Chris Balish

About Chris Balish

I’m a senior strategic communications executive, sustainable transportation expert, and author of the definitive book on car-free mobility in the United States.Twenty years ago, I founded Go Car Free, a car-free and car-lite mobility education initiative. It began with my 2005 book How to Live Well Without Owning a Car, and led to more than 800 radio and TV appearances and features in national outlets including CNN, NPR, Forbes, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Newsweek. Go Car Free creates accessible tools, free resources, and behavior-change content to help people reduce solo driving and choose healthier, more sustainable transportation.I’m passionate about helping cities, communities, campuses, employers, and major events — including large-scale global events — empower people to move sustainably, not just through public transportation infrastructure, but through human-centered communications, storytelling, and behavior-change science.My work has supported high-stakes presentations to the Biden Administration, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, the White House Transition Team, global transportation conferences, Fortune 500 leadership forums, and major civic, business, technology, and transportation infrastructure summits.During my eight years in leadership roles at Los Angeles Metro, I led Strategic & Executive Communications in the Office of the CEO, crafting mission-critical messaging, overseeing CEO and Board communications, preparing keynote presentations, boosting stakeholder engagement, and elevating national/international visibility. I worked on major mobility initiatives including launching Metro’s GoPass and U-Pass programs to encourage car-free commuting at schools and colleges, large infrastructure programs, policy rollouts, crisis response, CEO town halls, and some of the most consequential transportation discussions in the United States.Before joining Metro, I spent more than a decade as a full-time television news anchor and on-camera contributor for major news organizations including Disney, Time Warner, Gannett, NBC, and ABC — earning seven Emmy Awards and producing in-depth reporting on transportation, public safety, business, and consumer issues.

Experience

1. Director of Strategic & Executive Communications, Office of the CEO

   Los Angeles Metro

   Feb 2023 — Present · Los Angeles, CA, US

   Oversee, manage, coordinate, synchronize, synergize, and execute internal and external communications, including: public relations, community relations, media relations, government relations, executive communications, employee relations, and marketing.

Education

• University of Cincinnati

  Graduate Study, non-degreed, Electronic Media / Digital Journalism

• Xavier University

  Marketing, non-degreed

• Hong Kong International School

  Hong Kong, China

• Dartmouth College

  Bachelor's Degree, B.A. in Liberal Arts. Major: English.

Skills

• Journalism
• Presentation Coaching
• Video Editing
• Teaching Writing
• Startup Development
• Digital Media
• Growth Strategies
• Media Relations
• Tv News Production
• Web Development
• Newspapers
• Transit Operations
• New Media
• Video
• Breaking News
• Early-Stage Startups
• Communications Planning
• Online News
• Public Speaking
• Publicist
• Conference Speaking
• Blogging
• News Writing
• Entertainment
• Final Cut Pro
• Broadcast Journalism
• Digital Marketing
• New Media Marketing
• Storytelling
• Magazines
• University Teaching
• Writing
• Broadcasting
• Film Production
• Social Media
• Field Production
• Film
• Video Production
• Publishing
• Editing