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School of Diplomacy and International Relations

Board of Overseers: Chris Whatley

Executive Director, United Nations Association of the United Nations

Christopher Whatley Chris Whatley serves as Executive Director of the United Nations Association of the United States. He leads UNA-USA’s national staff in Washington, DC and New York, and heads up the Association’s efforts to connect Americans to the mission and work of the UN, advocate for strong US leadership within the UN, and to assist businesses and philanthropic organizations in advancing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s).  

Before joining UNA-USA, Mr. Whatley served as Washington Office Director and Deputy Executive Director of The Council of State Governments (CSG), representing elected officials in all 50 states and the six territories on Capitol Hill, forging ties between American states and their counterparts in Canada and Mexico, and serving as an appointed advisor to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in both the Bush and Obama administrations. 

Prior to joining CSG, Mr. Whatley served as a program officer and field representative for the International Republican Institute (IRI), leading a wide range of international election observation missions and technical assistance programs in Liberia, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. He began his career as a Research Assistant for the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), studying the demobilization and reintegration of former combatants in Zimbabwe following the Lancaster House Agreement. 

Mr. Whatley has served as a guest lecturer on public policy and UN topics at American University, George Washington University, the National Defense University, and Seton Hall University. He is the author of an American Conversation on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, UNA-USA’s summary report of the US public consultation process for the creation of the Sustainable Development Goals. He has appeared on CNN, China Global Television Network, MSNBC, C-SPAN, and Global Connections Television, and has been quoted in a variety of national and regional newspapers. 

He holds a Master of Science degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in Washington, DC and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas.

Education:

  • M.S. in International Affairs, Georgetown University
  • B.S. in Political Science, Angelo State University