Steve Helms

Steve Helms has been a technology sales professional for 27 years. A Richardson native, Steve graduated from JJ Pearce High School, received a BS in Manufacturing Engineering from Texas A&M University and his MBA from SMU Cox School of Business with a focus on Entrepreneurship.

Sun Microsystems gave Steve his first professional opportunity, where Steve began to sell computer technology to telecom providers at a time when the industry was just building out modern internet infrastructure. This gave him opportunities to serve customers in multiple functions across many industries. Following his time with Sun, Steve partnered with companies that provide research, consulting, services, and software. He currently supports the Global Alliances Organization of Dell Technologies.

Steve is an active member of Prestonwood Baptist Church where he served for the last 20 years as a member of the choir, a volunteer in the children’s AWANAs program, and in his Bible Fellowship class resulting in life-long friendships. Steve is currently serving his church in the pre-teen ministry teaching 4th grade young men about Jesus.

Steve is one of the founders of the DFW Technology Prayer Breakfast and was asked to assume the role of President in 2016. He’s seen first-hand the amazing work of volunteers who sacrificially give their time and talents to provide an event that introduces the local technology community to Jesus. His hope is that the DFW Technology community will be known as the most loving, inviting, and Christ honoring network of professionals in the world.

Steve and his wife Kappi love to travel with their children, Holiday, Kate, and Bennett. He has a passion for studying history, playing guitar, cooking outdoors, and running. And his favorite verse is Proverbs 3:5-6

**On a personal note, Steve was very reluctant to accept the nomination. However, his steadfast leadership of the DFW Technology Prayer Breakfast, and his attention to those of us in the community… unselfishly, are the reason why so many people spoke up and insisted he be nominated. Thank you Steve for your devotion and leadership. We are honored to induct you into the Merv Tarde Leadership Circle. ~ Emily Bell-Wootten (Communications Chair)

Jeff Woods

Jeff Woods is a software developer. Jeff graduated from University of North Texas with a BS in Computer Science. Over the past 30 years, Jeff has developed software for the Technology, Supercomputing and Business Enterprise sectors. Jeff helped pioneer RAID technology in the late ‘80’s, created development software tools for massively parallel computing architectures in the ‘90s, developed enterprise middleware in early 2000s, and for the last 15 years has been developing enterprise business integration software at Precisely, an IBM Business Partner. Jeff has achieved numerous awards, including the “Convex Star” and holds three technology patents.

The most remarkable event, however, occurred in 1991, when Jeff placed his faith and trust in Jesus Christ. God’s grace and mercy toward Jeff began transforming his life in every dimension. The contrast between “before” and “after” was so amazing that Jeff realized he needed to encourage others to take the same step of faith. Helping others know and follow Christ became Jeff’s passion. He immediately became active in local and foreign short-term missions, yet his home and the workplace became the most important place of ministry because these are the ones for whom he had the deepest concern.

Soon after taking his step of faith, a friend challenged him to come with him to prison and share his faith with others. The experience so impacted Jeff that, for the past 20 years, he has led others to do the same through MICHAEL Fellowship, a prison ministry of Prestonwood Baptist Church where Jeff also serves as a deacon and the Deacon Team Ministry Officer. Jeff found the workplace to be rich with opportunities to communicate his hope and security in Christ.

His officemates often discuss personal problems, professional disappointments, family health issues and even death which provide him with strategic opportunities to bring God’s perspective into their situation and foster faith in Christ, making the workplace one of the most rewarding places for ministry.

Jeff lives in Garland with his wife Marcy. They have been married for 39 years and are active members of Prestonwood. Their daughter (Karen) and son-in-law (Kyle) recently relocated to Coppell from San Antonio where they were active members of Castle Hills Baptist Church and led a Life Group for married couples.

Reuben Najera

The Lord placed in Reuben’s heart a deep love for people. Whether it is as an Executive Pastor, or as a Technology Director at Shermco, Reuben knows that every good thing in his life, in his profession, and is his calling has come as a result of his relationship with God.

