Our Staff & Support

Prior to joining the project, Chris led strategic planning and business development for the Petrizzo Group, a D.C.-based bipartisan lobbying firm whose Pacific Northwest clients included Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, and Vulcan, Inc.

Chris previously served as Director of Grants and Contracts for the Geneva Foundation overseeing more than 160 military medical research studies conducted at over 40 U.S. Department of Defense sites worldwide. 

From 2010 to 2013, Chris served four tours as Country Director for Clear Path International on behalf of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in Afghanistan.

From 1994 to 2004, Chris directed federal government affairs for Airborne Express where he managed all legislative, regulatory, and external affairs pertaining to the domestic, international and airline operations of the company, including its hub in Wilmington, Ohio, the largest privately-owned airport in the world. In the aftermath of 9/11, Chris was named interim director of Airborne’s Aviation Security Department, a role he performed in addition to his government affairs duties for the next two years. In 2003, he successfully directed the nine-month lobbying and public affairs campaign to secure Congressional and regulatory approval of Airborne’s merger with DHL Worldwide.

Prior to joining Airborne Express, Chris worked for three years as Special Assistant for Trade Development with the U.S. Consulate General in Vancouver, B.C. He later worked eight years with the WRG Corporation, a Seattle-based security assistance management company where he ultimately served as Executive Vice President and Managing Director. 

A native of Port Angeles, Chris holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Saint Martin’s College and a Master of Science from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, as well as a Certificate in Languages from the Goethe Institute in Bremen, Germany. Chris was also a member of the adjunct faculty of the University of Washington’s nationally ranked Foster School of Business from 2000 to 2010.