Christie Eckler is new executive director of the National MS Society South Central Texas region, leading the organization in North Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
“I am looking forward to being a part of an innovative and national organization, where researchers, medical professionals, navigators, ambassadors, and more are all striving to have a more meaningful impact on those living with multiple sclerosis, like myself,” Eckler said in a release.
“I was diagnosed with MS in 2011, and it was with the help of a local chapter of the MS Society that I was able to come to terms with my new reality and accept my new trajectory while also building my professional career in nonprofits.”
Eckler has 14 years in social work, fundraising, relationship cultivation and stewardship, community and board engagement, and staff development. Most recently, she was vice president for advancement at Botanical Research Institute of Texas in Fort Worth, where she led the advancement department overseeing fundraising, corporate relations, membership, and marketing.
Eckler is an adjunct faculty member at her alma mater University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work. Eckler also is a member of the downtown Rotary Club of Fort Worth, and board member of Tarrant County Homeless Coalition and Friends of the Fort Worth Nature Center.
“Christie brings outstanding experience to this position, driven by strong personal commitments to helping solve the needs of those affected by MS,” Linda Bates, president of South Central, said in the release. “I am excited to have them to help move the National MS Society’s mission forward with renewed energy and resolve.”