residents. Smart cities is a concept that is thrown around a lot, so we needed to define what that means to us, a smart city is one that finds the intersection between data, technology, and community initiatives to create greater resource efficiency, inclusive economic development and improve quality of life for all citizens. We work with three dozen organizations across the public, private, civic and academic sectors and have worked with over 20 departments at the City of Dallas. I am extremely proud of the collaboration and alignment around a common vision that has been created amongst all of these partners. In short, the DIA has takthen a best minds to approach in order to align on projects and objectives for its Phase I “Smart Cities Living Lab” in the West End Historic District in Downtown Dallas.
The Living Lab launched in March 2017 and is the fastest-to-market smart cities initiative in the country, moving from ideation to implementation in under 12 months. Throughout this process, we have been able to learn from dozens of cities all over the world on best-practices – and lessons learned. We are finishing up the case study and results from the 12-month pilot, and are hard at work planning projects for our next phase, which is focused on working with communities in Southern Dallas to support and test solutions to mobility, digital divide, and public safety challenges.
Some of the things I’m most proud of are that the DIA is creating a new model for how cities can approach smart cities and essentially creating an independent R&D arm to prove out technologies prior to scaling. We’ve been approached to share our story all over the world. Personally, I’m proud of tackling a personal fear of taking risks in essentially creating a startup that is addressing a new concept that has no precedent, no blueprint to follow. We’ve had to make choices and plunge forward knowing that there would be failures along the way… I’m a risk-adverse person, so this really pushed me. Being a part of a concept that can really transform every aspect of daily life – whether city efficiencies, the way citizens are served, conserving natural resources, preparing the future workforce, closing gaps in access to opportunity and beyond, I feel so lucky to be a part of this movement.
What do you feel are the biggest barriers today to female leadership, in your industry or generally?
On my personal journey as a woman in a male-dominated industry, I’ve had many of the challenges and negative experiences that most will share with you. Whether misogynistic, inappropriate, dismissive or just being ignored, there is still work to be done in changing those dynamics, not just in tech, but throughout the whole landscape. Some of this will naturally come as the ‘old guard’ exits the workforce, and as the conversation (hopefully) continues to actively present in public forums. I’ll also say that unfortunately, some of these barriers have come from other women, which I assume comes from a lingering feeling of the scarcity myth, that there isn’t room for all of us. The good news is that as my career has moved forward, I’ve experienced this less and less. As there is an increased representation of women, I also believe this mentality will diminish. I’m also keenly aware that the ground has been paved by women who came before my generation, whose experience was far more challenging. I’m grateful to them, and hope that we can continue to create further progress for those who come after us. We need to actively support, empower and guide women to reach these goals.
Contact Info:
- Address: 311 N. Market Street
#200
Dallas, TX 75202 - Website: www.dallasinnovationalliance.com
- Phone: 214-865-6358
- Email: jennifer.sanders@dallasinnovationalliance.com
- Instagram: @DallasSmartCity
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/dallasinnovationalliance
- Twitter: @DallasSmartCity
Image Credit:
Emmanuel Lopez (main photo), Civiq Smartscapes, Bob Manzano
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