Tulsa Regional Chamber’s Allison Walden Named National Chamber Staff Person of the Year

Allison Walden, senior vice president of resource development at the Tulsa Regional Chamber, has been named the recipient of the Gerald W. Hathaway Staff Person of the Year Award by the Western Association of Chamber Executives (W.A.C.E.). The Hathaway Award is given annually to an outstanding chamber of commerce staff member for contributions to attaining specific chamber goals, creating innovative new programs, and securing funding and resources.
“We at the Chamber are absolutely thrilled by this national recognition of Allison’s exceptional talent,” says Mike Neal, president and CEO of the Tulsa Regional Chamber. “Allison’s work was critical to the Chamber achieving its fourth Chamber of the Year recognition in 2020. I am privileged to work with some of the finest chamber of commerce professionals in the industry, and Allison truly embodies the best of our profession.”
Walden joined the Chamber staff in 2010 and was named senior vice president of resource development in 2016. During her tenure with the organization, Walden has led the fundraising of more than $60 million to support Chamber operations. She was instrumental in growing the impact of Tulsa’s Future, the Chamber-led regional economic development partnership supported by public and private investors, and she pioneered a first-of-its-kind private fundraising campaign to support VisitTulsa, the convention and visitors bureau housed at the Chamber.
“I share this honor with the more than 40 Tulsa Regional Chamber employees who equally deserve recognition, as well as the thousands of staffers at W.A.C.E. member chambers who did great things in support of their communities last year,” says Walden. “While 2020 was certainly one of the most challenging years of my career, I’m exceedingly grateful to work with such a dedicated team of Chamber staff and volunteers who are passionate about improving the quality of community life in our region. We could not accomplish so much as an organization without the gracious support of our member companies and their commitment to regional economic prosperity.”  
Walden is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE®) and a past president of the Eastern Oklahoma Association of Fundraising Professionals, as well as a Certified Chamber Executive through the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE). She is an advisory board member for ACCE’s membership development division and a member of the Southeast Board of Regents for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Institute for Organization Management, from which she graduated in 2016. She also sits on the boards of YWCA Tulsa and the Oklahoma Quality Foundation.
“In such a year as 2020, Allison’s leadership has been bold and focused,” says Neal. “When lesser fundraisers would have paled, Allison refocused and rallied her team to secure critical funds, adapt our member engagement process and realign our sales strategy to elevate member satisfaction levels and ensure financial success and sustainability.”
W.A.C.E. is an association that promotes and enhances the development of chamber of commerce executives and staff professionals. With approximately 800 members in 19 western states and Canada, W.A.C.E. is the largest state or regional association of chamber executives in the United States.
For more information about the Tulsa Regional Chamber, visit tulsachamber.com.