Council member Cara Mendelsohn was elected in May 2019 to represent District 12. Cara is an accomplished volunteer leader and non-profit executive with a passion for building stronger communities.

Cara grew up in Far North Dallas and graduated from JJ Pearce High School. She earned her BBA from the University of Texas at Austin, married her childhood sweetheart, Barry, and they bought their first home in the Collin County section of District 12. Today, Cara and Barry have 3 hilarious sons and live in the Dallas County section of District 12. Their oldest son graduated from Texas A&M, their middle son graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, and their youngest son is a student at JJ Pearce High School. Cara’s brothers and sisters also live in District 12.

Cara has an extensive record of volunteer service to the community. She has served as PTA president at the elementary, high school and PTA Council levels as well as many PTA board positions. She’s served on a National PTA Committee, was an advisory board member for Salvation Army, founding member and treasurer for Women’s Auxiliary to Children’s Medical Center at Legacy, served on the Plano Symphony Advisory Board, Plano ISD District Based Improvement Committee, as well as many other PISD committees. She was a Scout Den leader and committee chair and has served a variety of positions in Young Men’s Service League. She is the past board president of Jewish Family Service of Dallas, one of Dallas’ largest mental health and social service organizations. Cara served as Vice Chair of the 2010 Complete Count Census Committee. She also served as chairman of the Collin County Homeless Coalition and as part of the Dallas Continuum of Care Steering Committee.

Cara has served the City of Dallas on several task forces, commissions and committees. She was appointed to serve as the Vice Chair of the Citizen’s Homelessness Commission, the Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness, the 2017 Bond Committee on Housing and Economic Development and has served on two Housing Policy Task Force committees.

Cara has been recognized with many civic awards, including ”Volunteer of the Year” for Collin County from Volunteer Center of North Texas, two Life Member awards from PTA, the Service Learning Partnership Award from Collin College, the Homeless Advocate Award from the Baron and Blue Foundation, the Community Impact Award from Plano ISD, the Environmental Education Award from the City of Plano, the Shofar Award from Boy Scouts of America’s National Committee on Jewish Scouting, and the Board Leadership Award and a 15-year Board Service Award from Jewish Family Service of Dallas.

Professionally, Cara was most recently the Executive Director of Rebuilding Together North Texas. Rebuilding Together, a national non-profit, helps low-income seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities live in safe, healthy and decent housing by providing free home repair. Cara has also worked as a director of Visiting Nurse Association of Texas/Meals on Wheels of Dallas County and as a director of The Samaritan Inn homeless shelter in McKinney, Texas. Prior to having children, Cara had a career in human resource management in the banking and insurance industries.

Current Council appointments:

*Government Performance and Financial Management, Vice Chair

*Public Safety

*Housing and Homeless Solutions

*COVID-19 Ad Hoc

*Legislative Ad Hoc, Vice Chair

*Regional Transportation Council

*City Council Representative to Texas Municipal League Policy Summit

Appointed member of Youth, Education, and Families Council, National League of Cities Member, Women in Municipal Government, National League of Cities