Meet Historic Fort Worth's Board Chairman
Alyssa Banta
Alyssa Banta is a Fort Worth native, entrepreneur, artist, and historic preservationist with a passion for giving new life to old spaces.
Since 2015, she has been part-owner of four retail stores at DFW Airport, where her company is proudly certified as both an Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) and a Women-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE).
Beyond retail, Alyssa is deeply committed to preserving Fort Worth’s historic character. She acquires century-old homes and small multifamily buildings within three miles of downtown, restores them with care, and designates them as historic properties with the city. Her tenants—teachers, artists, academics, business owners, and more—value living in distinctive spaces that reflect the city’s history. Alyssa prioritizes sustainability by up-cycling, recycling, shopping locally, and employing tradespeople from the neighborhoods where her properties stand. Historic Fort Worth, Inc. has honored her work with both a Stewardship Award and a Preservation Project Award.
Before her career in preservation and business, Alyssa was an award-winning photojournalist. She worked as a war photographer across Asia and Africa, covering five conflict zones for international publications and NGOs. Her reporting from post-9/11 Pakistan earned a Pulitzer Prize nomination in 2001. Her first book, Texas Ranch Sisterhood: Portraits of Women Working the Land (2019), documents the lives of thirteen women ranchers across the state.
Alyssa is an active civic leader. She has served on the board of Historic Fort Worth, Inc. since 2017 and became its President in 2025. She has also served on the Austin College Alumni Board, the Glencrest Civic League Neighborhood Association Board, and the Oakwood Cemetery Board.
She grew up in Fort Worth’s Ridglea neighborhood, graduated from Fort Worth Country Day School, earned a B.A. from Austin College, and an M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. The daughter of immigrant parents—her father from the Philippines and her mother from Mexico—Alyssa is a proud first-generation American.
She continues to live and work in her hometown of Fort Worth, where she blends entrepreneurship, art, and preservation into a life dedicated to community and history.