Regina Montoya is the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and is the Chair of Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings’ Task Force on Poverty. Ms. Montoya is the Chief Strategist of the JMC Strategy Group, and she is currently writing a book about the importance of incorporating Latinos into the economic, political and social fabric of America. In addition, she is a frequent public speaker on a wide range of issues including health care, poverty, diversity and children.
Ms. Montoya is a Harvard-trained attorney who has been nationally recognized as one of the top lawyers in the country, and she is a former award-winning television commentator. She was one of the first Latinas to earn partnership in a major corporate law firm in the United States. In 2014, Ms. Montoya received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Minority Counsel Program of the State Bar of Texas. In addition, Ms. Montoya was awarded the Latina Lawyer of the Year by the Hispanic National Bar Association, the Women’s Advocacy Award from Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, the La Luz Achievement Award from the Dallas Hispanic Bar Association, and the Pioneer for Justice Award from the Los Angeles-based Mexican American Bar Foundation.
In 1993, Ms. Montoya served in the White House as an Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. In 1998, she was nominated by the President to serve as a U.S. Representative to the 53rd Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
Previously, Ms. Montoya served as the Senior Vice President, External Relations and General Counsel at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, the seventh-largest pediatric health care provider in the nation. In addition, she was the chief executive officer of the New America Alliance, a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the economic advancement of the American Latino community.
A leader in the nonprofit community, Ms. Montoya is the Chair of the Board of the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund (MALDEF). She is a member of the Board of Directors of Girls Inc. (National Board), the Texas Book Festival, the Center for Public Policy Priorities, the Harvard Club of Dallas, ChildCareGroup, and the SMU Tate Lecture Series, and she serves on the Texas Lyceum Advisory Council.
Ms. Montoya has received numerous awards for her corporate, philanthropic and nonprofit accomplishments. Among her awards, she has received the Harvard Alumni Association Award, the Susan B. Anthony Award from the League of Women Voters of Dallas, the “Can Do!” Award from the Wilkinson Center and the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas Real Woman Award. Ms. Montoya has been recognized by numerous publications for her achievements, including Hispanic Executive Magazine, which featured her on the cover of its July/August/September 2014 edition and Hispanic Business magazine, which twice named her one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in the US.
Ms. Montoya earned her B.A. from Wellesley College, where she is a Trustee Emerita, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School. She also has served as vice president and elected director of the Harvard University Alumni Association.
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