Dallas City Council members hosted the 2025 Pride in Excellence Awards Reception today (Wednesday, June 4) at City Hall in celebration of Pride Month, and Dallas Voice is proud to announce that our senior staff writer, David Taffet, was among the award recipients recognized at the event.
The reception, which included special words from Council Members Omar Narvaez and Chad West recognized LGBTQ leaders in Dallas in the fields of business, civic engagement, public service, arts and culture and philanthropy.
The Kirk Myers-Hill Pioneer in PRIDE Award went to Odessa “OJ” Jenkins, the CEO of the Women’s National Football Conference and the winningest head coach in women’s tackle football history, with a staggering 91–5 career record. She is a seven-time national champion.
Jenkins is also an in-demand global speaker and leadership coach and the founder of multiple nonprofits, including Got Her Back which is dedicated to uplifting girls and women in football. She previously served as the CEO of Bonfire, a leadership development company focused on empowering women leaders through transformative programs and experiences. A disruptor in tech, Jenkins was part of the executive team at YourCause, a Texas-based tech and philanthropy company that exited to Blackbaud for $157 million.
In addition to her leadership in business and tech, Jenkins has built one of the premier women’s sports leagues in the country, creating unprecedented opportunity, visibility and equity in football for women and girls. She was an inaugural participant in the NFL’s first Women’s Careers in Football Forum and one of the first women to earn the coveted Bill Walsh Diversity Internship in an on-field coaching position.
Jenkins is a proud member of the Dove Body Confident Collective, an all-star squad of influential female voices in sports assembled by Dove to support its Body Confident Sport initiative. The campaign aims to help young female athletes feel more confident in their bodies and on the field, and it also includes icons like Billie Jean King, Venus Williams, Sabrina Ionescu, Tara Davis-Woodhall, Kylie Kelce and Emma Navarro.
Jenkins has been featured on The Today Show, NBC, Sports Illustrated, Essence, CBS Sports, Yahoo Sports, NFL Network and more. She was named one of Sports Illustrated’s most influential and powerful women in sports and voted Culture in Sports’ 2022 Sports Leader of the Year, and she received the 2023 Leigh Steinberg Denicola Humanitarian Award. In 2024, Essence recognized her as one of the Top 25 Black Women Changing the World of Sports, and in 2025, she was honored on the Curve Power List recognizing LGBTQ women and nonbinary leaders making lasting impact in their communities. Heralded as one of the top inclusive leadership experts in the country, Jenkins is fiercely committed to building a more equitable world for all.
The Adam Medrano Excellence in Leadership Award went to Ahmad Goree, a lifelong public servant “carrying out God’s calling to help our people overcome the many disparities we face day in and day out.” Goree has worked for the federal government advising six presidential cabinet members, helping generate more than $6.7 billion to small businesses and creating more than 50,000 jobs in the Dallas area.
Social justice is “a real, non-stop job” for Goree. He has played a pivotal role in seeking justice for the late Muhlaysia Booker, a Black transwoman murdered in Dallas in 2019. In 2023, he led meetings with the White House, the U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader, the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, the Dallas County DA’s Office and others, all combining to help get a a 50-year prison sentence for Muhlaysia’s killer and evaluations in federal policies.
Last year, Goree traveled to Washington, D.C., to encourage federal officials to develop policies p’rotecting the voting rights of the LGBTQ community. As a result, Dallas County changed its poll worker training to make sure this community can vote without fear of discrimination or intimidation.
In January, Goree championed the Dallas Police Department’s leadership to start a Police Chief’s Anti-Hate Advisory Council, which now is represented by 15 community members from every sector of the city to help keep Dallas free from hate. He is currently a member of the Texas Southern University School of Business Advisory Council, a member of the board of directors for Texas Pride Community Foundation, board president of the Muhlaysia Booker Foundation, and a member of the VisitDallas 2026 FIFA World Cup Bid Committee, the Dallas County DA’s Advisory Council, and the mayor of Dallas’ Anti-Hate Advisory Council.
