Alex Flachsbart is the Founder and CEO of Opportunity Alabama, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to creating an impact-based Opportunity Zones ecosystem to provide access to capital to Alabama’s low-income communities. Prior to founding OPAL, Alex was a corporate attorney for several years with Balch & Bingham LLP in Birmingham, Alabama, specializing in tax credit and economic development-related work. During his tenure at Balch, Alex’s clients ranged from real estate developers and major utilities to local governments and nonprofit hospital systems. His focus was on creating unique financing solutions (like revolving loan funds and new uses for state or local incentives), building capital stacks (with state and federal tax credit programs like Historic and New Markets Tax Credits), and writing grants for high-impact projects.

Alex was a member of Teach for America’s charter corps in Alabama, where he taught high school mathematics in one of the most impoverished rural counties in America. A native of Northern California (but a naturalized Alabamian), Alex received undergraduate and masters degrees in economics from The University of Alabama, where he was a two-time member of the USA Today Collegiate All-Academic Team and Premier Award winner. He received his J.D. from Washington and Lee University School of Law, where he was a Maria Leonard Scholar and was elected to the Order of the Coif. Alex sits on the Board of Directors of Main Street Alabama and is a member of the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama’s Roundtable.