Chris Furlow is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Texas Bankers Association, America’s oldest and largest state banking organization. TBA advocates for nearly 400 of its member banks in Austin and Washington; trains more than 10,000 bankers annually; provides nationally recognized community banking services in 49 states; and invests in Texas communities through financial literacy, scholarship and charitable activities. Under Chris’ leadership, TBA has successfully challenged Washington’s regulatory over-reach and launched ground-breaking community bank cybersecurity and bank innovation programs.
Furlow has an extensive background in complex policy/regulatory issues and brings over 30 years of legislative and political experience to meet the challenges facing Texas banks. Prior to TBA, he was president of Ridge Global, an international risk management consulting firm helping clients in banking/financial services, energy, defense and other key sectors leverage resilience for competitive advantage. He was instrumental in developing the Cyber-Risk Oversight Certificate Program for the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).
Chris has served as a US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce, as National Field Director at the Republican National Committee, and as aide to a member of the US House Ways & Means Committee. Following the 9/11 attacks, he was named Director for State Affairs in the White House Office of Homeland Security where he served as liaison to America’s governors and was a member of the Incident Support Group providing coordination on events of “national significance.” During the historic stand-up of the US Department of Homeland Security, he was appointed Executive Director of the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) where he led operations of the department’s cross-disciplinary public and private sector committees and served as a senior advisor to Secretary Tom Ridge.
In 2023, Chris was appointed to a third term representing the private sector as a member of Texas Cybersecurity Council. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Southwest Graduate School of Banking (SWGSB) Foundation at Southern Methodist University and on the Smith-Hutson Banking Advisory Board at Sam Houston State University. He is a member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House, London).
Chris is a past executive committee member for the American Bankers Association Alliance and previously served on the US Chamber of Commerce National Security Task Force and its Cybersecurity Leadership Council. Thought-leadership articles authored or co-authored by Furlow have appeared in publications such as Harvard Business Review, ABA Banking Journal, The Dallas Morning News, and International Policy Digest.