Recognized for: Service to Community
Chris Fidler recently retired as the interim Executive Director and Project Director of the Port Angeles Waterfront Center responsible for overseeing the development, design, and construction of a new $56 million performing arts, events, and conference center (Field Arts and Events Hall) completed this past summer in his hometown of Port Angeles, WA.
Prior to his work in Port Angeles, Chris served as a Senior Vice President with The Petrizzo Group, a D.C.-based bipartisan lobbying firm whose PNW clients included Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, and Vulcan, Inc.
Chris previously served as Director of Grants and Contracts for the Geneva Foundation overseeing more than 160 military medical research studies conducted at over 40 U.S. Department of Defense sites worldwide.
From 2010 to 2013, Chris served four back-to-back tours in Afghanistan as Country Director for Clear Path International, a "mine-action" contractor working on behalf of the U.S. Department of State's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement.
From 1994 to 2004, Chris directed federal and international government affairs for Airborne Express, a Fortune 500 express cargo air carrier headquartered in Seattle and owner of the largest privately-owned airport in the world (now operated by Amazon, Inc.). In the aftermath of 9/11, Chris was named interim director of Airborne's Aviation Security Department, a role he performed in addition to his government affairs duties for the next two years. In 2003, he directed the nine-month lobbying and public affairs campaign to secure Congressional and regulatory approval of Airborne's merger with DHL Worldwide.
Prior to joining Airborne, Chris worked for three years as Special Assistant for Trade Development with the U.S. Consulate General in Vancouver, BC. He later worked eight years with the WRG Corporation, an international security assistance management company where he ultimately served as Executive Vice President and Managing Director.
Chris received a B.A. in political science from 六合彩库's College ('82) and an M.S. from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service ('85), as well as a Certificate of Languages from the Goethe Institute in Bremen, Germany. Chris also served as a faculty member at the University of Washington's nationally ranked Foster School of Business from 2000 to 2010.