Goree led Dallas Southern Pride through a time of uncertainty and stress following the death of the organization’s former head, Kirk Myers Hill, and in doing so brought thousands of visitors and an economic impact of $3 million to Dallas. he was named as a hero in the Dallas Voice’s 2024 Heroes and Villains feature and was a Dallas Business Journal and Fort Worth Business Press 40 under 40 honoree. He has received the North Texas LGBT Chamber’s Community Excellence Award and was named Dallas Black Chamber’s A. Maceo Smith Emerging Leader.
Born and raised in Dallas, Goree attended H. Grady Spruce High School, then graduated from Jarvis Christian College with a degree in history, later earning his master’s in political science from Dallas Baptist University. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Texas at Arlington and a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated.
The Outstanding Leadership in Community Impact Award went to Kelly Drake, a Dallas native who grew up in Pleasant Grove and has resided in the Casa View neighborhood for 34 years. He worked for 32 years in adult post-secondary education as a director and as national director of admissions. During that time, he served as the president of the Metroplex Association of Career Schools and on the board of directors of the Career Schools & Colleges of Texas in Austin.
For 20 years Drake was a deacon at White Rock Community Church a predominately LGBTQ congregation hit hard by the AIDS crisis. During that time he became an advocate for persons estranged in their life due to their sexuality and those living with HIV. Drake has himself lived with HIV /AIDS for 34 years, retiring in 2015 due to disability. He currently is a precinct chair for the Dallas County Democratic Party, is an active member of White Rock United Methodist Church and is on the Reconciliation Ministry taskforce.
Drake is the past chair of the Owenwood Farm and Neighbor Space and has been on its board of directors in Far East Dallas since 2021. After being appointed i by Dallas City Councilmember Paula Blackmon to represent District 9 on the City of Dallas MLK Advisory Board in 2021, he has continued to serve on that board, a role he greatly enjoys and that has shown him he has passion for mentoring and coaching folks going through the disability process.
Drake is also a doggy daddy and foster to many fur babies and a proud uncle, great-uncle, great-great-uncle to around 100 nieces and nephews.
The Outstanding Leadership in Arts and Culture Award went to Ruth Thunderhawk, a Two-Spirit Dallas native and lifelong resident of the DFW area. She is an enrolled tribal member of the Northern Cheyenne nation of Montana and a descendant of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, and she volunteers with MMIW Texas Rematriate, a Native-led grassroots organization that aims to support families and survivors who have been affected by the missing and murdered indigenous women/people crisis in Native communities.
Thunderhawk leads the organization’s monthly IndigiQueer kinship events, every month helping create a space for the IndigiQueer relatives and community within the DFW area. While the aim of MMIW Texas Rematriate is to help families and survivors affected by the MMIP crisis, the organization also recognizes that building community and creating kinship relations is essential when it comes to healing from the many traumas this community has faced. “Native and Indigenous culture is a collectivist culture; we believe in creating strong community foundations, and we understand that we heal by being there for one another in times of need,” Thunderhawk said, adding that “This, as well as assuring 2SLGBTQ+ voices are never left out,” is what drives her to do the volunteer work that she does.
The Outstanding Leadership in Business Award went to Michelle Carpenter, a chef who trained under Tokyo sushi masters in La Jolla before returning to Texas. Born in Tokyo to a Cajun Airman and an Eddoko homemaker, Carpenter spent her childhood in Wichita Falls, Winn Parrish in Louisiana and San Antonio.
After working for leading sushi restaurants in Dallas for more than a decade, Carpenter opened her own concept in 2007: Zen Sushi in the Bishop Arts, which was the Oak Cliff neighborhood’s first sushi bar. Her menu reflected her story, marrying Edo-style technique to regional ingredients.
In 2022, Carpenter fulfilled her lifelong dream to open a Cajun-Creole concept that paid homage to the other component of her heritage. Restaurant Beatrice is named after her Mammaw, Beatrice Carpenter, who farmed, gardened, smoked, pickled, jammed and lived a life of minimal waste, honoring all ingredients. A James Beard Foundation finalist in 2023, Restaurant Beatrice celebrates Louisiana gastronomy and its rich gumbo of cultures and people.
