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In June, the Economic Club of Dallas named Luisa del Rosal, an SMU faculty member, as its new executive director<\/p>\n
Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
The Economic Club of New York, a nonprofit that serves as one of the city\u2019s highest-profile discussion forums and has hosted American presidents and foreign heads of state as well as countless business leaders, was founded in 1907. Chicago, Detroit and Boston formed their own versions in the 1920s and 1930s, and Washington, D.C. welcomed one in the 1980s.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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But until recently Dallas \u2014 a city with a long history of business prominence that\u2019s also increasingly at the forefront of the 21st-century American economy \u2014 never had its own.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Luisa del Rosal, executive director of the Economic Club of Dallas, speaks to The Dallas Morning News in the board room at Old Parkland, Tuesday, July 28, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n
Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
\u201cWe so needed this,\u201d said Michael Levy, the CEO of Crow Holdings and board chair of the new Economic Club of Dallas. \u201cThis city is so primed for this conversation about growth in commerce and welcoming all sorts of people in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Dallas\u2019 new club, which came together last year after an effort led by Levy and three others, now counts dozens of North Texas\u2019 biggest business and economic names as founding members<\/a>\u00a0and has welcomed speakers including U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Reza Pahlavi, the exiled former crown prince of Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n In June, the club named Luisa del Rosal, an SMU faculty member whose professional background ranges from public policy and politics to small business ownership, as its new executive director as it embarks on an ambitious growth push. \u201cShe\u2019s the one who had the best ideas and the best energy,\u201d said Levy.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Dallas Morning News recently sat down with del Rosal for a wide-ranging conversation inside Old Parkland, the historic Dallas business campus that serves as the club\u2019s home. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.\u00a0<\/p>\n I think a lot of people aren\u2019t all that familiar with The Economic Club of Dallas. Can you introduce the organization a little bit? What does the group do?\u00a0<\/p>\n People think about, \u2018Oh, there\u2019s a lot of places to network\u2019 \u2014 that\u2019s not it. [The Economic Club] is a place where we convene conversations, so leaders can think and learn. I tell people all the time: This is really about putting the \u201cclub\u201d back in club. We are having invitation-only members that want to come into our forums. But the interesting thing is the most interesting person that might be in that conversation might not be the speaker, but the person sitting next to you. It\u2019s all about being in this marketplace of ideas \u2014 all ideas are welcome to the table, for our leaders to come learn about something different that might impact their business, society, etc..\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Ok, so you\u2019re in the top seat now. What are some of the things that are on your mind?\u00a0<\/p>\n One, I want people to know about us, right? So people understand what our purpose is. I want to make sure we are bringing those meaningful conversations to Dallas and the region in a way that also platforms our region. Sometimes I say \u2014 even though Dallas, people don\u2019t think about it as a major place, they should. We\u2019re a place where, you know, completely ordinary people with nothing but concrete do extraordinary things. So hosting the type of conversations that put Dallas on the map, that remind people why Dallas is a powerhouse, that again tells the story of us being the fastest growing region in the nation, in the world. That\u2019s impressive, and Dallas is at the center of it\u00a0<\/p>\n What do you think about the downtown Dallas situation? AT&T\u2019s moving out<\/a>, Comerica<\/a>. The Mavs, the Stars, you know, the whole thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n I think there\u2019s opportunity for growth at the end. To me, most important is: We have to do what\u2019s best for the city, for the business community and for its citizens. I don\u2019t really have an opinion because I think it\u2019ll play out in the best way if we all stay engaged in the conversation. But that\u2019s the type of meaningful conversation \u2014 like, \u2018What do downtowns mean today? What do we understand by \u2018cities\u2019? How do we understand regions? Those are the types of things that I might not answer, but I am sure there\u2019s several speakers out there, or business leaders, that can come talk to us about that.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s a theme that The Economic Club of Dallas would address.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Yeah it could be, absolutely. But we\u2019re thinking larger than that. I think that downtown is going to figure it out because Dallas always figures it out. We have several members that have moved here from other states specifically because they love the energy and the possibilities of Dallas. They don\u2019t talk about the issues of downtown. They don\u2019t talk about the Mavs. They talk about, \u2018This is a place where I can get business done, and that\u2019s why I want to be here.\u2019 So to me, I\u2019m like, \u2018Whatever happens downtown is going to be ok, because as long as we\u2019re a place where people want to do business, we\u2019ll figure it out together.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Do you have any thoughts on how to keep that [bigger growth story] going, or what the region needs to keep this momentum going?<\/p>\n What we\u2019re doing. These salons that we will have, these leaders ultimately will go back with what they learned and hopefully grow their area, get involved civically, figure out big problems together. That\u2019s what we need to be doing. As long as we\u2019re talking to each other and not in silos \u2014 I think that happens sometimes in other places and cities. We don\u2019t believe in that. All ideas will be at the table for discussion, for growth, for knowledge. We\u2019re not going to be advocating for anything. It\u2019s really a forum where leaders come to learn and think, and I think that\u2019s super powerful. Where else do you do that?\u00a0<\/p>\n What do you think are the biggest challenges facing North Texas, in terms of economic prosperity?\u00a0<\/p>\n I think as we grow we have to do it thoughtfully. So infrastructure. How are we growing? If you\u2019ve driven up in Denton and Collin County, sometimes the roads cannot manage the population explosion. I think data centers and just data, AI \u2014 we have to understand how it kind of moves and belongs in our region, so that we create adequate opportunities for business but also that makes sense for the communities that are here. So to me it always comes back to infrastructure. I think everything else can be left to the market. Same with education: How are our schools competing? How are we making sure our schools are the best in the region?\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Quality of life issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n Exactly. It comes down to that \u2014 a lot of people move here and can\u2019t believe the affordability. How do we maintain that affordability while giving great services? And I give a lot of kudos to our state leadership for keeping that eye on the ball. And I think as cities we need to continue to see that.\u00a0<\/p>\n I wanted to get into your own background a little bit. From what I gather, you grew up in a conservative Catholic family in Mexico. How much do you think that sort of shaped you as a professional or as a business leader, economic leader?\u00a0<\/p>\n I always say Mexico gave me roots, but the U.S. gave me wings. I have the foundation of hard work \u2014 my dad always said, if you work hard and, you know, you always continue to be a person of high moral character, which is where my faith comes from, you can do anything. So I always grew up with a sense of, \u2018I can do anything,\u2019 I was just in a place where that was not true, right? In Mexico that\u2019s not true. I come here, and I have nothing but opportunity.<\/p>\n You have a very good immigrant story, right? Like a textbook immigrant story in a way.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Yeah totally. I still believe it\u2019s the land of opportunity, but I make that opportunity. So to your question: I do think it\u2019s a mix. I think the opportunities were there, but I was willing to seize it, and I was willing to do the things that got me there, get an education, work really hard, speak the language, right? I was willing to work really hard.<\/p>\n Before coming back here, I was chief of staff for a member of Congress, then I came home, and my husband and I invested in a franchise \u2014 parking lot line striping. Literally watching paint dry. And the first job we had, the guys didn\u2019t show up, the crew didn\u2019t show up. So I told my husband, \u2018Ok, we\u2019re taking the day off from work, and you and I are going to learn how to paint a parking lot.\u2019 And so I can tell you very proudly that I can push a line striper. It took us three days to paint a bank, which is absurd. I did a great handicap spot. So to your point, I do think this is a land of opportunity, but I was willing to do whatever it took to take those opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n You\u2019ve also run for office a few times, right?\u00a0<\/p>\n