He | Him | His
Traverse City, Michigan
Hi! I’m Chris, and I’m based in beautiful Northern Michigan. When I’m not working, you’ll usually find me outside with my family - on the water, on a trail, on a ski hill or tinkering on a project. One of my favorites was building an 18-foot wooden kayak in my late grandfather’s workshop using his tools. I’m also a big fan of travel (including the “swap your house with a stranger” kind). At home I’m outnumbered by two amazing teenagers, a very patient wife, and a cross-eyed cat.
My path to this work started in college as a mental health tech, where I saw firsthand how often our systems fail people when they’re most vulnerable. That pushed me toward social work and a career focused on building services, especially systems that are more humane, more effective, and more reflective of the people they’re meant to support. This work is also personal: my grandparents fostered nearly 100 individuals over the years. Additionally, my mom was adopted by distant relatives when her own parents couldn’t care for her as a child. Those experiences shaped how I see the child-welfare ecosystem and why I care so much about doing this work well.
I earned my Master of Social Work from Western Michigan University and previously served as CEO of a 110-bed behavioral health treatment center in northern Michigan. I’ve led teams that have received two national awards for innovation and community engagement/stigma reduction, and I was invited to the White House as part of a national task force focused on strengthening recovery pathways. At FosterClub, I’m proud to help build the operational backbone -people, processes, and infrastructure, that supports youth leadership and real system change.
