Matthew Haller is President & CEO of the International Franchise Association.
Matt has been a key member of the IFA team for over 12 years, building extensive relationships with all three segments of the IFA membership: franchisors, franchisees, and suppliers. Before being named President and CEO in June of 2021, Matt held a number of roles across the IFA, including Communications Director, Vice President of Public Affairs, Chief of Staff to the CEO and Senior Vice President of Public Affairs, and Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Public Affairs.
During his tenure as President and CEO, Matt has built on the IFA’s mission to protect, enhance, and promote franchising in new ways while enhancing its organizational structure to ensure success for years to come. Under Haller’s leadership, IFA has seen annual double-digit revenue increases that have led to a significant increase in member value as a result of new programs and services to support franchising. With an eye toward improving the public’s understanding of franchising, IFA commissioned research by Oxford Economics that led to the creation of IFA’s Open for Opportunity campaign, a data-driven reputation campaign designed to teach the public, the media, and policymakers about the positive impacts of franchising and the opportunities provided through this unique business model. Internally, Matt led efforts to realign the IFA Foundation, restructure the IFA’s educational program — the Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) program — to better fit the needs of IFA members, and enhance the IFA member value proposition by meeting members where they are.
As CEO, Matt continues to vigorously defend the franchise business model through IFA’s advocacy, taking on the toughest challenges facing the franchise community in the nation’s capital and across the country. Through the lobbying, coalition building, grassroots, research, and communications capabilities of the IFA, Matt and the IFA government relations team have a longstanding record of protecting franchising. In recent years, they have successfully staved off the joint employer threat, negotiated a major compromise to protect franchise businesses in California, and ensured franchises were eligible for the Paycheck Protection Program and other relief efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Haller is a frequent commentator for national political, business and trade publications, appearing regularly in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, POLITICO and leading trade publications covering the franchise sector.
Prior to joining IFA in October 2010, Matthew was director of industry relations at the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, where he developed PCMA’s member and affiliate initiatives surrounding key industry issues. Previously, he served as manager of political affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he managed the Chamber’s $20 million budget for political and issue advocacy campaigns during the 2004 and 2006 election cycles. Matthew has also held positions as legislative assistant for UPS Corporate Public Affairs and as a director of public affairs at Levick Strategic Communications, LLC.
Matthew received a bachelors degree in Political Science from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. He resides in Washington, D.C.
You can contact Matthew at [email protected] or 202-662-0770 and follow him on Twitter @Franchising411.