May 9, 2023
Christy Gillenwater became the President & Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber on January 5, 2023.
Christy previously served as President & CEO of the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce, and prior to that, President & CEO of the Southwest Indiana Chamber and President & CEO of the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce in Indiana.
Christy was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Affairs from Indiana University and a Master of Business Administration from Ball State University. In 2012, Christy was named a Certified Chamber Executive (CCE), the only national certification for chamber professionals.
Christy led two chambers – the Southwest Indiana Chamber and the Greater Bloomington Chamber – to win the National Chamber of the Year by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives as well as the Indiana Chamber of the Year by the Indiana Chamber Executives Association. In 2017, the Indiana Chamber Executives Association recognized her as Executive of the Year.
Chair of the Day
Joe Hodges is the Regional President of SSM Health Oklahoma, the parent company of the St. Anthony Hospitals. Joe’s journey into service began long before he joined St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City in 1992. In fact, his journey began in the small rural Oklahoma panhandle town of Forgan. As the son of a third-generation rancher and a first-grade teacher, his parents instilled in him the importance of education and hard work.
A graduate student at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, he joined St. Anthony as a part-time employee in the hospital’s business office. From the business office he moved into managed care before becoming network director of hospital contracting, then executive director of oncology and administrative services and eventually vice president of operations. In 2003, he was named executive vice president and chief operating officer. And 13 years to the month that he began at St. Anthony, Hodges was named the hospital’s president and served in that role until his appointment as regional president in 2012. Under Hodges leadership, he has expanded health services which are now comprised of four hospitals, a medical group, a foundation, four outpatient healthplexes and 17 rural hospital affiliates.
Hodges serves on the board of numerous civic organizations including: Oklahoma Blood Institute, Avedis Foundation, OKC Chamber of Commerce, and YMCA of Oklahoma City. Previously he has served on the boards of Leadership OKC, Oklahoma City Arts Council and the Oklahoma National Memorial. He has been a member of the Oklahoma City Downtown Rotary since 2007 and he is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Hodges earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Oklahoma State University and a master’s in health-care administration from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He has two daughters.