Today, Carpenter continues her pioneering ways as her restaurant is the first B Corp Certified restaurant in the state of Texas. She also launched the Women in Restaurants Leadership Program with Dallas College in 2023.
The Outstanding Leadership in Health and Human Services went to The Senior Source, which since 1961, has enhanced the quality of life for older adults in greater Dallas. In 2024-2025, the organization served 25,000 clients, mobilized 3,000 volunteers and educated 22,000 individuals on aging issues.
As the only agency in Dallas focused solely on comprehensive services for seniors — who are the city’s fastest-growing population — The Senior Source is dedicated to protecting their rights and promoting their well-being through programs such as elder financial safety, caregiver support, guardianship, long-term care advocacy and senior volunteering.
Committed to the LGBTQ+ community, The Senior Source partners with key organizations like the Coalition for Aging LGBT, Resource Center and Lambda Legal to provide education, mental health support and legal resources. Since 2017, it has co-hosted the Annual Summit on Aging with the Coalition for Aging LGBT, offering vital services and education for LGBTQ+ older adults.
The organization also holds training credentials from S.A.G.E., reflecting its dedication to this community.
The Outstanding Leadership in Public Service Award was presented to Marisa Gonzales, a public health professional with more than 25 years of experience in the field. Gonzales is passionate about educating and empowering communities to make sound decisions about their health and about mobilizing vaccine clinics and screenings to serve the underserved and historically ignored communities in Dallas County to create healthier more sustainable communities.
Throughout her career at Dallas County Health and Human Services, Gonzales began her public health journey in STI/HIV as a disease intervention specialist (contract tracer or disease detective) and an STI/HIV surveillance Coordinator, then became a field operations manager. She specialized in congenital syphilis and serological interpretation.
From there, Gonzales transferred to Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Division where she was the public health educator. This position, she said, really opened her eyes to public health as she educated the community on topics like disaster preparedness and recovery, West Nile Virus, Chikegunya Virus, Zika Virus and Ebola.
After a short time in PHEP, Marisa became the public information officer, again shiting her view of public health as media relations and social media became the focal point of her job. Currently, she is the community outreach program manager and is responsible for conducting and overseeing pop-up clinics in the community.
Gonzales also worked disaster response to Hurricane Ike in 2008 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017 response, as well as Ebola response, Zika/Chik-V/West Nile Virus response, COVID and Mpox responses, and any other emerging public health issues that arise. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Community Health from Texas Woman’s University and is a certified community health worker. When she’s not advocating for the community, Gonzales loves spending time with her family and her French bulldog “Chula.”
The Outstanding Leadership in Philanthropy Award was presented to Paul Von Wupperfeld, who has more than 35 years of work in LGBTQ community activism and who has been a driving force in advocacy and leadership.
Von Wupperfeld chaired Texas Instruments’ Pride Employee Network and co-founded and chaired the Out & Equal Workplace Advocates DFW chapter. He served on the AIN board and was chair of Resource Center’s board for two years during the pandemic, a period that included the purchase of land for Oak Lawn Place. He served on the Resource Center board for approximately eight years and currently co-chairs a $12 million comprehensive campaign for the Resource Center’s Health Campus.
Additionally, Von Wupperfeld is vice chair of the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum board and has co-chaired galas for Dallas Summer Musicals (now Broadway Dallas), Dallas Theater Center, Dallas Symphony, and Dallas Museum of Art.
Dallas Voice’s very own David Taffet received the Lifetime Mensch Legacy Award in recognition of his years as a tireless advocate, journalist, and broadcaster “whose unwavering dedication has profoundly shaped Dallas’ LGBTQ community.”
Taffet’s career spans decades, from his reporting for Dallas Voice to co-hosting Lambda Weekly, the longest-running LGBTQ talk show in the nation. His commitment to elevating LGBTQ voices and advancing equality has earned him numerous honors, including the Black Tie Dinner’s Raymond Kuchling Humanitarian Award.
Through his activism, board leadership, and storytelling, David Taffet has left an indelible legacy of courage, visibility, and justice — helping to create a more inclusive and equitable Dallas for all.