
Growing up in Niagara County, Chris has always had a strong commitment to being involved in his community. This is evident through his involvement in different community organizations, support for and dedication to labor, and local politics. Chris graduated from Lewiston-Porter High School in 2006, and went on to St. John’s University in Queens where he received is BA in Government and Politics (2010) and his MA in International Relations, with a minor in Diplomacy (2011).
From there, Chris went on to start a career in the political and labor world. He became a union organizer for AFSCME in 2013, where he was assigned to work on political, card-check, and new worker organizing campaigns. After this, he would take an organizer job with AFT, locally known as NYSUT in 2015. He attended various organizer trainings, worked on political campaigns across NYS and the U.S., and was assigned to new worker organizing efforts. The focus of these organizing efforts surrounded workers at head-starts, home-health and human-service organizations, charter schools, and adjunct professors. From there, Chris became an organizer for the WNY Area Labor Federation, working with Past-President Richard Lipsitz Jr and current President Peter DeJesus. This job entailed working with and organizing the nearly 170,000+ members of labor unions across WNY and coordinating efforts to strengthen the movement locally.
In 2017, Chris left the WNY ALF and started a job working for Governor Andrew Cuomo as his Deputy Director of Upstate Labor Affairs. This placed Chris in a unique role working within the NYS Department of Labor and with the Executive Chamber of State Government. His responsibilities included working with and representing NYS Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon and tackling labor issues across upstate New York. This position allowed him to work directly with various public and private sector unions, including the Building & Construction Trades on various construction projects and legislation involving prevailing wage, the definition of public work, and raising the minimum wage.
In 2021, more than a decade after finishing his undergraduate education, Chris was accepted at the University at Buffalo School of Law. He was honored by the Law School in 2024 with a Certification in Labor Law. He graduated this past May and will be admitted to practice law in New York State in January, 2025.