The Eleanor Sutherland Volunteer Awardee
Lynn McBee
CEO of Young Women’s Preparatory Network
As a volunteer leader in Dallas for over 30 years, Ms. McBee has contributed more than 45,000 hours of volunteer service to over 30 nonprofit organizations. Her thoughtful and engaging ability to embrace change has fostered meaningful progress on several vital community issues, including enhancing K-12 education, addressing the needs of unhoused citizens, protecting children, fighting intimate partner and domestic violence, and supporting underserved students' success in college.
As Chair of The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center Board of Directors, Ms. McBee has offered governance over the expansion of shelter capacity, forged partnerships with faith-based organizations, championed innovative recovery-to-housing pathways, and ensured that engagement and communication with local neighborhoods are prioritized. Her leadership ensured that hundreds of men and women received not only temporary safe and secure refuge, but also access to case management, job training, and recovery-focused treatment to rebuild lives.
In early 2022, Mayor Eric Johnson appointed Ms. McBee as Workforce Development Czar for the City of Dallas. In that role, Lynn coordinates public-private efforts to close skills gaps, align training programs with growing industries, and expand wrap-around supports for job seekers. Under her leadership, the City of Dallas has launched targeted upskilling initiatives, especially for displaced and underemployed residents, and strengthened relationships between employers, community colleges, and workforce boards to promote inclusive economic growth.
A biochemistry graduate from the University of Texas, Ms. McBee was an early hire at New England Biolabs, where she started as a research scientist and later formed strategic partnerships that supported the company’s growth. Today, NEB is a global leader in genomic research, with more than 700 employees—and Lynn remains an active manager and employee-owner.
Ms. McBee has served as CEO of the Young Women’s Preparatory Network (YWPN) for over eleven years, a public-private partnership that establishes STEM-focused, all-girls schools of choice. During her leadership, Lynn has increased revenues by 300%, expanded YWPN to 12 campuses, and built strong partnerships with school districts, achieving a 100% college acceptance rate for graduates, many of whom are first-generation college students.
Best known for her civic leadership and philanthropic endeavors, Lynn currently holds or has held leadership roles on more than 100 boards and committees, including:
- Chair, The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center
- Workforce Development Czar, City of Dallas
- Chairman Emeritus & Life Member, Visiting Nurse Association
- Co-Chair, For Oak Cliff
- Trustee, Dallas Education Foundation
- Trustee, The Family Place Foundation
- Executive Board Member, AT&T Performing Arts Center
- Executive Board Member, Dallas College Foundation
- Board Member, Historic Oakland Cemetery
- Board Member, The University of Texas College of Natural Sciences
- Board Member, Dedman College at Southern Methodist University
- Board member, Letot Center Foundation
- Board Member, Children’s Medical Center Foundation
- Board Member, Bullock Texas State History Museum
- Board Member, Texas Woman’s University Institute for Women’s Leadership
- Board Member, Caruth Police Institute
- Board Member, University of North Texas Business School Executive Board
Ms. McBee is also an active member of several community groups, including the Dallas Breakfast Group, The Crystal Charity Ball, Charter 100, The Dallas Assembly, Dallas Woman’s Club, and previously served as President and Ball Chairman of the Junior League of Dallas and as Ball Chairman for the Cattle Baron’s Ball.
Lynn’s service has earned her numerous honors, including the 2021 Juanita Craft Humanitarian Visionary Award, the 2022 Maura Award from the Texas Women’s Foundation, the 2023 Volunteer Now Lifetime Achievement Award, and recognition as a 2024 Dallas Business Journal Women in Business honoree.
A native of Freeport, Texas, Lynn’s guiding principles of lifelong learning, integrity, and commitment to helping others have steered her journey from public school classrooms to the forefront of biotech innovation, nonprofit leadership, creating new opportunities for underserved communities, and improving the City of Dallas.