Executive Director

Houston, TX
Full Time
Senior Executive
Executive Director
Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC)
Houston, Texas

Mackenzie Eason & Associates has been retained by the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) to recruit its next Executive Director.

H-GAC is a mature, multi-program regional enterprise operating at the intersection of regional governance, public service delivery, and complex funding administration across one of the country’s fastest-growing and most operationally demanding regions. The next Executive Director will inherit a strong foundation, an aligned and cohesive board and region, a well-respected agency, and a strong and knowledgeable staff.

CANDIDATE VISION STATEMENT
The ideal candidate will possess the vision, executive leadership, and strategic acumen to shape and advance the future of H-GAC and the 13-county region. This individual will steward and strategically deploy more than $500 million in public funding annually, while aligning the organization’s subsidiary boards, executive leadership team, and professional staff to deliver transformative solutions across one of the fastest-growing and most economically dynamic regions in the nation.

The Executive Director serves as the organization’s chief administrator while also acting as a regional thought leader, coalition builder, and trusted partner to elected officials, state and federal agencies, and community stakeholders. This role demands long-range vision, political acuity, and the ability to turn regional priorities into measurable, results-driven outcomes.

The Executive Director will address the following critical needs:
  • Articulate and advance a bold regional vision that reflects the distinct geographic, economic, and demographic needs of the region, building consensus among elected officials, partner agencies, and community stakeholders.
  • Strengthen regional collaboration by leveraging partnerships with urban, suburban, and rural leaders to advance cohesive policy implementation that benefits the entire region.
  • Lead collaborative solutions to complex regional challenges, including transportation, workforce development, and early childhood education, by working in close partnership with the governing boards of H-GAC’s subsidiary entities, alongside state and federal agencies and local governments, to develop and implement forward-looking, regionally aligned strategies.
  • Empower and align the executive leadership team to effectively implement board-adopted policies, cultivate innovation, and deliver high-performing programs.
  • Drive organizational excellence and operational efficiency, ensuring resources are strategically aligned to maximize impact in workforce development and early childhood education initiatives across the 13-county region.
  • Serve as chief steward of public trust, ensuring transparency, accountability, and strong fiduciary oversight in collaboration with subsidiary boards.
  • Champion best-in-the-nation programming, positioning H-GAC as a national model in regional planning, workforce development, and intergovernmental coordination.
ABOUT H-GAC
The Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) is one of the largest councils of governments in the United States, serving a 13-county region of more than 7 million residents. Established in 1966, H-GAC operates as a voluntary association of local governments and a regional service platform that supports intergovernmental coordination, regional planning, and program execution across issues that affect the region’s economy, infrastructure, and quality of life.

H-GAC is distinguished by a unique mix of tools that enable impact across the full region, serving small towns and rapidly growing communities while also supporting one of the largest cities in the country. This breadth is reinforced through five affiliate boards and entities that expand the organization’s reach and flexibility: large regional bodies such as the Gulf Coast Workforce Board and the Transportation Policy Council, which is the regional Metropolitan Planning Organization, alongside smaller and more agile entities such as the Local Development Corporation (small business finance), the Gulf Coast Economic Development District, and the Corporation for Regional Excellence (a 501(c)(3)).

H-GAC’s work combines governance support, technical planning, program administration, and funding stewardship. The organization convenes and supports decision-making bodies, manages major grant-funded and contract-driven programs, provides shared services that reduce friction for member governments, and maintains the administrative and compliance infrastructure necessary to move large public funding streams into real projects and services.
 
H-GAC’s Core Values
  • Service: We are committed to providing excellent service to our clients, meeting their needs, and exceeding their expectations.
  • Collaborative: We value teamwork, and we believe that collaboration leads to better outcomes. We encourage and support collaboration among our staff and with our clients.
  • Accountable: We take responsibility for our actions and are accountable for meeting our commitments to our clients, colleagues, and community.
  • Leadership: We strive to be leaders in our industry, setting the standards for excellence and inspiring others to follow our example.
  • Innovative: We embrace innovation and continuously seek new and creative ways to improve our services and processes.
  • Integrity: We act with honesty, transparency, and ethical behavior in all our interactions with clients, colleagues, and the community
  • Community: We recognize our responsibility to the community and are committed to making a positive impact through our work and volunteer efforts
Culture and leadership environment
H-GAC has an established culture where employees have a voice and access to leadership. The agency’s core values were developed through an organization-wide process that engaged the full team. The culture also reflects a high-access leadership model, allowing staff to engage with the executive director directly and feel heard. This openness and internal connectivity are key to the organization's alignment across varied programs and professional disciplines.

