Matthew D. Chase
CEO/Executive Director
About Matthew D. Chase
Matthew D. Chase has served as the CEO/Executive Director of the National Association of Counties (NACo) since September 2012. As the chief executive officer, he is responsible for the overall management of the association. NACo is the only national association representing America’s 3,069 county governments.
During his professional career, Matt has focused on promoting America’s economic competitiveness, strengthening the intergovernmental system of federal, state and local officials, and engaging local elected officials in the federal policymaking process. In addition, he is a regular presenter on the impact of federal budget and policy trends on local governments and communities.
Previously, Matt served nearly a decade as executive director of the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO), representing local government-based regional planning and development organizations. Prior to becoming NADO’s executive director, he was the organization’s deputy executive director and legislative affairs director. He began his career with the Professional Managers Association, serving as membership services director and chief operating officer.
He is a graduate of Hartwick College in Otsego County, New York, and holds a master's degree in political management from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He currently serves on the board of advisors for GW’s Graduate School of Political Management and previously served as a founding board member for Vets’ Community Connections. He was recently selected as a new Fellow for the National Academy of Public Administration.
Matt was raised in Warren and Washington counties in Upstate New York. Matt was introduced to county government by his stepfather who held two elective offices in Washington County – district attorney and judge.
He resides in Arlington County, Virginia with his wife, Shana, where they are raising their two young sons: Nicholas and William.
A Government Close Enough to Touch
NACo CEO Matt Chase writes, "Self-government, including at the county level, has always carried a necessary tension: how do we balance the collective good and the rights of individuals?"
The Promise and Peril Arrive on the Front Lines
NACo CEO Matt Chase writes: "Counties did not ask to be on the front lines of the AI era. But we are. The power demands, the water use, the land battles, the tax base, the workforce changes, the pressure for public services — all of it lands on us first."
Telling the County Infrastructure Story
County budgets are being eroded by unrelenting cost inflation, federal permitting delays stalling projects and competition for labor and materials often directed to federally subsidized state projects. It's time to fix federal funding for infrastructure.
Reflections on federalism at America 250
NACo CEO Matt Chase: "Counties are where federal and state policy stops being policy and starts being real. We are not a delivery mechanism for decisions made elsewhere. We are where American governance actually lives."
Governing in the ‘attention economy’
NACo CEO Matt Chase writes: "County leaders face a new governing challenge: Reaching residents in a world where human attention has become the scarcest resource of all."
