Matthew Shay is president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, the world’s largest retail trade association. He serves as chief advocate and spokesman for the nation’s largest private-sector industry employer, responsible for supporting more than one in four U.S. jobs — 55 million working Americans — and generating $5.3 trillion in annual GDP. He is a frequent guest on CNBC, Fox Business Network and Bloomberg Television.
Since his arrival in 2010, Shay has transformed NRF into Washington’s most powerful voice supporting the retail industry. Under his tenure, revenue has quadrupled and the organization’s influence has grown significantly in Washington, across the United States and globally. He has led the organization to new levels of effectiveness on policy issues, increasing awareness of the industry’s economic impact and expanding political engagement. Shay has also been at the forefront of shifting and framing the narrative about the current state of retail, particularly its digital evolution and vibrant, multichannel future.
Shay previously served as president and CEO of the International Franchise Association. During his time as CEO, IFA adopted an aggressive public policy agenda that led to a series of initiatives to restore much-needed credit to cash-strapped retail and other franchise businesses during the last recession.
He has been recognized by CEO Update as a Trade Association CEO of the Year and by Association TRENDS as an Association Executive of the Year. He has also been honored by The Ireland Funds with the Business Leadership Award and by So Others Might Eat (SOME) as a Father Horace McKenna Humanitarian of the Year.
Shay is currently a member of the board of directors at SOME and The Ireland Funds America. He previously served as chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Association Committee of 100 and of the ASAE Board of Directors, and as a member of the board for the Bryce Harlow Foundation and the U.S. Capitol Historical Society. Shay is a Lang Center Innovation Fellow with Columbia Business School’s Lang Center for Entrepreneurship, as well as a regular guest speaker at Georgetown University McDonough School of Business.
Shay is a graduate of Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, and The Ohio State University College of Law, and holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business. He also holds an honorary doctor of humane letters from Wittenberg University and an honorary degree of professional designation in merchandise marketing from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.
Shay and his wife Allison live in Arlington, Va., with their three children.