Member Spotlights

This week's SMU Stories episode is live, featuring Shelly Sender, founding Head of School at The Compass School of Texas and an SMU psychology grad. Before Compass, she spent sixteen years running early childhood education at Temple Emanu-El here in Dallas, where she led the school through NAEYC accreditation, helped bring in the International Baccalaureate program, and reinstated its kindergarten

Meet 1911 Group member Ace Gardner, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Vue Jet, where he leads the company’s global revenue strategy, brand positioning, and client acquisition efforts.With more than two decades of experience driving growth across the technology, fitness, and sports industries, Ace brings a unique ability to align high-level strategy with disciplined execution.Within the 1911

In case you missed it, tune in to the live recording of our SMU Football Kickoff Luncheon, which took place at Dallas Country Club on August 14. The event featured former SMU quarterbacks Kyle Padron and Garrett Gilbert, coaches Garin Justice and Maurice Crum, and current SMU football players.🎥 Watch now on YouTube

This week on SMU Stories, we sat down with Layne Tenenbaum (’21), founder and creative director of Dallas’s go-to floral studio, coffee, and matcha concept, Le Bloom. An SMU Cox graduate with a background in marketing and digital content strategy, Layne drew inspiration from California farmers markets to bring a fresh, elevated flower-stand experience to Texas. What began on Mother’s Day weekend i

Six additional tickets have been released for the Energy Industry Whiskey Tasting on Thursday, September 10 at The Algiers Club.The evening runs from 5:30 to 7:30 PM and includes a guided bourbon tasting led by Unreined Bourbon, featuring a curated selection of premium pours and the story behind the brand. Chef-prepared light bites will be served, and a signature cocktail is available for purchase

Meet 1911 Group member Blaine Gibke, Principal and Co-Founder of Randolph & Gibke Capital Advisors LLC, where he focuses on business development, capital provider relationships, and transaction execution.Prior to co-founding Randolph & Gibke Capital Advisors, Blaine was a member of Newmark’s Debt, Equity, and Structured Finance team within the firm’s Multifamily Capital Markets platform in Dallas.

Caroline TurnipseedFounder, CWT Consulting Groupcwtconsultinggroup.comThis week on SMU Stories, we sat down with Caroline Turnipseed, Founder of CWT Consulting Group, a boutique marketing agency that partners with retail and lifestyle brands to create strategic marketing initiatives that drive measurable growth.Since launching the firm in 2020, Caroline has helped brands acquire new customers, str

SMU Football is opening the season with a Kickoff Celebration, and our community is invited to take part. This is a premium evening built to bring supporters closer to the program through access and hospitality, with proceeds supporting NIL programming and opportunities for SMU student-athletes.Event DetailsDate: Saturday, August 15, 2026Time: 5:30 to 9:30 PMLocation: Armstrong Fieldhouse, Dallas,

Join us for our next 1911 Group AI Workshop, From Conversation to Prototype, a hands-on session designed for founders, entrepreneurs, and product builders who want to use AI to move from customer conversations to working prototypes faster.Over two hours, you’ll learn how to:• Capture insights from customer conversations with AI• Build interactive prototypes using Claude• Know when to move from pro

This week’s Member Spotlight features Andrew Pieper, a Senior Vice President at Hillwood Communities, where he has spent more than 16 years in residential real estate development. A 2009 graduate of the SMU Cox School of Business, Andrew currently serves on the advisory board of SMU’s Folsom Institute for Real Estate and was recently named to the Dallas Business Journal’s 40 Under 40.At Hillwood,