This morning Ryan Shultz revealed what some might describe as a double life. Since 2015 she has been with ExxonMobil as its manager of corporate digital communications and content strategy. But before joining “one of the largest publicly traded international energy companies,” she was already into her fifth year of serving as a Dallas CASA volunteer.
Following the lead of her mother in helping those in need, Ryan had been an advocate for ten youngsters in eight cases over the past ten years. One child in particular stood out. It was Baby J, who was born with congestive heart failure and whose parents were out of the picture. Ryan requested special permission to spend nights and days at the hospital caring for the baby as he endured two heart surgeries. She wasn’t going to let the infant even at this young age feel that no one cared for him. Even after he was placed with a loving foster family, Ryan was there the day they adopted a very healthy Baby J.
Ryan’s story illustrated the reason for the morning gathering in Dallas CASA’s lobby of ExxonMobil executives like ExxonMobil Foundation President Kevin Murphy and Dallas CASA board members including outgoing Chair Corey Anthony, incoming Chair Cynt Marshall, Chair-Elect Scott Orr, Emeritus Director/retired ExxonMobil executive Frank Risch and board members Hugh Comer, Retta Miller, Paige Richey and Jim Lozier.
The occasion was to celebrate the 16th annual ExxonMobil Chairman’s Gift of $50,000 to support Dallas CASA.
In addressing the group, Exxon Mobil Corporation Chair/CEO Darren Woods told how he and his wife Kathy Woods were surprised to learn through their research that “the size of the challenge here is heartbreaking. Frankly, it is difficult to comprehend the fact that more than 20,000 children in the Dallas County area are reported as abused or neglected. Every child should have the right to have a stable family, a healthy home, opportunity to go to school and to live a life free of violence. And Dallas CASA helps to achieve that goal.”
After the official photo of the check presentation took place, Kathleen had a surprise for the ExxonMobil guests with the announcement that Dallas CASA’s legal advocacy office was being named in recognition of the corporation.
Created to support area non-profits, the Chairman’s Gift has been presented in the past to such groups as Community Partners of Dallas, CitySquare and Family Compass.