KNOWN FOR | PATH TO CI | VALUES INSIGHTS | PASSION | PERSONAL
Known for: Listening and simplifying complexity, creating collaborative environments, and guiding difficult conversations toward concrete decisions and results. Chris feels fortunate for the opportunity to apply those skills when facilitating organizational strategy, building team effectiveness, and challenging processes to improve execution. He is humbled and challenged by the requirement to learn new things quickly to be effective in his role. At CI, he provides leadership, coordination, and facilitation to the Executive Leadership Team and oversees business transformation, continuous improvement, and internal communications.
Path to CI: Before joining CI, Chris oversaw operations for NPH International, an alternative child protection and family strengthening organization. There, he was tapped to lead the organization’s transformation of services across its nine-country presence in Latin America & the Caribbean. Previously, he has held positions as the National Director of NPH Guatemala, International Development Fellow for Catholic Relief Services, the founding director of a domestic volunteer program, and other international postings.
Chris is grateful for the countless experiences this work has brought, such as standing alongside a youth when a biological family member could not be present for their graduation. Chris has spent 11 years living throughout Mexico, Cameroon, Malawi, and Guatemala. He holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Kansas and earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Notre Dame.
On CI values: One of the CI values Chris most appreciates seeing in action is We Are Always Learning. He is constantly inspired when CI colleagues make time for the extra hallway conversation or video-call to help build others’ understanding and solve problems collaboratively.
Passion: Chris is passionate about the fullness of human development and expression amid the world’s real challenges. He is drawn to organizations that focus on this as their mission, and to leaders who commit to this hard work. In organizations like CI, he enjoys the challenge of creating spaces – whether they be in strategic processes, projects, or crucial conversations – in which his colleagues feel they can fully contribute all their skills and knowledge. He is most fulfilled when an organization’s efforts result in a child realizing their full potential, filling them with purpose and self-worth.
Personal: Chris grew up in Arizona as the oldest sibling, and he counts each sibling among his best friends. He enjoys running, cooking, throwing a baseball, completing crossword puzzles, and quoting Jim Carrey movies. Chris is fully committed to physical slapstick humor, as long as his three young kids – born in Guatemala – continue to laugh. His favorite afternoon with his wife starts by playing basketball and ends at a sports bar near where they live in Kansas City.
