Dave Lopez
Secretary of Commerce
Long active in corporate and community leadership positions, Dave Lopez continues to direct his energies to civic and business endeavors as the Secretary of Commerce for the State of Oklahoma.
Governor Mary Fallin appointed Lopez in February of 2011 to help lead the state’s economic development efforts and to serve on the governor’s cabinet. Lopez is a retired officer of SBC Communications (now AT&T) and he was most recently president of the American Fidelity Foundation, based in Oklahoma City.
Before concluding a 22-year career with AT&T, Lopez held a variety of executive positions with its predecessor company in Houston, Dallas, St. Louis, San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Austin. Lopez served his last six years as an officer of the corporation, including a four-year assignment as its president of Oklahoma and later as president of Texas.
Lopez returned to Oklahoma in 2003 and he has served on the boards of directors for numerous non-profit organizations and corporate boards in the state. He has been recognized for his community work with honors that include the Dean A. McGee Award by Downtown Oklahoma City Inc., the Key Contributor Award by the Oklahoma Academy and induction in to Oklahoma City University’s Commerce and Industry Hall of Honor. Oklahoma Christian University has presented Lopez with an honorary Doctor of Humanities Degree and he previously served as a regent of the Texas Tech University System and of Oklahoma City Community College.
Lopez was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and received a Bachelor of Science degree from New Mexico State University in 1974 and a Master of Arts degree from the same institution in 1979. Lopez is married to the former Lana Blakley and they have five children and eight grandchildren.
Jonna Kirschner
Executive Director
Kirschner previously served as the deputy director and general counsel at ODOC, a position she has held since 2003. She managed the legal division, including the Quality Jobs Program and directed the operations of the Business Customer Services Division, the Public Information Office, the Regional Development Specialists and the Oklahoma Main Street Program.
Prior to her work at ODOC, she was the managing director and vice president at The Kirschner Law Firm. Kirschner has over 25 years of multinational experience working in different aspects of international corporate law, corporate structure, and overall business management. Leading ODOC’s business, retention and expansion and legal efforts enhances Kirschner’s past experience in defining and evaluating strategies for transnational corporations and government agencies in areas such as business and tax incentives, financing and mergers and acquisitions.
Kirschner has worked at several other law firms in both Oklahoma and the United Kingdom, where she lived from 1987-1994. As a member of the Law Society, Kirschner is licensed to practice as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. She is also licensed in Oklahoma, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. She is a founding member of the American Women Lawyers in London and was an active member of the Society of English and American Lawyers during her time there.
Kirschner is on the board of directors at Red Earth, an American Indian art and cultural museum, and served as president from 2008 to 2010. She has served as a member of the Oklahoma City Chapter of the Women Presidents' Organization from 2002-2005 and is a current member of the Oklahoma Art League and the Junior League of Oklahoma City. In 2003 she was named to the Journal Record’s “50 Women Making a Difference.”
Kirschner received a bachelor’s degree in English from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and a law degree from Boston College School of Law in Massachusetts. Kirschner is a fifth generation Oklahoman who lives in Oklahoma City with her husband and two children.