Christopher Gergen, LNC Class XXIV

Chief Executive Officer
Forward Cities

Christopher Gergen is founding partner of Forward Impact, a for-benefit advisory firm and investment fund that works with philanthropists, policymakers, corporations, and investors committed to scaling systemic solutions addressing persistent economic inequities.  Christopher is also a founding partner of Raleigh Founded and Founded Communities, a co-working community housing over 400 companies across 150,000 sq. feet in North Carolina, co-author of the nationally acclaimed book Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives and a 2013 Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute where he was named a Braddock Scholar.  Additionally, he is co-host of the podcast Moving the Needle featuring conversations with social innovators driving breakthrough investments and actions that increase opportunities for generational wealth creation.  Most recently, Christopher was founding CEO of Forward Cities – a national non-profit that helps cities and regions strengthen their equitable entrepreneurial ecosystems.  Since launching in 2014, Forward Cities has worked with over 30 cities, launched regional collaboratives in North Carolina and Ohio, and developed a national cross-city learning collaborative.  Christopher co-founded SMARTHINKING an online tutoring company that grew to serve 1,000 universities before it was acquired by Pearson Education in 2011.  He was also the founder of Café Nunoa – a bar/restaurant/ live music venue in Santiago, Chile that he started when he was 24.  Christopher graduated with honors from Duke University and has his MPP from George Washington University and his MBA from Georgetown.   He currently serves on the Governor’s NC Works Commission and lives with his wife and two children in Durham, NC.