Skip Navigation
Facebook Instagram Vimeo FACTS

Carlo Capua

Carlo Capua, Chief of Strategy and Innovation for the City of Fort Worth, spoke to middle school students as part of FWA's ELITE (Entrepreneurs, Leaders, Innovators Talk about Their Experiences) Speaker series. As one of Fort Worth's first social entrepreneurs, Carlo co-founded Z’s Café, creating 165 jobs for low- income men and women over 13 years and feeding 150,000 people during the COVID pandemic. In 2018, he was named "Businessman of the Year" by the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. After earning a business degree from Texas Christian University in 2000, Carlo spent 7 years teaching English in Fort Worth's sister cities in Japan and Mexico, and graduated from Harvard University with his Master's in International Relations in 2022. He is past president of the Rotary Club of Fort Worth and is the chair-elect of the national board for Sister Cities International. He talked to the middle school students about his experiences in different countries and the innovation required for his job as Chief of Strategy and Innovation.

Alexandra Garza Flores

Dr. Alexandra Garza Flores, a geneticist at Cook Childrens visited with eighth graders to connect what they had recently learned in their genetics unit to what she does for a career. She shared with the students how she uses genetics to identify differences in people and then led them through an experiment in which they extracted DNA from strawberries

Katie Murray

FWA students had the opportunity to listen to a presentation and then do a working session with artist Katie Murray (on Instagram: @katiepaintbrush)! Katie has taught design at Tarrant County College and more recently was the chief creative officer at M2G Ventures. Katie has also created many of the well-known murals around Fort Worth. Students had the opportunity to hear about her career journey as a creator, artist, and entrepreneur and then had a working session with her in the Austin Family Art Studio. 

ELITE Speaker Visitors to Fort Worth Academy

  • Major Tom Thorpe, US Space Force Chief of Space Superiority Resilience Integration
  • Anna Tibbitts, Partnerships Manager for Crumbl
  • Mary Helen Blanchard, children’s book author
  • Jennifer A. Nielson, New York Times best-selling author
  • Dimanche Brewer, entrepreneur
  • Jim Newman, a consulting Petroleum Engineer
  • Diana Kirkwood, Project Engineer for International Customer Programs at Lockheed Martin
  • Daniel Rodriguez, a professional photographer and protection services officer based out of north Texas
  • Jason Helm, entrepreneur and owner of Marché Bleu restaurant
  • Chris Stimek, R&D Manager & Eddie Hinojosa, Lead Advisory Engineer from WilliamsRDM
  • Grayson Blake, founder of Collegiate Sports Connections
  • Hao Tran, teacher, chef, owns her own grocery store, and is about to open a restaurant
  • Fred Wallace Haise Jr., American former NASA astronaut, engineer, fighter pilot with the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force, and a test pilot
  • Anita Ivancevic, founder of Dallas Gift Wrap Creations
  • Lorena Leigh, Fort Worth-based singer/songwriter
  • Kate Weiser, local businesswoman and nationally acclaimed chocolatier
  • SSG Mike Kacer, war hero and is currently on Team USA Paralympic for Taekwondo