Innovation, national visibility, and a “Gold Standard” ambition
The next Executive Director will help shape how the organization becomes a “Gold Standard for Public Service.” The Board has identified five priorities for the region, which include Housing, Water Supply, Healthcare (with a mental health emphasis), Broadband, and a “Gold Standard” Customer Service. The current Executive Director’s initiatives include a focus on community engagement, artificial intelligence, and data analysis. Two initiatives have received national recognition (the Community Pop-Up program and the AI Parking Lot approach), and additional work is currently in development.

H-GAC operates and leads at local, regional, state, and national levels, with an expectation that this influence will continue and increase. The organization maintains strong relationships and has held leadership roles in major peer and partner networks, including AMPO, the National Association of Regional Councils, and the Texas Association of Regional Councils, among others.

Core program platforms and operations
H-GAC is organized across multiple program and service areas that function as distinct operating platforms, each with its own stakeholders, compliance requirements, and performance expectations. Major platforms include:

Transportation and regional planning
  • H-GAC serves as the Metropolitan Planning Organization for the eight-county Houston-Galveston metropolitan area and supports the Transportation Policy Council in developing and programming the Regional Transportation Plan and Transportation Improvement Program.
Workforce system stewardship
  • H-GAC supports the Gulf Coast Workforce Board ecosystem and associated program and service networks that connect employers to talent and individuals to employment, training, and work supports.
Aging services
  • H-GAC carries Area Agency on Aging responsibilities delivered through community-based networks supporting the safety, well-being, and independence of older adults, including navigation and referral functions and related program oversight.
Community and environmental planning
  • H-GAC supports regional initiatives that commonly involve intergovernmental coordination, technical services, and grant-funded implementation, with emphasis on environmental quality, water resources, and regional livability.
Disaster recovery and emergency preparedness
  • H-GAC supports regional resilience through planning, coordination, and implementation activities that help member governments prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.
Enterprise, data, and shared services
  • H-GAC provides services that reduce operational friction for member governments, including data services and other shared/enterprise functions that strengthen regional capacity and support program delivery.
Scale, funding model, and how resources move
H-GAC operates at significant scale. The FY2025 unified budget totals approximately $594.6 million. The funding model is primarily restricted and program-driven:
  • Restricted revenue: approximately $578.7 million
  • Unrestricted revenue: approximately $16.0 million
The expenditure profile reflects substantial pass-through activity tied to program delivery and partner/provider systems:
  • Pass-through funds: approximately $497.6 million
  • Non-pass-through operating costs: approximately $97.0 million
Workforce represents the largest share of the FY2025 program expense profile at 83.09 percent, underscoring the scale and performance importance of the workforce platform within the overall enterprise.

H-GAC also helps prioritize and allocate major funding streams outside the unified budget, ranging from hundreds of millions in transportation investments to disaster recovery resources in the billions. Because these dollars carry the greatest scale and public visibility, they are often the most scrutinized and most actively debated allocations the organization supports.

Staffing footprint and internal structure
H-GAC’s staffing reflects the breadth of its programs and administrative responsibilities. The FY2025 plan reflects 502 total positions (including full, vacant, and proposed) and 436 total FTEs based on time allocation.

The organization is structured to support multiple program disciplines through dedicated departments and divisions, enabled by shared services such as finance, procurement/contracts, human resources, communications, and technology. Execution quality depends on how effectively the organization operates across governance-to-staff handoffs, program-to-shared-services workflows, and cross-department coordination required to deliver projects and programs efficiently while maintaining compliance.

THE ROLE: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
The Executive Director is the chief executive officer of H-GAC. This role is accountable to the H-GAC Board for strategic leadership, operational performance, financial stewardship, talent and culture, and board and stakeholder relationships across a diverse multi-county membership.

