Jeanette Charos
Age: 32
Downtown Wichita Falls Development
The more that Downtown Wichita Falls Development Marketing Director Jeanette Charos has become involved with Wichita Falls, the more she’s fallen in love with the city.
Charos and her family moved to Burkburnett from Colorado, when she was in middle school. She moved to Wichita Falls to attend Midwestern State University and study marketing and business management
She worked in production, news and creative at KFDX for 10 years, and then accepted a position with DWFD as assistant director three years ago. In 2016, she was promoted to DWFD marketing director.
“I had been involved with the organization as a volunteer five years before I took the job as assistant director,” said the Times Record News 20 Under 40 Class of 2017 member. “When the position became vacant, I had always wanted to become more involved, and I thought it was a great opportunity.”
Of all things, she said, it was the annual Zombie Crawl that brought her to first volunteer with DWFD. Volunteering is something that’s important to Charos, and now she works with a strong cadre of dedicated volunteers for the many annual events the DFWD puts on each year.
Charos leads committee meetings for the downtown organization’s St. Patrick’s Day, Cajun Fest and City Lights Parade events. In 2017, she took over the role of City Lights Committee Chair after the retirement of DWFD Executive Director Cynthia Laney.
She is also a member of Stroll N Roll committee, which brings thousands of people downtown each year to discover the arts and many fund things to discover in the area.
Charos serves on the recently formed Downtown Development Steering Committee’s Marketing, Streetscape and Lifestyles subcommittees.
Not only does the marketing director actively advocate for the growth and development of the downtown Wichita Falls area, she lives downtown and can be frequently seen walking and shopping in the burgeoning area.
Charos is a graduate of Leadership Wichita Falls in 2017, and she earned her Non-Profit Management Certification in 2016
She keeps busy as a volunteer helping with Habitat for Humanity,
Adopt a Highway and Teens Make a Difference Day. When needed, she has helped at
The Kitchen. Charos has also helped raise money for prostate cancer awareness through Movember and Everyman.
Her previous volunteer work includes walking dogs for the Humane Society and serving as captain for Relay for Life.
While at KFDX, she worked her way up through the ranks in production, news and creative.
Charos was nominated by downtown mover Daniel Ahern, who has worked with her on community and downtown events and affairs.
“It’s been incredibly exciting downtown over the last couple years,” she said, “and what is coming in the next few years is hard to even imagine where downtown is going to go. But,” she said, “from here, it’s only up.
“So to be part of that process, for me, is such an amazing experience.”