Al Zapanta

President and CEO, United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce

Mr. Zapanta is President and CEO of the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, which operates 9 regional offices in the United States and 9 in Mexico. Mr. Zapanta is also Founder Member and Chief Executive Office of PAZ Resources, with overall responsibilities of management of the executive staff and overall business strategy. Previously, he was Chief executive Officer of PAZ energy, a single purpose entity that participated in the DFW International Airport natural gas project. He worked in upstream operations of Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO Oil & Gas), and retired as Director of Governmental Affairs for ARCO where he was responsible for negotiations with U.S. and Mexican (PEMEX) governments on oil and gas maters, and coordinated ARCO’s effort to deregulate the natural gas market which became law, the Natural Gas Policy Act (NGPA). Mr. Zapanta has held numerous Presidential appointments, including White House Fellow, and Special Assistant to Secretary of U.S. Department of Transportation; Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Management and Administration, U.S. State Department Advisory Committee on International Trade Technology and Development, and private sector delegate to the U.S.-Mexico Partnership for Prosperity. Gen. Zapanta was appointed Chief of Staff of the Peacekeeping Mission to the United Nations Referendum on Western Sahara. Military officers and soldiers from the USSR, People’s Republic of China, and France served under his command. U.S. Secretary of Defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld, appointed Gen. Zapanta as Chairman of the Reserve Forces Policy Board (RFPB). Gen. Zapanta’s military record includes the award of the Silver Star, 5 Bronze Stars for Valor, Purple Heart, and 30 other awards during the Vietnam War. He was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal for Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Restore Hope in Somalia and Restore Democracy in Haiti. He served in the Board of Directors of Tyson Foods and currently is a member of the Board of Trustees, President Gerald R. Ford Foundation and Museum; Senior Fellow, Center for Western Hemisphere Defense Studies; Chairman, Hispanic War Veterans of America; and Chairman and CEO of the United States-Mexico Cultural and Educational Foundation. Mr. Zapanta has a BA in Industrial Psychology, MA in Public Administration and has completed work for his PhD in International Political Economics from the University of Southern California. Mr. Zapanta graduated from the Advanced Management Program at Harvard School of Business, the Inter-American Defense College at the National War College, Washington, D.C. In June 2018, he was elected to serve on the Irving City Council in the State of Texas, where he lives with his wife Rochelle.