We are excited to welcome our new Board of Directors, with terms beginning January 1, 2022. Passing the torch is 2021 Board Chair, Nikki Graham. It is with great pleasure that we introduce 2022 Chair Fred W. Heldenfels IV and 2023 Chair Ali Khataw. Meet the leadership behind our new Board below.


  • Fred W. Heldenfels IV

    2022 Board Chair
    Heldenfels Enterprises, Inc, president and CEO

    Fred Heldenfels is president and CEO of Heldenfels Enterprises, Inc. His firm specializes in the manufacture and installation of precast/prestressed concrete structures. The firm’s work has resulted in multiple industry design awards including the Aggie 100 Award — which honors the 100 fastest growing Aggie-owned or Aggie-led businesses in the world — in 2005, 2006, 2010, and 2015. Heldenfels graduated from Texas A&M and has also individually been honored as Texas A&M's Distinguished Alumni in 2015 and an Outstanding Alumnus of the Mays Business School in 2018.

    Heldenfels also has been called upon by multiple governors to serve the State of Texas. In 1995, when former President George W. Bush was Governor of Texas, he appointed Heldenfels to serve on the Coastal Coordination Council, and in 2010, Governor Rick Perry called him to serve as Chairman of the Texas Higher Education Board which Heldenfels was a board member of from 2006-2013.

    Additionally, our incoming board chair has served on the Austin Chamber's Executive Committee and board for over 10 years. Heldenfels is also the immediate past chair of Texas A&M’s political action committee and is board treasurer for Texans for Lawsuit Reform. Heldenfels has also served as chairman of the Texas A&M 12th Man Foundation, president of the Texas Good Roads Transportation Association, and served as chair of the Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce where he helped establish a four-year university within the Texas A&M University system.

    See his LinkedIn
  • Ali Khataw

    2023 Board Chair-elect
    Encotech Engineering Consultants, president and CEO

    Ali Khataw founded Encotech Engineering Consultants in 1990, and he has since built it into a world-class operation that specializes in refining building system performance, providing impeccable client service, demonstrating proficiency in technicalities, and implementing efficient design.

    As a result of his leadership and vision, Khataw has been featured in multiple industry publications and was named the 2016 Engineer of the Year by the Travis County chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers.

    Khataw has served on more than nine different boards of directors including the Austin Chamber of Commerce’s board, Leadership Austin, KUT, E3 Alliance, and Austin Area Research Organization among others. He currently helps mentor tomorrow’s workforce as a Chamber talent ambassador.

    An alumnus of the University of Texas at Austin, Khataw received the Community Leadership Circle Award in 2011, which honors the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. Photo philanthropy —photography which Khataw sells and donates all profits to philanthropic causes — is a passion of Khataw’s and you can usually find him waiting for the perfect moment to capture the beauty of the world through his lens.

    See his LinkedIn



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