Chris' professional work and interest in politics have taken him to more than thirty American states and nearly twenty countries where he's had the opportunity to meet and work with heads of state and members of national and regional parliaments.  He's drafted laws that have been enacted in Virginia and other states, and he’s worked in over a 'gazillion' campaigns since he got started in middle school.  He first wrote scripts for radio spots and telemarketing when he was in 10th grade.  His interest in politics actually began when he accompanied his parents to the polls at age four (his age at the time, not that of his parents), and it's apparent that he hasn't yet gotten it out of his system.

        He has been an adjunct lecturer and presenter at thirty-four college and university campuses as well as at think tanks, public affairs institutions, seminars, and workshops – both in the United States and in Europe.  Chris has served as the U.S. representative on the Board of the International Young Democratic Union, the international organization for conservative, libertarian, and free market political parties; and he has worked on political campaigns in Norway, Sweden, and Germany.

        As Executive Director, Chris managed start-up operations for a policy think-tank in Virginia and also for an organization promoting e-government initiatives. He served in the administrations of three governors and has worked for members of Congress and several state legislatures.  He's managed issues as divergent as transportation, the environment, immigration and language, education, public sector economics and property rights.  Chris has worked as a lobbyist for advocacy organizations and private businesses, and he has been a national and international spokesperson – dealing with hostile reporters on a variety of national, regional, and international media outlets.  (But ask him why Larry King was nice to him!)

       Chris did his undergraduate studies (BA, Politics) at Wake Forest University and his graduate studies (Magister grad nivå, MA equivalent, Communications) at Norway’s University of Oslo.   He says his favorite "hobbies" are teaching seminars on grassroots activism, discussing free market economics and classical liberal (as opposed to modern socialist) politics over dinner, tutoring Norwegian and German, and teaching history as a sometimes tour guide in Old Town Alexandria.

     Chris advises that the best thing a student or young professional can do is to find a good mentor (or good mentors) and to invest significant time, attention, and intellectual engagement in that mentor (or those mentors).  He believes that anyone interested in politics must read Economics in One Lesson, by Henry Hazlitt, The Law, by Frederic Bastiat, The Road to Serfdom, by Friedrich von Hayek, and Capitalism and Freedom, by Milton Friedman, Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, Animal Farm, by George Orwell, Language in Thought and Action, by S.I. Hayakawa, Albion's Seed, by David Hacket Fischer – and, of course, The Federalist Papers.  (Check out the Leadership Institute's reading list as well.)