Chris has a long history of passionate leadership in connecting the military community to civilian opportunity.  He is a nationally recognized thought leader, speaker and advocate in matters relating to veteran entrepreneurship, employment, education and the military spouse community. 

After graduating from the Naval Academy and serving as a Naval Flight Officer from 1991 to 2000, Chris worked in venture capital, as a sales executive for Procter & Gamble and co-founded two companies prior to co-founding Vetrepreneur in 2004. He created the Vetrepreneur of the Year® program in 2006; co-founded NaVOBA, the National Veteran-Owned Business Association in 2007 and started Buy Veteran, a national movement to promote purchasing from veteran-owned businesses, in 2010, and has taught entrepreneurship classes to veterans through Robert Morris University.

Chris’ history of community involvement includes several Senate and House member service academy selection committees, serving on the Military Affairs Council of Western Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Governor’s Small Business Advisory Council and coaching youth baseball for nine years. 

Chris holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.  He resides in the Pittsburgh area with his wife and three children.