Christopher E. Laxton, CAE
Christopher E. Laxton, CAE is a career association professional with more than 27 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, management and communications. Laxton has worked with healthcare organizations for 21 years, 13 of which as a CEO.
Laxton is President of The Laxton Nonprofit Network, Inc., a national consulting firm in the Chicagoland area specializing in board development, strategic planning, organizational assessment and design, governance and communications. He is also an independent affiliate and Chicago lead of Transition Management Consulting, Inc. (TMC), a national professional services firm comprised of professional transition leaders and interim executives who work with associations and nonprofits when their executives depart for any reason. TMC is the largest national firm exclusively providing interim management, executive search, transition consulting, and executive coaching services.
Laxton currently serves as Interim Deputy Executive Director of the Society for Biomolecular Sciences (SBS), a 15-year-old professional society representing scientists in drug discovery. Most recently, he was chief executive officer of the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB). Responsible for management of NCBTMB’s staff and oversight of its $9 million budget, he also provided strategic leadership, program administration, and advice and counsel to NCBTMB’s officers and board of directors.
Prior to joining NCBTMB, he served as Chief Executive Officer of the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) in Chicago. AADE is a multi-disciplinary organization of more than 10,000 health professionals dedicated to providing and advocating for quality diabetes self-management training.
Laxton served from 1995 to 2002 as the executive director of the Washington-based Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), the largest professional association representing infection prevention and control professionals worldwide.
Prior to that, Laxton worked at the National Association for Home Care, serving as its vice president for communications and information services from 1993 to 1995, chief operating officer from 1989 to 1993 and director of publications from 1985 to 1989. He served as executive editor for the American Anthropological Association from 1981 to 1985.
Laxton has delivered numerous lectures and workshops on strategic planning, strategic budgeting and strategy execution. He has also been published in numerous healthcare-related magazines, including the American Journal of Infection Control, as well as CARING and Caring People magazines, as well as in association-related publications.
He has volunteered at the national and local levels, including serving as a faculty member of the National Center for Nonprofit Board’s National Leadership Forum, as chairman of the Greater Washington Society for Association Executive’s CEO Advisory Council, and as a member of the Association Forum of Chicagoland’s CEOnly Council. In 2008 and again in 2009, he served as a National Examiner for the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest award for organizational excellence.