He loves teaching kids, and was a children’s pastor for about 4 years. He has a genuine heart to serve, and a calling for creating an environment that the teams he works with trust one another to be open and honest and debate in a healthy way. He prays for wisdom and understanding, knowing that a perfect ditch, at the right depth, width and perfectly straight, in the wrong direction does no good. He strongly believes that the Lord is the giver of wisdom and understanding.

Reuben is the Director of Information Technology of Shermco Industries, a provider of testing, maintenance, repair, commissioning, engineering, and training services for electrical infrastructure including substations, switchgear, transformers, motors, and generators based in Irving, TX.

Eleven years ago, when Reuben started, Shermco revenues were around 32MM with about 215 employees in two offices. Through never-ending improvement, extensive team building and alignment with the company’s growth plan, Reuben and his team have helped, from a technology perspective, with the growth to over 300MM and over 1000 employees in 29 offices. In this time Shermco has been awarded one of the Best Places to Work on more than one occasion and through a deliberate safety culture achieved OSHA’s VPP site recognition. Shermco is now the largest electrical testing and maintenance company in North America.

Over the past two decades Reuben has been very intentional about keeping up with the pace of technology, thus he has achieved 17 industry certifications with a recent focus on Cyber Security. In teaching almost a dozen Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University classes both at work and his local church, Reuben has served in helping many families find financial freedom. He has participated on a Technology Advisory Committee for local colleges, advising on relevant tech tracks and has spoken to students studying at Dallas Baptist University about technology. He has also volunteered at N-Power, an organization focused on training honorably discharged vets and their spouses in the technology space. Reuben is married with three kids and he and his wife Marietta serve as Executive Pastors under the Senior Pastor at Freedom Life Church in Mansfield, TX.

Reuben is always welcoming opportunities to help others grow and learn, making evident the pastor’s heart that he has been gifted with from a young age. His door is always open – both literally and figuratively. If there is anyone that needs an understanding ear, a helpful hand or kind counseling, Reuben is there for you. Those who have the privilege of witnessing his pastor’s heart can see clearly the happiness it brings him to see others grasp what he is giving.

Rod Wright

Rod Wright has been in sales for 25 years and has been a leader in technology sales for the past 20. He is currently a General Manager at Technologent, an Irvine, CA based technology solutions provider. He is responsible for all sales, marketing, engineering, and services resources for the Central and South East United States. Under Rod’s 10 years of leadership, his territory has seen its business grow from $25M in 2008 to $158M in 2018 (a 500% increase). During this same time, the move to more cloud-based solutions has forced many of Technologent’s traditional competitors to either shut their doors or be acquired.

But what is truly unique about Rod, is the humility of Christ that is exemplified in his life. Rod doesn’t care about awards or titles. He cares about people and how he can serve and honor them. He is actually embarrassed that he is even being recognized today. Regardless of what he is going through personally, he is always focused on others and how they are doing. He treats his co-workers like family and always makes himself available to anyone seeking guidance or advice. Rod’s love for the Lord gives him a sense of peace in all circumstances which naturally draws people in and points them to Christ.

Rod graduated from Texas Christian University. He lives in Frisco with his wife (Leslie), three sons (Caden, Carson and Chase), and his daughter (Chloe). Rod attends First Baptist Frisco with his family. He loves working with and mentoring youth. As a father of four, he has coached numerous football, baseball, basketball, and soccer teams. Rod has served with his son’s in the Frisco Chapter or the Young Men’s Service League. And, he has served as a YoungLife Committee member for the past 8 years.

Rusty Kennington

Rusty Kennington is a technology executive with a career spanning more than 30 years and multiple industries. He has worked in Fortune 500, private, and startup organizations. He has been responsible for global technology teams spanning north and south America, Europe, and Asia.

Rusty was recently recruited to be the CIO for Corsicana Mattress Company. His task is to build a strategic IT capability to fuel significant business growth and transformation. He comes with a track record of leveraging technology to drive game-changing business results, including growth in market share and margin. His new team is doing so already at Corsicana.

