Dallas—Alyce Alston, a veteran of the digital media and publishing industries, officially took over the reins of the Dallas Entrepreneur Center Wednesday.
“I’ve always been an innovator within large organizations and then with startups after that,” she says. “I have a real empathy for startups, for entrepreneurs, people who are creating and doing things that haven’t been done before.”
Alston was most recently CEO of Relationships First, a three-year-old Dallas-based nonprofit that provides relationship education to at-risk populations. She takes over for former CEO Trey Bowles, who announced in April that he was stepping down, five years after founding the startup-focused coworking and networking space. “Bringing her to the team is not only a big win for the DEC, but also for entrepreneurship across North Texas,” Bowles told Xconomy in an e-mail.
Alston says she sought out Bowles for the position once she learned it was available. Leading the DEC, she says, marries well her previous experience in innovation within large companies and running a nonprofit. In addition to leading Relationships First, Alston was the CEO of Culture Map, a Houston-based collection of lifestyle websites, and launch publisher of Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine.
The ability to interact in those distinct worlds should be important at the DEC, which in its half-decade in existence has created partnerships with some of North Texas’ largest companies as well as grassroots organizations focused on boosting entrepreneurship among disadvantaged populations.
“Texas is so focused on being business friendly,” she says. “We want to make sure the DEC can be the voice to tell the stories of entrepreneurs.”
