Bio

Chuck Tooley holds the distinction of being the longest-serving mayor in the history of Billings, Montana. He retired undefeated after serving in the leadership of the US Conference of Mayors, as President of the Montana League of Cities and Towns, and with a record of accomplishment in urban revitalization and human rights. 

A US Army veteran of the Cold War in Europe and the ground war in Vietnam, Chuck was in sales and marketing for large corporations before he founded Tooley Communications. He has also served as a trustee or director of educational, cultural, and service organizations. He is currently Chairman of the Board of the Burton K. Wheeler Center for Public Policy.

From deep family roots in Montana, Chuck lived in cities throughout the U.S.A.  He travels in foreign countries and spent eight years in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He has served on the boards of international NGOs, including the Population Institute in Washington DC and Global Ministries based in Indianapolis. In 2005, Chuck traveled to Cyprus as one of six leaders funded by the Ford Foundation to begin the planning for a Middle East Institute for the Study of Peace.

In 2010, Chuck received the Jeanette Rankin Award from the Institute for Peace Studies, joining previous recipients Senator Mike Mansfield, Senator and Ambassador George McGovern, and Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen. In 2019, Forward Montana awarded their Rock Star Hall of Fame award to Chuck and his wife Joanie for inspiring young people to become politically and socially active.

Chuck is a popular speaker, MC, moderator, and radio and television guest.  He has inspired hundreds of audiences from Montana to California to New York; from Kansas City to Mexico City to Jerusalem.  With all that experience, Chuck created the Executive Speaker Workshop, a two-day crash course in public speaking for executives and other professionals. After years of positive response to that training, he has now started coaching individual clients in public speaking. Through Tooley Communications, Chuck and Joanie also continue to offer strategy development, speech writing, public relations and related services.

If you have a principled vision for your organization or for your own place in the world, Chuck will help you develop the skills to make that vision a reality.