Social Venture Partners Dallas Announces Catherine Cuellar as Next Chief Executive Officer

Dear SVP Dallas Partners and Friends,

We are thrilled to share exciting news that Catherine Cuellar has been selected as the next CEO of Social Venture Partners Dallas, beginning January 1, 2026. Catherine is a dynamic, visionary leader whose 20+ years of impact across North Texas make her exceptionally well-suited to guide SVP Dallas into its next era.

Many of you already know Catherine from her influential roles at The Dallas Morning News, KERA, and the City of Dallas. Throughout her career, she has built a reputation for strengthening organizations, elevating community voices, and forging powerful collaborations across the nonprofit, public, and private sectors.

A leader built for this moment.

As Director of Communications, Outreach, and Marketing for the City of Dallas, Catherine expanded organizational capacity and created compelling, community-centered initiatives. She also brings a proven record of revenue growth and operational excellence—demonstrated during her tenure as CEO of the Dallas Arts District Foundation, where she balanced budgets and broadened funding sources. Her strategic consulting work with Grant Thornton LLP and Communities Foundation of Texas further reflects her ability to align business strategy with deep community impact.

These experiences position Catherine perfectly to guide SVP Dallas as we embark on strategic planning for the organization’s next 25 years. “I’ve been a friend and fan of the great work and wonderful programs of SVP Dallas for many years, I’m honored to serve the Partners whose work continues to make Dallas better,” notes Catherine. “Our work together will build on SVP’s strong record of impactful capacity building while exploring new strategies and alliances to meet this moment.”

Those who have worked with her know she is a gifted executive leader—skilled in change management, innovation, and uniting diverse stakeholders around bold, meaningful goals. For those who have not yet met Catherine, prepare to be inspired by a leader whose entire career has been dedicated to building stronger, more connected communities.

A rigorous search, an outstanding outcome.

Catherine’s selection follows a comprehensive five-month search led by Victory Search Group, which reached out to over 100 leaders and interviewed more than 30 candidates. The SVP Dallas Search Committee—Ted Herrod, Donna Young, Mary Jalonick, Bob Wright, Christina Hangar, and John Dupree—met regularly to review progress, conduct in-depth interviews, and evaluate finalists. The Committee unanimously recommended Catherine to the full SVP Board of Directors, which approved her appointment on November 3rd.

Gratitude and momentum.

While the board undertook this search, Tony Fleo, the SVP Dallas staff, and our Partners continued advancing our mission with excellence—including delivering another outstanding bigBANG! We are deeply grateful for their leadership and dedication during this transition.

We could not be more confident in this decision or more excited for the future of SVP Dallas. Please join us in warmly welcoming Catherine Cuellar as our next CEO!

Sincerely,

Donna Young and the Board of Directors