Get to Know John Dallas

John R. Dallas, Jr.
President and CEO
John R. Dallas, Jr. is CEO of non-profit Enclave Learning & Earning Center, an economic development education initiative to support professional and personal psychological development and growth of entrepreneurs and their influencers (i.e., investors, bankers, lawyers, accountants, consultants et al).
The Enclave Building is home for Founders1st™ Academy for Entrepreneurs, BrilliantBuilders™ Academy for Workforce Optimization, The Enclavian Society, Luminary Leaders League (and its Speakers Bureau), each of which John founded and leads. Also, he serves in leadership roles with other businesses and not-for-profit organizations and educational institutions.
John’s previous CEO post was as President of Chicago Title Credit Services, Inc., then the largest big-data aggregator of U.S. consumer credit information for the world’s banks and other financial institutions. Before being recruited to Chicago, in Northern Virginia he was the lead co-founder, and served as President, of what is now known as Intersections, Inc., a NASDAQ-listed public company. He is formerly president of five highly regarded national service companies in New York, suburban Washington, D.C. (VA), and Chicago.
Over 20 years in New York City, John was the founding CEO of three pacesetting companies: National Business Intelligence Corp. (renamed ETX Corporation), Group Concepts Capital Corp., and Market Access Resources Corp.; all among frontline pioneers in their respective fields.
For many years, John is a guest speaker at universities, colleges, and high schools. At the invitation of Cook County Commissioners, he testified in support of the historic 2018 ordinance to create the Cook County Commission for Small Businesses, on which he now serves.
John’s decades of being a frontline champion for experiential entrepreneurship education include his years of service to Silicon Valley’s Founder Institute, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Initiative, a national entrepreneurship transition program for military veterans, various community colleges, and numerous other high-impact learning initiatives. Currently, he serves on the Advisory Board for Harper College’s Entrepreneurship Program, where he also lectures. For high schools, John is a speaker, pitch competition judge, and mentor.
In collaboration with Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, John was among the 2007 founding team for Chicago Urban League’s acclaimed nextONE Entrepreneurship Accelerator. On Fox TV-Chicago, John frequently appeared on nextTV, the four-time Emmy Award-winning FoxTV television series featuring real-world entrepreneurial stories.
In association with the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), he served on the Board of Directors of Chicago Technology Park (TechPark) at Illinois Medical District (IMD). He was the first Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Leadership Arts Certificate Program of The University of Chicago’s Graham School. For two years, John was Chairman of Technology Leadership Forum (TechForum) at the Union League Club of Chicago. In early 2001, region-wide he was voted by peers among the top 100 technology leaders.
While majoring in journalism and mass communications at Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University, John started a student-run public relations service for high-profile nonprofit groups such as: Junior Achievement (entrepreneurship education), The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts. Shortly after Oliver Realty Inc. and other companies hired his award-winning young team, in 1972 a regional advertising agency acquired his startup business. At age 22, John was named the buyer’s Vice President, Public Relations. One year later, he was recruited to Manhattan for a leadership post with Reddy Kilowatt Inc. At Columbia University he continued his studies.
For 12 years in New York, John ran ETX, a widely celebrated pioneer in electronic publishing. ETX supported Wall Street communication objectives of publicly traded corporations. Aligning telephony and computing in ways that had never been monetized, if ever attempted, John personally developed a system to facilitate real-time remote processing of professionally edited and verified printed records of corporate, financial, and media events held worldwide (e.g., time-sensitive edited transcripts, and other printed reports, from stockholder meetings, securities analyst sessions, press conferences, etc.). New disclosure standards were defined and set toward today’s norms.
The ETX client roster of hundreds included 27 of top 50 Fortune 500 companies, including IBM, GE, GM, Ford, Exxon, Mobil, AT&T, et al. Largest banks were clients. Media clients included ABC, CBS, NBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Fortune, Bloomberg Business Week, and other giants. Top leaders in academia, law, auditing, finance, advertising, PR, and politics were also clients of ETX Corporation.
In 1976, 1980 and 1984, John negotiated to win exclusive contracts for ETX to electronically publish and distribute the only official transcriptional records of the historic United States Presidential and Vice-Presidential Debates, and high-profile Congressional debates. After two Presidential election cycles, John secured contracts with ABC-TV News and NBC-TV News for broadcast-based publications focused on the purpose, function, and future of the U.S. Electoral College. This vast body of work resides in the U.S. Library of Congress.
Now for over 55 years, locally and nationally, John is interviewed on ABC, CBS, and NBC. Also, he appears on radio talk programs, and is included in newspaper articles, blogs, podcasts, and online information resources. Almost daily, through Twitter and other social media channels, John offers thousands of followers a steady stream of leadership insight and entrepreneurship education value.
John is elected and ordained for life as a Deacon and an Elder in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. He held elected posts and chaired committees in large-membership urban churches in Pittsburgh, New York, and Chicago.
With comments, questions, or suggestions related to John’s coaching models, books, future writings, speaking engagements, business inquiries for Hillview, contributions to Enclave, the academies, or for any other information, please always feel welcome to contact directly:
John R. Dallas, Jr.
President and CEO
Enclave Learning & Earning Center
75 Turner Avenue | Suite 200 | Elk Grove Village, Illinois 60007
312.643.8000
johnrdallasjr@enclaveforentrepreneurs.com
linkedin.com/in/johnrdallasjr
facebook.com/JohnRDallasJr
Twitter: @JohnRDallasJr, @enclave_center, and @Founders1st.
enclaveforentrepreneurs.com