Former City Council Member Amanda Edwards announced back in March that she is a candidate for the job of Houston Mayor. She enters the an unusually long race ahead of the November 2023 election, saying her experience as a municipal finance attorney and at-large councilmember makes her very qualified to lead the nation’s fourth largest city.
“We really want to have a Mayor who has the experience that can tackle some of these complicated challenges,” she said. “We have issues with crime. We have issues with flooding, we’re in hurricane season as we speak so we’ve got several challenges in our city that experience will be critical to address.”
At least three others have declared their candidacy including Texas State Senator John Whitmire who reportedly already has millions in his campaign account.
Edwards says money is important but that it’s more important to know what kind of race she will need to run to win. See more of the interview with Amanda on this week’s Houston Newsmakers EXTRA.
Jones Hall Upgrades Underway
Since 1966, Jones Hall has been home to the Houston Symphony and host to thousands of performances. Now the already amazing venue is undergoing a $50 million dollar uplift to make the experience even better.
“More spaces in the lobbies, more ways to interact with the performances, better seating arrangement in the hall, better acoustics in the hall, more bathrooms,” said John Mangum, Executive Director & CEO of the Houston Symphony. “The kinds of things that will transform that experience for people coming to the hall.”
There is a good reason for the partnership between the Houston Symphony and Performing Arts Houston.
“Performing Arts Houston brings touring acts both national and international, touring acts to Houston from around the world,” said Meg Booth, President, and CEO of Performing Arts Houston. “So every genre could be a little bit of everything from STOMP and Blue Man Group or orchestras or chamber music to Alvin Ailey Dance Company.”
Find out more about the big plans for the future of Jones Hall and how you can help on this week’s Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall.
Searching for more faculty diversity
Fewer than six percent of United States college faculty are Black women and less than one percent more are Latinx. That is the reason a group of faculty women at the University of Houston have formed the Underrepresented Women of Color Coalition.
“Often we may be siloed and the only person of color in our departments or even in our colleges,” said Donna Stokes, Ph.D., UH Physics Professor. “it’s important that we know we have some kind of support around the campus, not just resources and support but the mental, the physical, the sisterhood that you need.”
Similar organizations are in place in other universities but the focus at UH is a part of a philosophy.
“We want to continue to recruit more women that look like Donna and other underrepresented women of color so that we want to recruit more of them,” said Erika Henderson, Associate Provost at UH. “We want to retain them and we want to advance them. We want them to become full professors to take on leadership opportunities.”
Houston Newsmakers with Khambrel Marshall -- Every Sunday at 10 a.m. right after Meet the Press.
Missed the show? Catch a repeat Sunday at 10:30 a.m. and again Monday at 12:30 p.m. (Click here).
· Amanda Edwards, Candidate for Houston Mayor
· · https://www.edwardsforhouston.com/
· · Meg Booth, President & CEO, Performing Arts Houston
· · https://performingartshouston.org/
· John Mangum, Executive Director & CEO, Houston Symphony
· · https://houstonsymphony.org/
· · Donna Stokes, Ph.D. Professor of Physics, University of Houston, Underrepresented Women of Color Coalition
· · https://uh.edu/nsm/physics/people/profiles/donna-stokes/
· · Erika Henderson, Ed.D, Associate Provost, University of Houston