Gail Cooksey, founder and president of Cooksey Communications, has been named to D CEO’s Dallas 500 list of the most powerful and influential business leaders in North Texas.

The Dallas 500 is a special edition of D CEO, the regional business publication of D Magazine. It features top executives in more than 60 categories and provides a personal, engaging look at the “leaders who make Dallas-Fort Worth’s economy tick.” Unprecedented in scope, the Dallas 500 is the region’s highly selective biographical database of the people who truly run Dallas-Fort Worth business, based on extensive contacts in North Texas business circles, hundreds of interviews and months of research.

“I’m honored to be recognized among those who are helping North Texas realize its full potential,” said Cooksey. “The region provides immense opportunities – with its central location, educated workforce and business-friendly environment – and is constantly raising the bar for the rest of the country.”

Cooksey founded Cooksey Communications in 1994 to leverage her extensive corporate public relations experience and deep network of Dallas-Fort Worth civic, media, government and business contacts into high-impact results for the firm’s clients. She serves on the board of directors of the 35W Coalition, North Texas Commission, Dallas Friday Group and the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce. Cooksey is also a member of the Public Relations Society of America and a graduate of Leadership North Texas.