Chris currently leads education and advocacy initiatives for the Detroit Parent Network, where he works to develop strategies that address the educational and health outcomes of parents and students in Detroit and statewide. Chris’s unwavering dedication to education and education-serving organizations spans nearly 30 years. As a college access and success professional, he has traversed the realms of K-12 education, government, corporate, higher education, and nonprofits, all in the pursuit of equitable access. As a relentless advocate for education, Chris served as a teacher at the Detroit Public Schools, the Wayne County Commission, and the Detroit City Council. He has also held roles such as educational sales consultant providing education curriculum for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, associate director of Upward Bound at Eastern Michigan University, Oakland University’s Pontiac Collective Impact Initiative as the director of network facilitation, director of community mobilization strategy for the Michigan College Access Network, Campaign for Black Male Achievement, where he co-led their national Promise of Place strategy and High School Excellence initiative. He also contributed to the writing and publishing of CBMA’s seminal document “Promise of Place: Building Beloved Community for Black Men and Boys” and “Black Male Equity Initiative Anthology: Detroit, Reclaiming the Dream.” Before that, he worked at The University of Michigan as a program director, where he launched the College Advising Corps as part of a national effort to increase college access and success. Chris attended Wayne State University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in journalism. He then attended Eastern Michigan University, receiving a University Fellowship Award and earning a Master of Arts in social foundations for education. He has received several acknowledgments and awards including the BMe Community Leader Award (BMe), Dolphin Sales Award (Houghton Mifflin), Knight Foundation Community Arts Challenge (Knight Foundation), President’s Volunteer Service Award from President Barack Obama (Corporation for National Community Service), Senator Hansen Clark Community Involvement Citation (Former State Senator Hansen Clark), Spirit of Detroit Award (Detroit City Council), and the Wayne County Commission Community Award (Wayne County Commission).Chris’s volunteer activities include serving as President of the Board of Directors for the historic Broadside Lotus Press, the nation’s oldest African-American-owned publisher of African American poetry. Broadside Press was founded in 1965 by Detroit’s first Poet Laureate, Dudley Randall, whose catalog consists of the early poetry of Audre Lorde, Nikki Giovanni, Gwendolyn Brooks, Sonia Sanchez, and others. In 2015, Broadside Press merged with Lotus Press, the nation’s 3rd oldest African American Publisher of Poetry, founded by Dr. Naomi Long Madgett, Detroit’s second Poet Laureate. The press continues the nationally recognized Naomi Long Poetry Award. He also serves on the Detroit Advisory Board for the Hidden Genius Project, which trains and mentors Black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills to transform their lives and communities.
