Co-Founder and Executive Director

Although trained as a lawyer, Chris has spent most of his career in the field of public education — as an outdoor educator, high school history teacher, School Superintendent (Newark, NJ) and State Commissioner of Education (NJ). A graduate of Amherst College and Columbia School of Law, Chris served in the White House Counsel’s Office and as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Chris’s dedication to equalizing opportunity by correcting inequities in the realm of education fuels his commitment to the Uplands Center’s work with social entrepreneurs.  Chris also brings a passion for the educational and community building power of nature, stemming from his experience leading multiple month-long wilderness canoeing expeditions in the Hudson’s Bay region of northern Canada.