Chris Crawford

Chris Crawford is a managing director with Gallagher's Executive Compensation team. In that role, Chris regularly advises boards and senior executives on all aspects of executive compensation and benefits. He has led a wide variety of consulting engagements, including evaluating total compensation programs, designing performance-based incentive plans, developing global compensation philosophies and educating trustees and executives on regulatory issues and industry trends.

Chris brings more than 25 years of strategic compensation and corporate governance consulting experience with Fortune 50 public companies, private institutions and nonprofit organizations. His experience advising more than 500 corporate boards has equipped him to help companies navigate challenging micro and macro market conditions.

Before joining Gallagher, Chris served as co-founder and president of Zayla Partners, a national consulting firm. Prior to launching Zayla Partners in 2022, he led a consulting organization recognized for 10 years as among the Best Places to Work in Texas (Texas Monthly Magazine), and twice as the No. 1 Top Consultancy in the US (Consulting Magazine) and among America's Top Management Consultancies (Forbes Magazine).

Professional highlights

• Faculty instructor and trainer (executive pay and variable pay certification courses)
• Curriculum contributor (executive pay and variable pay), author and board advisor for WorldatWork, the world's largest organization certifying compensation and benefit professionals
• Compensation committee chair for several private organizations and a university business school
• Co-author of three books, technical contributor to five books and co-author of more than 50 articles on corporate compensation and governance
• National speaker and featured commentator on executive compensation and variable pay topics for numerous media outlets
• Expert witness
• MBA, CCP, CECP, CCC