Chris E. Wallace

Chris Wallace was appointed President/CEO of the North Texas Commission in June of 2018. Under Wallace’s leadership, the NTC convenes the region’s most prominent public and private sector leaders to address the greatest challenges for the 13-county area, the fourth largest and fastest growing region in the U.S. The NTC leads the region’s unified legislative advocacy at the state and federal levels - striving to ensure that state and federal policies promote strong local governments, support excellence in public schools, increase the skilled workforce pipeline, and safeguard a thriving, inclusive business environment.
Prior to joining the NTC, Wallace was President/COO of the Texas Association of Business, the state’s chamber of commerce based in Austin. As a registered lobbyist, Chris has led advocacy initiatives in the areas of economic development and trade having founded the highly recognized and successful Keep Texas Open for Business Coalition, as well as leading statewide campaigns reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank, the Texas-Mexico Trade Coalition (advocating for the passage of the USMCA), as well as the need for telemedicine in Texas.

Wallace served 10 years as President/CEO of the Irving-Las Colinas Chamber, the first national Five-Star Accredited Chamber in Texas. He also managed the Irving Economic Development Partnership and previously was Vice President of the Las Colinas Association where he successfully developed and implemented a corporate communications and marketing program for the 12,000-acre Las Colinas development.

Wallace is a member of the faculty and former board chair of the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for Organization Management as well as a former regent of Northeast Institute at Villanova University. He is among only 250 executives in the nation who have earned their CCE (Certified Chamber Executive) designation. He also serves on the boards of the Business & Industry Political Action Committee (BIPAC), Texas Association of Business, U.S. Global Leadership Coalition-Texas and is state board chair of Houston-based Children At Risk.
He is a graduate of Texas Tech University-College of Media and Communication, where he was named an outstanding alumnus.
Having played an active role in several local and state political campaigns throughout Texas, Wallace is an advocate of strong civic engagement through his involvement with public education, the arts as well as municipal-related boards/commissions, including current chair of the Irving Arts Board. He is a member of The Dallas Assembly, Fort Worth (John Roach) Executive Roundtable, and a Rotarian-Paul Harris Fellow.
Wallace is a frequent presenter and media resource on the importance of regionalism, economic development policy, trade, and immigration reform. He was a finalist for a 2010 White House Fellowship and was recently featured among the Dallas 500 most powerful business leaders in Dallas-Fort Worth by D CEO Magazine.