Jennifer Sanders | Executive Director And Co-Founder
Dallas Innovation Alliance

Jennifer Sanders is Cofounder and Executive Director of the North Texas Innovation Alliance, a 501c3 public-private partnership which is the largest such initiative in the U.S., with the mission of creating the most connected, smart and resilient region in the country. In 2015, she cofounded the Dallas Innovation Alliance (DIA) a 501c3 public-private partnership dedicated to supporting Dallas’ smart cities strategy and serves as its Executive Director. While at the DIA, she has collated a network of over three dozen member organizations and over 20 departments within the City of Dallas. DIA’s Smart Cities Living Lab is the fastest-to-market smart cities initiative in the country. Currently the NTXIA is focused on cross-jurisdictional issues in financial models, connectivity, mobility, sustainability, data and economic development. Prior to these roles, she spent more than a decade in public affairs and change management consulting for clients in finance, energy, technology and economic development, among others.   She is actively involved with numerous civic organizations in Dallas, serving as a Past President of the Mayor’s Star Council, Steering Committee of the Internet for All Coalition, Board of the Suicide & Crisis Center of North Texas, Vice Chairman of Better Block, Advisory Boards for Digital Texas, Mastercard’s City Possible, City Business Climate Alliance (CBCA) and the Southwestern Medical District Master Plan, among others.    In 2019, she received the UN Day Global Leadership Award for advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goal 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure).  She has been named to the Dallas Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 and Top Women in Technology, State Scoop’s Top Women in Technology, the Tech Week 100, and the Dallas 500. She has been honored to speak to groups at conferences around the globe including South by Southwest, Smart Cities Week, IOT World Congress, IMPACT: Cities, and the Smart City Global Congress and Expo in Barcelona. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Psychology with a minor concentration in Economics.