Frank Risch is the new board chairman and Terdema Ussery is the new vice chairman
New board chair Frank Risch retired from ExxonMobil Corp. in 2004 as vice president and treasurer after a 38-year-career with the corporation.
“Frank brings a wealth of business experience and civic leadership to the board,” said Fred Hegi, who continues serving as a trustee, but recently retired as board chair and became immediate past chairman. “His knowledge of the nonprofit community and his ability to understand our donors’ needs will help CFT enhance the experience and the impact of giving.”
Risch has served on the CFT board for seven years, most recently as vice chair. He led a transformative board strategic planning process that is directing the foundation’s current work. As an output of that strategic plan, under his leadership of the board philanthropy committee, CFT launched its community impact grantmaking focused on at-risk middle school youth and low-income families. Risch is immediate past chairman of the Dallas Theater Center and is in current leadership positions on the boards of Dallas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), AT&T Performing Arts Center, and the Dallas Holocaust Museum-Center for Education and Tolerance. Risch also is a member of the Business Board of Advisors of the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon, and is past president of Temple Emanue-El. He earned degrees from Pennsylvania State University and Carnegie Mellon University. Risch and his wife, Helen, have two grown children and six grandchildren.
“It’s a great honor to be elected chairman of this great institution by my fellow trustees,” said Risch. “CFT has long been blessed with outstanding, experienced trustees, and together with the inspired leadership of our CEO Brent Christopher, we will continue to faithfully advance our mission of serving our North Texas community.”
New board vice chair Terdema Ussery is in his 16th year as President and CEO of the Dallas Mavericks and is also President of the Dallas Mavericks Foundation. “Terdema’s vast business and charitable experience will play a major role in helping Communities Foundation of Texas connect with donors and nonprofits,” said Christopher. “As a leading expert in the world of sports business, he knows the power of teamwork and its importance to an organization like CFT as we create lasting partnerships throughout North Texas.” Ussery earned degrees from Princeton and Harvard and a law degree from Berkeley before joining the law firm Morrison and Foerster. He was later the Commissioner of the Continental Basketball Association and president of Nike Sports Management, before joining the Dallas Mavericks. He is Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Dallas Housing Authority and serves on several nonprofits boards, including the Salvation Army and the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation Board. “I’m thrilled to expand my role with the CFT team, and I Iook forward to helping create a positive change throughout our community,” said Ussery.