Chris got his first taste of entrepreneurship when he got swept up in the dotcom frenzy of the late 90s and found himself running a Facebook predecessor called The Daily Jolt. Invigorated by the ride but ready for something more, Chris sold the company in 2006 and ventured off to New Haven to study nonprofit management and social entrepreneurship. After business school, he worked as an independent consultant for a range of nonprofit organizations, including Root Cause, the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, and Nonprofit Finance Fund. Chris holds a BA in Psychology and Russian Studies from Amherst College and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. He also co-chairs the Board of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Boston.

Chris’s eyes were opened to the power of social entrepreneurship during a summer he spent working for an entrepreneur-led start-up in Kenya called One Acre Fund—an organization dedicated to helping poor African farmers lift themselves out of poverty. Each day, he also takes inspiration from the example of his mother, who worked as a social worker in Boston City Hospital in the 1960s and 70s and quietly volunteered her time on the Samaritans suicide hotline for years.

When not in the New Profit office, Chris loves to overtax his ligaments and tendons by running and playing tennis and craves his next trip to someplace where he shouldn’t drink the water.

What would you say is the most surprising thing about you?
A newly discovered species of parasite that lives in the intestines of sharks is named after me and my brother.

What is the most unusual job you've ever had?
I once worked for a lobster distributor where part of my job was sniffing dead lobsters to determine which ones were rotten and which ones were un-rotten enough to go into your lobster salad.

What is your favorite quote?
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work.”