Events

The Legislative Briefings will provide news on the latest happenings during the 87^th Legislative session. The forum will feature speakers who are policy experts or in the political sphere.

Date: Feb. 24, 2021
Zoom Room opens at 7:30 am
Event starts at: 08:00 a.m.
Ends : 09:00 a.m.

Sponsor: City of Garland Water Utilites

About the Topic

The Commission tackles the region’s greatest challenges with board and staff subject matter experts who provide resources to market the region and educate future leaders. They  manage our region’s unified advocacy voice at the state and federal levels.

About the Speaker

Chris Wallace was named President/CEO of the North Texas Commission in June of 2018.  Under Wallace’s leadership, the NTC is quickly building its strength and capacity uniting the region’s most prominent leaders to tackle the greatest challenges for our 13-county area. Today, the NTC is now more relevant than ever and manages the region’s unified legislative advocacy voice at the state and federal levels. In addition to his advocacy and education-focused vision, Wallace has also placed a greater emphasis on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion with the establishment of a task force in 2018 that developed the region’s first DE&I Summit.

Prior to joining the NTC, Wallace was President/COO of the Texas Association of Business, the state chamber of commerce based in Austin.  In this role, he managed TAB’s statewide team responsible for legislative advocacy and strategy, operations, membership/marketing, as well as board and chamber relations.  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, defeating discriminatory and unnecessary legislation in the 86^th Texas Legislative Session.  Wallace also led 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 grew up in North Texas and for 10 years he served as President/CEO of the Greater 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 past chairman of the Board of Trustees 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 a group of less than 700 executives in the nation who have earned their CCE (Certified Chamber Executive) designation. He also serves on the national board of the Business & Industry Political Action Committee (BIPAC) and on the Texas Advisory Committee of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.

He is a 1992 graduate of Texas Tech University and serves on the Texas Tech Chancellor's Council and previously on the Professional Advisory Board of the College of Media and Communication where he was named an outstanding alumnus in 2008. He has 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 numerous social services, education, arts and municipal-related boards/commissions.

Wallace is a frequent presenter and media resource on trade, the business case for diversity as well as immigration reform. He was a finalist for a 2010 White House Fellowship and is featured among the Dallas 500 most powerful business leaders in Dallas-Fort Worth by D CEO Magazine.

Pricing

Members: $10
Non-Members: $15



Cancellation Policy
Because of facility requirements, we must charge the full registration amount for reservations not canceled two business days prior to the event. See our fee policy for additional details.