Chris Luna
The SPCA of Texas’s Board of Directors this week announced that attorney and former Dallas City Council member Chris Luna has been named president & CEO of the nonprofit animal welfare organization following an extensive national search process.
Luna, who replaces Karen Froehlich, who resigned from the organization in February this year, brings more than 30 years of leadership, management and governance experience with him, according to an SPCA press release. Most recently he worked for T-Mobile and had been with that company for more than 18 years in several roles, including vice president, legal affairs and chief counsel, sales and distribution.
Luna also has significant non-profit, public service and government experience. As a three-term Dallas City Council member, he championed issues vital to District 2 and served as deputy mayor pro tem. He currently serves on the boards of The Dallas Foundation and The Dallas Theater Center. And in the past served as a board member of the Parkland Health & Hospital System, a board member at the Dallas Zoo, chair of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce, president of the Garland Housing Finance Corporation, chair of the Shared Housing Center, president of the Dallas Hispanic Law Foundation and president of The Dallas Assembly.
Luna has received many honors and awards including The Dallas 500 from D CEO in 2020, 2021 and 2022, Maestro in Leadership Award from Latino Leaders Magazine, Leaders in Diversity Award from Dallas Business Journal in 2021, Kuchling Humanitarian Award from Dallas Black Tie Dinner 2021, Lifetime Achievement Award from The Texas Lawbook and Association of Corporate Counsel Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter in 2020), the Pete Torres, Jr. Community Service Award from State Bar of Texas in 2020, the Corporate Counsel Award for Outstanding Community Service from D CEO in 2012 and Best Corporate Counsel Award for Community Service from Dallas Business Journal in 2009.
Luna earned accounting and law degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. His legal career included the law firms of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, L.L.P. and Sheinfeld, Maley & Kay, PC., both in Dallas. He also clerked for Chief Judge Robert C. McGuire at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas.
As president & CEO, Luna will lead 153 employees and 992 volunteers in the 85-year-old organization’s mission to provide every animal exceptional care and a loving home by preventing and prosecuting animal cruelty, caring for rescued animals and keeping pets in their loving homes.
“Chris is an inspiring and innovative leader with deep experience and a proven track record in expanding organizational reach and impact leading to increased operational excellence,” said SPCA of Texas Board Chair Hiren Patel. “The Board search committee worked diligently for the last nine months to find the right candidate and we are confident that Chris will guide the SPCA of Texas into a bright future.”
“Leading the SPCA of Texas into its next chapter of serving the animals and people of North Texas is an honorand a privilege,” Luna said. “I am beyond thrilled to work together with this exceptional organization of dedicated staff and volunteers as well as community partners to drive meaningful programmatic impact.”
Luna is a native Texan and has called Dallas home for more than 35years. He lives in the Dallas area with his husband, Kent Mecklenburg, and Bacio, their senior doggy daughter.
