Christopher Putney
External Affairs and Strategy Lead
Christopher leads strategy design and external affairs work across EPIC’s Technology initiatives. That portfolio includes advancing tech policy and strategies that span environmental issues, but focus on empowering federal stakeholders and cross-sector partners to drive innovation. He also supports the Tech Team's evolving technology capacity, talent, and legislative affairs work tied to improving environmental tech and data use. Before EPIC, he worked in Deloitte’s Government & Public Services practice doing stakeholder engagement, workforce strategy, communications, and change management for federal clients across the executive branch and DoD. His previous work spanned sectors and mission-driven organizations, and includes roles in strategic comms, politics, non-profits, and academia; leading strategic initiatives at a small technology start-up; and working for a Member of Congress. He holds degrees in Government and Philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin (BA), and in Political Science, from the Graduate Center (Masters), City University of New York (CUNY). His research and teaching interests are at the intersection of race and American political development (APD).
Get to Know Me Further
I was fortunate to grow up in Austin, Texas, where music and art were important aspects of everyday life. After college, I spent a year working with high needs special education students (and other “at-risk” groups) in the public school system where my Mom taught for many years. Across classrooms and adjacent non-profit settings, I learned first-hand what’s really at stake for our vulnerable communities, and the impacts of policy and politics—at every level—on the lives of everyday people. Those experiences in Texas have shaped my work in progressive politics, academic research, and my deep interests in civil rights and environmental policy and justice. Outside work, I’m obsessed with food, stamp collecting (yep!), bird watching (shoutout to Cornell’s storied Ornithology Lab!), fly fishing, hiking, and music; and I’m a lifelong devotee of (and occasional volunteer at) several Smithsonian institutions.