Christopher Putney
Tech Talent and Workforce Lead
Christopher leads the Technology Program’s cross-cutting technology talent and workforce initiatives. He also supports EPIC’s evolving legislative affairs work related to environmental tech and data use in government, tech capacity, and other workforce priorities. Before EPIC, he worked in Deloitte’s Government & Public Services practice doing technology modernization, human capital, and workforce strategy, communications, and change management for federal clients in the executive branch and DoD. His previous work spanned sectors and mission-driven teams, and includes roles in politics, non-profits, and academia, a small e-commerce 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 democracy, race, and American political development (APD).
Get to Know Me Further
I was lucky 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 groups) in public schools where my Mom taught for years. That work in classrooms and adjacent non-profit settings showed me up close 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 formative experiences also shaped my work across sectors over the years and my deep interests in civil rights, justice, and environmental policy. Outside work I’m obsessed with food, music, stamp collecting (the supreme hobby), birding, and a million other things; and I’m a lifelong devotee of (and occasional volunteer at) several Smithsonian institutions. I also cohost a podcast.