In a rousing presentation peppered with music and crowd participation, Cynthia “Cynt” Marshall, CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, challenged those gathered for UT Southwestern’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Celebration to follow Dr. King’s example in responding to this era’s tumultuous events.

“I think we have to have the courage – to have the character – to not get sucked up into some of the things that have been going on,” Ms. Marshall said. “We’ve been chosen to make a difference – to be the difference that Dr. King preached about.”

Shawna Nesbitt, M.D., M.S.

Dr. King focused on serving others during his life, said Shawna Nesbitt, M.D., M.S., Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer as she introduced Ms. Marshall as speaker at the Jan. 11 event in the Tom and Lula Gooch Auditorium on South Campus. The event, hosted by the Office of the President and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, drew an estimated 450 attendees.

UTSW President Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D., and others at the institution have already shown courage, Ms. Marshall said – in opening the University’s newest regional medical center in the Redbird neighborhood south of downtown Dallas and for committing to work toward diversity and equity among students, faculty, and staff.

Facing the challenges of an era

Ms. Marshall told the audience she was born in the late 1950s in Birmingham, Alabama. In the decade after her birth – a time marred by police dogs attacking Black demonstrators and four young Black girls killed in a 1963 church bombing in her native city – she was instead in San Francisco.

Keynote speaker Cynthia “Cynt” Marshall, CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, challenged the audience to be courageous in responding to obstacles they may face.

“My mother decided she did not want her kids growing up in the Jim Crow segregated South,” said Ms. Marshall. “She had the courage to move ... the courage to believe there was something better.”

Ms. Marshall wound up living in a San Francisco housing project and watching as her father shot and injured an armed intruder who pointed a gun at him and her. She then had to be escorted to school by a police officer because of the ongoing danger. Despite all this, she also became captain of her school’s cheerleading squad, a standout student, and the recipient of five scholarship offers, later graduating from the University of California, Berkeley.

Since then, Ms. Marshall has authored a book – You’ve Been Chosen: Thriving Through the Unexpected – founded a company – Marshalling Resources Consulting – and been named one of the 15 most inspiring female leaders in the world by Forbes and one of Adweek’s 30 Most Powerful Women in Sports. Before becoming the Mavericks’ CEO in 2018, she worked 36 years at AT&T, rising to the role of Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Chief Diversity Officer.

After the event, a reception with refreshments was held on Dr. Donald Seldin Plaza, where Ms. Marshall signed copies of her book.

After the presentation, Ms. Marshall signed copies of her book, You’ve Been Chosen: Thriving Through the Unexpected.

Italya Hutchinson, a Monitoring Analyst in the Human Research Protection Program, was among numerous attendees who said she was touched by the talk. “It was honestly so amazing to hear our speaker. It was really motivating and encouraging,” she said.