Ambassador Spotlight: Zack Breeding, CPRP

The Round Rock Chamber Ambassador Program provides an opportunity for motivated, enthusiastic, and articulate business people to represent the chamber at functions and events across the community. This month’s Ambassador spotlight is on Zack Breeding.

Zack grew up in Columbus, Georgia. He stepped into the working world as a seasonal and weekend employee at the Lawhorn Scouting Base, Flint River Council BSA, while in high school. The role involved teaching lessons in conservation skills and progressed professionally into consecutively higher positions allowing him the opportunity to coordinate weekend facility scheduling and programming for rental groups. This experience led him to study Recreation Administration and Public Policy Leadership at the University of Mississippi.

Zack decided to continue his professional training by taking a Professional Outdoor Instructor position at Indiana University’s outdoor lab, Bradford Woods, where he worked with the Environmental Education and Recreation Therapy Departments to make sure experiences were available to all youth and adults. As the weather grew colder in the Midwest, Zack returned South accepting a position as a District Executive and Camp Director serving Southwest and West Central Louisiana. Over four years he worked with the community to triple the number of Scouting units reaching into previously ignored areas. This provided opportunities for more than five times the number of families to join Scouting, preparing young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes as responsible, participating citizens and leaders guided by the Scout Oath and Law.

An anchor to the work he did in Louisiana was Zack’s role as an Ambassador with the Greater Beauregard Chamber of Commerce. He believes just as a community is only as thriving as the next generation’s opportunity it is only as stable as the community partnerships and business leaders who come together to develop and diversify the economic element of their region.

Zack made the decision toward the end of his contract in Louisiana to seek a promotion within Scouting. After considering offers across the country he decided to stay in the community engagement side and accepted a role as a Senior District Executive serving the Round Rock ISD service area for the Capitol Area Council BSA just before Christmas 2019. In his current role, Zack supports the Chisholm Trail District’s Volunteer Committee chaired by Bob Eskridge to assist the District’s 50 Packs, Troops, Crews, and Ship’s combined almost 2,000 families to ensure a quality program while also prospecting new unit opportunities, fundraising streams, and marketing options so that every boy and girl’s family know and have access to Scouting’s program or the career readiness program provided through Capitol Area Council’s Exploring District.

A deciding factor in his selection of the position here is that he sees the same community-driven mindset in the Round Rock Chamber as he did in the Greater Beauregard Chamber. He became an Ambassador in February of 2020 so that he could help invite and welcome businesses through Round Rock and its satellites including North Pflugerville where he lives, Austin MUD and LDs, Hutto, Georgetown, Cedar Park, etc. into the Round Rock Chamber because the economic generation a strong chamber can provide builds a community with more opportunity for the youth of today who are tomorrow’s leaders.

In his free time, Zack has joined a recreational kayaking group and kickball league in the area. He is a member of the American Camp Association, a National Recreation and Park Association Director’s School Graduate, on faculty for the National Camping School’s Administrative Section, and is a member of the Austin LGBT Chamber’s Advocacy Committee. He has enjoyed the restart of Round Rock Chamber events like the Mid-Morning mixers and looks forward to experiencing his first Taste of Round Rock which will be here before we know it.