Gyna M. Bivens
President and Executive Director - North Texas LEAD
Gyna M. Bivens served as President and Executive Director of North Texas LEAD, a nonprofit established by eight Fort Worth CEOs to advance the careers of college-degreed professionals. Under her leadership, LEAD equipped candidates to secure high-impact positions—including Senior Legal Counsel for Fort Worth ISD, IT Director for Dallas Area Rapid Transit, and Vice President of Environmental Affairs for DFW International Airport—without any personal cost to the candidates. By connecting untapped talent to corporate leaders through rigorous job readiness training, she helped create life-changing opportunities for countless professionals over more than two decades of leadership with the organization.
In addition to her nonprofit leadership, Bivens was a distinguished leader in public service and professional development and the longest-serving representative of Fort Worth’s District 5. Elected to the Fort Worth City Council in 2013, she served with dedication through 2025, earning a reputation for championing community-driven growth and equitable economic development. In 2021, Mayor Mattie Parker appointed Bivens as Mayor Pro Tem, honoring her as the “Dean of the Council.”
During her tenure, Bivens spearheaded transformative initiatives that reshaped Fort Worth neighborhoods. She led a historic rezoning effort that fueled a housing boom in the long-underserved Stop Six community, a cornerstone achievement that contributed to the City of Fort Worth and Fort Worth Housing Solutions securing a $35 million HUD grant. She also championed the Lakes of River Trails as a future economic engine, ensuring the area was positioned for commuter rail service. After redistricting brought Woodhaven into District 5, she engaged residents with the long-underutilized Woodhaven TIF 13, encouraging neighbors to participate in public meetings and shape how multi-million-dollar funds would be invested in their community.
Bivens’ leadership extended beyond Fort Worth. Her expertise in urban development and housing equity led to speaking invitations from the National League of Cities (NLC) and the Texas Municipal League (TML), where she inspired state and national audiences. She was later elected to the NLC Board of Directors, and her final TML presentation—detailing the transformation that sparked Stop Six’s housing renaissance—drew a standing-room-only audience.
Before her career in government and nonprofit leadership, Bivens built a successful career in media and corporate communications. She began as a broadcast journalist, reporting for NBC affiliates in Lubbock and San Antonio, as well as KKDA, KBOX-KMEZ, and KRLD News in Dallas, and later served as Bureau Chief for Dallas’s FOX 4 News. Her corporate career included serving as a spokesperson and municipal liaison for Oncor Electric and as Public Information Manager for the City of San Antonio, where she led crisis communications and launched Texas’s first municipal cable access television program.
Bivens credited her success to mentors including her mother, Betty Green Bivens, John Jenkins, Carlos DeLaTorre, Rick Ericson, and the late Reverend Roy Bivens, who reminded her, “Your name is Bivens, and in this town, that name means something.”