Leadership & Board

Regina Montoya

Regina Montoya is the CEO and Chairperson of Regina T. Montoya, PLLC. She 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. Ms. Montoya is a frequent public speaker on a wide range of issues, including education, healthcare, poverty, and diversity, equity and inclusion.

One of the first Latinas to earn partnership in a major corporate law firm in the United States, Ms. Montoya received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Minority Counsel Program of the State Bar of Texas and the La Luz Achievement Award from the Dallas Hispanic Bar Association. The American Bar Association selected Ms. Montoya as a recipient of the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award.

Ms. Montoya was appointed by President Biden to serve on the President’s Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics. She served in the White House as an Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, and 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. Ms. Montoya also served as the Senior Vice President, External Relations and General Counsel at Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, one of the largest pediatric health care providers in the nation. In addition, Ms. Montoya served as the co-chair of the Dallas Mayor’s Task Force on Poverty.

A leader in the nonprofit community, Ms. Montoya is the President and Board member of the Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation. She is a member of the Board of the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund (MALDEF)(1st Vice Chair), Every Texan (formerly the Center for Public Policy Priorities), National Development Council (NDC), the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Society, Inc., Dallas Education Foundation (Dallas ISD) and Executive Women of Dallas. She serves on the Advisory Boards of Foreign Policy for America, WINGS (Chair), the Concilio, Leaders of Color, The Alumni Society and HHM (formerly Healing Hands Ministries). She also serves on the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s Texas Advisory Committee.

Ms. Montoya is a National Co-Chair of the Women’s Leadership Forum of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). She is the Secretary of the Board of Emerge, and she is a Board member of the Latino Victory Fund.

She has received numerous awards for her corporate, philanthropic, and nonprofit accomplishments. Among her awards are 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 its cover 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.