How CEO Chris Luna “Fired Up The Engine And Got The Boat Moving Again” At SPCA Of Texas

By: Glenn Hunter

How CEO Chris Luna “Fired Up The Engine And Got The Boat Moving Again” At SPCA Of Texas

Jul 22, 2025 5:30 PM by  

Things may be looking up for the non-profit SPCA of Texas, whose leadership is adopting private-sector principles following a period of turmoil and controversy.

That was the takeaway from a progress report delivered by President and CEO Chris Luna at the group’s May 6 cocktail reception at the Preston Hollow home of Tracy and Ben Lange.

Luna, a former three-term Dallas City Council member, took the reins of the 87-year-old animal welfare organization in late 2023. Previously, he’d worked with Tracy for nearly two decades at T-Mobile, the wireless communications provider.


Before listening to Chris’ update, the 110 guests mixed, mingled, sipped and noshed inside the Langes’ manse as they enjoyed appetizers catered by Bobby Pollette of AT Bistro.

Among those attending were Gina and Ken Betts, Sunie Solomon, Katy and Lawrence Bock (they chaired the SPCA’s record-setting Fur Ball last year), Lisa and Clay Cooley, Kent Rathbun, Kristin and James Hallam (they’re co-chairing the upcoming Fur Ball on September 19), Karen Urie, Mary Spencer, Sue and Steven Koons and Kim and Greg Hext.

 

Also threading through the packed crowd were Tracy and Ben’s children, Luke Lange and Livia Lange, as well as a number of SPCA of Texas board members. In addition to Katy Bock, they included Ali Turiano, Whitney Eichinger, Courtney Nall, Michelle Bleiberg, Brandi Ellis, Maureen Short, Randy Pruett, Dr. Barrett Jiranek, Jonathan Kelly and Dr. Rachel Neese.

Soon enough, Tracy formally welcomed everyone to the event. Then she turned the floor over to Chris.

He told the throng that when he accepted the SPCA of Texas job, he’d vowed that “communication, collaboration and coordination” would be the non-profit’s new mantra. He also counted off several lessons he’d learned working with Tracy at T-Mobile, where he’d served as vice president of legal affairs.

“One, you need to be innovative,” he said. “Two, you need to focus on what you do best. Three, you need to create a culture that people will embrace. You need to take care of your people and your customers, and I’ve tried to bring some of that kind of private-sector approach to the SPCA of Texas.

“It was not that the boat or ship needed to be turned around, but it was that we needed to pick up speed,” he added. “We all needed to get down to the coal room and fire up the engine and get the boat moving again.”

Luna said initiatives undertaken during his year and a half at the helm have included:

  • Making two new “key hires” in Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Melissa Webber and Development VP Justin Banta.
  • Conducting a “deep compensation analysis” that resulted in salary adjustments — and the non-profit’s lowest quarterly turnover rate in 10 years.
  • Implementing an annual employee satisfaction study whose first results have been “off the charts” in terms of improvement.
  • Rebuilding community partnerships with the likes of Operation Kindness, Dallas Animal Services and the national ASPCA, because “we’d become a little inward-looking.”
  • Exiting a satellite operation in Ellis County, where Luna said there was a mismatch between the county’s animal-welfare vision and the SPCA’s.
  • Launching “Purple University,” a continuing-education program for the organization’s staff.
  • Updating the group’s mission statement, because “our mission statement, to be honest, was a little old and outdated and, depending on how you look at it, either a little maternalistic or paternalistic.”
  • Planning to expand spay/neuter surgeries in Dallas County.
  • Planning for a building expansion at the group’s campus in West Dallas.

“When I first moved to Dallas a long time ago, the chair of the first nonprofit board I served on was a woman named Deedie Rose, a great philanthropist,” Chris said. “And people would often ask Deedie, ‘Well, what can I do? What do you need?’ And she said, ‘Non-profits need three things. We need your time, we need your talent and we need your treasure.’ And that has stuck with me for these 30 or 35 years.

“In closing — the favorite words everyone wants to hear! — every great city needs a great animal welfare organization,” Chris said. “We are ready to be that great animal welfare organization for the city. We feel like we’re stronger, we are back, and we are ready for the future. So we invite you to join us on that journey.”

* Photo credit: Kim Jude Photography