Previously, Rusty led the Americas IT team at Commercial Metals, was vice president of Enterprise IT for Brinker International, and held leadership positions at Ernst and Young and MCI. He also cofounded a successful software solution delivery company. He received his bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and completed the graduate finance program at Southern Methodist University. He currently serves as a member of the Society for Information Management DFW Chapter Board. Finally, he spent six years on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters and is well into his second decade as a Big Brother.

Rusty will be inducted into the Merv Tarde Value in Leadership Circle at the Dallas/Fort Worth Technology Prayer Breakfast on Oct. 5, 2018.

Matt Levy

Matt is the co-founder and managing director of Credera, a management consulting, user experience, and technology solutions firm based in Dallas, Texas. In 1998, when Matt helped start Credera, he dreamed of working with a group of leaders he both admired and respected. Today, Credera has been recognized by several notable organizations including Fortune’s 100 Best Medium Work Places, Fortune’s Best Workplaces for Millennials, Inc. 5000’s Fastest Growing Private Companies, Texas Monthly’s Best Companies to Work for in Texas, among several other local organizations.

Matt’s emphasis is in organizational health and culture, marketing and technology. Matt leads marketing for Credera and focuses on growing Credera. He currently serves on several boards and enjoys working with entrepreneurial leaders who are considering their company’s next major growth step. Matt is the co-author of The Business of Faith: How to Lead Yourself, Unify Your Team, and Create a Remarkable Organization. Matt graduated from Texas Tech University in 1996 and is a member of the Lone Star YPO chapter. Matt, his wife Amy, and their two teenage children live in Dallas and are active members of Watermark Community Church in Dallas.

Paola Saibene

Paola Saibene has been in IT for 25 years, and the Lord has allowed her to hold multiple CIO/CTO/CSO/Global Privacy Officer positions in large, multi-billion dollar organizations. She has worked in government writ-large, in the private (multiple industries) and non-profit sectors. She has also been blessed with teaching part-time the Master’s Program in Information Security at Dallas Baptist University, where faculty is encouraged to bring the good news of the gospel to the classroom.

Mark A. Stone

Mark was one of the original leaders who helped make the DFW Technology Prayer Breakfast a reality. His “Fruit of the Spirit” is evidenced through constant and consistent mentoring, career transition support, spiritual leadership in small groups along with his monthly reminders and encouragement to serve others (career and spiritually) through his monthly newsletters.

Phil Farr, Farr Systems

Phil Farr is a true Servant Leader who has given freely of himself and enriched the lives of many Technology Leaders in the DFW area. He goes out of his way to accept just about EVERY one of the MANY requests he receives for career coaching. He will adjust his schedule to do whatever it takes to meet… for coffee before work, during the workday, over lunch or even after work hours. In fact, Phil is the person who encouraged Merv to follow him as President of the DFW SIM Chapter.

As the CEO and Founder of the Farr Group, Phil sets the bar high as the moral compass for the firm. Whenever an issue arises regarding how or what to do in a particularly challenging client situation, his consistent message is ”how would WE want to be treated?”

Much like Merv, Phil never toots his own horn. If you want to hear about how good he is … you better ask someone else. For example, when you ask him about how he handled the most difficult customer he ever encountered, he simply says “I just never figured out how to serve him well enough.”

Phil is always a gentleman and a gentle man. Even when he has to deliver a tough message, he does it with such grace and kindness that people come away still feeling good about themselves while knowing clearly how to get better results next time. He has a rare ability to bring peace to any situation; when faced with a crisis, he is always the one who brings calm and says “we WILL find a way thru this.”

While Phil would never beat someone over the head with his faith, he is always quick to acknowledge that the source of his strength is Jesus Christ, his Savior, and that he is only able to do what he does by His Grace .

Those who know Phil say that they have NEVER known him to behave differently in public than he does in private… he truly “walks his talk!”