We are excited to officially announce Brandy O'Quinn as our new Assistant Director.
An entrepreneur at heart, Brandy O’Quinn approaches every opportunity as an innovator, never afraid to look beyond the status quo to find unique solutions. An accomplished public affairs professional, she is widely viewed as an authority on the myriad complex municipal networks within the North Texas region and has decades of experience successfully delivering results through effective engagement with stakeholders across all platforms.
And we're more than thrilled Brandy is bringing those skills and experiences to TechFW as our Assistant Director. She will lead efforts on fostering current relationships and forging new ones throughout the north Texas region. She will work closely with Executive Director Hayden Blackburn and the team to evaluate and increase program efficiencies, work with communities to be the hub for innovation, and assist the board in implementing long-range goals. She will be responsible to increase sponsorship and funding partners as part of her natural affinity for community engagement.
Brandy launched and will continue her consulting firm, Urban Strategies of Texas, to advance policy work for clients. Collaborating with public and private companies, as well as municipal entities, Urban Strategies spearheaded the grassroots effort to bolster public transit ridership by launching a new electric circulator, The Dash, which connects downtown Fort Worth to the Cultural District. Urban Strategies formed a public/private partnership to validate the untapped transit market and secured private funding ($4.2 million in funding for electric buses). The firm also led the effort to establish the Arlington Business Improvement District; it built consensus among 200 private property owners to establish economic development and beautification goals for the Downtown Arlington district.
As the Public Affairs Senior Manager for Blue Zones Project, a community-wide, well-being initiative in Fort Worth, she collaborated with community partners to improve access to healthy food by negotiating amendments to the Produce Cart ordinance, establishing a Mobile Fresh Market and an Urban Agriculture ordinance. Additionally, she worked closely with Fort Worth city staff to establish a policy framework that made Fort Worth a more walkable and bike-friendly community.
Previously, Brandy spent nine years as President of Camp Bowie District (CBD), a not-for-profit, public improvement district (PID) formed by commercial property owners to revitalize one of the city’s premier retail corridors -- Camp Bowie Blvd. Balancing historic preservation with commercial business concerns, she directed all activities for the PID, which included managing the $1.3-million annual budget, reporting to the board of directors, completing infrastructure improvements, repairing the historic brick streets, and stressing streetscape beautification efforts such as installing vintage street lamps and planting more than 200 trees. Additionally, she founded, produced and secured funding for the Jazz By The Boulevard, an outdoor music and arts festival that generated an awareness of the Camp Bowie business district.
Before the CBD, Brandy was the Director of Local Business Development with the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, and oversaw business retention efforts, promoted business expansion and assisted with municipal issues impacting Fort Worth’s existing business base.
She is certified in economic development and is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a political science degree, received her Master's in Real Estate with a focus on Sustainability from the University of Texas at Arlington and was recently listed in the FW Inc. magazine 400 Top Influencers under Economic Development. She recently married Brian Jahn and has a daughter who is a senior attending virtual high school.