The role is structured with substantial leeway to lead the agency and develop new approaches to how H-GAC serves the region. This includes latitude to apply creativity and build durable systems that strengthen the team, improve speed and effectiveness, and expand the organization’s long-term impact for the people and communities served.
In practical terms, the Executive Director must lead at three levels simultaneously:
  • Regional governance leadership
    The Executive Director supports governance bodies composed of elected officials and senior public leaders, creating decision-ready clarity on options, tradeoffs, and implementation implications. The leader balances member equity, political realities, and regional outcomes, maintaining trust across jurisdictions that often have different priorities, capacities, and timelines.
  • Enterprise operational leadership
    H-GAC’s effectiveness depends on how quickly it can move from intention to execution. The Executive Director sets the cadence of the organization by establishing expectations, removing bottlenecks, tightening workflows, and holding leaders accountable for cycle time, service responsiveness, and measurable impact—without compromising stewardship and compliance integrity.
  • External leadership and partnerships
    The Executive Director is the face of H-GAC in the region and beyond, with a well-positioned national reputation. This includes building durable partnerships with local, state, and federal entities; positioning H-GAC and its members for strategic funding opportunities; and ensuring the organization’s communications and public presence reinforce credibility and trust. There is an expectation that H-GAC’s leadership role at regional, state, and national levels will continue and increase.
THREE-YEAR LEADERSHIP AGENDA
The Executive Director will work with the Board, Stakeholders, and staff to address the challenges identified in the upcoming years within H-GAC.
  • Increase speed-to-impact by reducing bureaucracy
    The next Executive Director must treat throughput as a strategic priority. This includes clarifying decision-making authority, streamlining internal processes, accelerating procurement and contracting where appropriate, and building a culture in which projects and programs move with urgency and discipline. The aim is not to cut corners; it is to eliminate friction that does not add value.
  • Sharpen workforce program utilization and outcomes
    Given the scale of workforce activity in the organization’s program portfolio, the Executive Director must partner with the Gulf Coast Workforce Board ecosystem to focus on what works. This leader will bring a performance mindset, strengthen alignment between strategy and investment, and ensure that utilization translates into outcomes that employers, job seekers, and member jurisdictions can point to with confidence.
  • Build on the next generation of vision and goals for H-GAC
    H-GAC needs a leader who can continue to guide a credible, board-supported strategic direction grounded in the region’s realities and translated into clear priorities and measures. This includes advancing a modern approach to community engagement, data, and responsible use of artificial intelligence to improve service delivery and decision-making.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Strategic leadership and agency direction
  • Provide strategic leadership and long-term direction for the H-GAC Board, translating regional complexity into clear priorities and measurable outcomes.
  • Lead the development and execution of agency strategy and the next generation of vision and goals, leveraging data, technology, and innovation to improve effectiveness and regional impact.
Organizational management and operational performance
  • Oversee all aspects of agency operations, including budgeting, finance, human resources, program development, and service delivery.
  • Strengthen organizational performance by reducing friction, improving cycle time, and ensuring consistent execution across programs.
  • Maintain a strong compliance and stewardship posture across restricted funds, contracts, and pass-through programs while working to continuously improve speed and customer responsiveness.
  • Build leadership depth across the organization through coaching, performance management, and succession development.
Boards and governance
  • Engage with and provide guidance to boards and advisory committees comprised of elected officials and senior leaders. Support and guide governing boards and advisory committees by preparing decision-ready materials and facilitating effective deliberation.
  • Prepare and present reports and recommendations that support timely, well-informed decision-making.
Stakeholder engagement and external leadership
  • Cultivate and maintain relationships with local, state, and federal partners, member governments, business leaders, community organizations, and residents.
  • Advocate for the organization and serve as the primary spokesperson and relationship leader for H-GAC, building trust with member governments and partners.

Regional collaboration and program delivery
  • Promote consensus-building on complex regional issues.
  • Oversee major regional plans, studies, and grant-funded programs.
  • Identify and pursue collaborative opportunities, innovative funding sources, and strategic partnerships.

THE LEADER H-GAC NEEDS
H-GAC is looking for a leader who understands Council of Governments (COG’s) operations and governance from the inside: the cadence of board work, the importance of member trust, and the operational reality that regional progress requires both diplomacy and delivery.

This leader will be known for operational judgment and calm authority, able to reduce bureaucracy without destabilizing the organization, to raise performance expectations without eroding the culture, and to build alignment without becoming captive to process. Candidates should expect a role that requires consistent presence, strong internal leadership, and a practical, outcomes-first approach to modernization.

QUALIFICATIONS
Required
  • Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration, Regional Planning, Business Administration, Political Science, or a closely related field.
  • At least 10 years of progressively responsible executive management experience in a public-sector, intergovernmental, private, or nonprofit organization of comparable complexity.
  • Proven record of managing large, multidisciplinary teams and budgets.
  • Significant experience working with boards comprised of elected officials and facilitating decision-making in a public context.
Preferred
  • Master’s degree or other advanced degree in a related discipline.
  • Executive experience in a Council of Governments, MPO, or similar regional agency.
  • Experience in the Houston-Galveston region or similarly large, fast-evolving metropolitan regions.
  • Experience leading multidisciplinary regional initiatives, strategic planning, and grant administration.
  • Demonstrated experience leading digital transformation or major technology initiatives in complex organizations.
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