Ms. Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk D.D. (h.c.)
Mary Ann is the recipient of the 2018 Civic Pioneer Award, considered one of the highest recognitions given by Congress to a USA female citizen. She is a co-founder of The Memnosyne Institute with her husband, Joshua Raymond Frenk, which includes programs, FoodSourceDFW one of the leading initiatives fighting food waste in the nation (feeding 5,000 families a week in Dallas alone, GreenSourceDFW, three international chapters including Japan, Israel/Palestine and Mexico where it supports two cultural centers serving the Maya and Tolteca people. She is also a published writer, internationally award-winning sculptor, human rights/environmental activist, social-responsible investor/conscious-capitalist and international speaker. She led The Memnosyne Institute team in negotiating the first treaty/alliance in 300 years between Hopi and Navajo nations.
She is an advocate of social responsible investing and conscious capitalism including working with Dr. Phillip Shinoda via the Memnosyne Institute in the creation of Dallas’ first SRI conference cohosted with Texas Capital Bank, she has served as a panelist for NEXUS at the United Nations on the topic and she was the first major investor in Dallas based Women That Soar, Dakia – an impact investment management holding company, with an overall focus on investing and curating purpose-driven entities, and she has recently co-founded UTF Holdings with Kalu Ugwuomo Jr. which aims to support the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as well as creating SRI funds aimed at empowering minorities including African Americans, Native Americans/Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, women, LGBT entrepreneurs, environmental solutions and a special “Recovery Fund” aimed at supporting communities struggling to recover from climate change related disasters.
Due to COVID-19, she redirected her focus to lead The Memnosyne Institute’s “Masks For Life” initiative in providing $246,400 worth of KN95 reusable masks for indigenous communities in Alaska, New York, Nevada, Texas, California, Montana, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico and more and is continuing to seek to address urgent requests from across the Americas from the USA to the Brazilian Amazon with expected requests to continue. She also worked to negotiate the donation of water to the Comecrudo Carrizo Tribe of Texas from 7-Eleven during the harsh Texas freeze in early 2021. In 2021 Texas Representatives Victoria Neave and Rhetta Bowers drafted Bill HR1472 to recognize Mary Ann’s statewide, national and local humanitarian work.
Her personal goals include launching a to-be announced show with Ashely Berges, turning her public speaking into a profitable venture to help support her humanitarian endeavors, beginning seminary studies towards ordination as an interfaith minister as well as embracing her long term goals including collaborating with architect Tania Arrayales Rodriguez, in establishing Eco-Eco, aimed at creating economically feasible ecologically responsible homes for the lower tax bracket and meeting the challenge set by local developer Mike Hoque of Hoque Global who has donated land for The Memnosyne Center for Outreach located behind City Hall which will house the interactive Vital Signs Monitor. She is a current writer for Miami based Embrace Magazine highlighting achievements of those in the LGBT community as well as straight advocates for them. She is honored to have been selected to be the 2021 recipient of the “ICON Award” from the “You Can Live Again Awards Gala” in September and will also be a visiting lecturer for Texas A&M’s Business School on the topics of navigating human rights, environment and more in an age of globalization. On February 22nd she will receiving an honorary doctorate from Grace International Seminary.