Chris Bender is Executive Director of the Brighter Choice Foundation, a nonprofit foundation which supports the operation of eleven charter schools in Albany, New York.  He also is a member of the boards of trustees of the New York Charter Schools Association, The Albany Academies, and the Bender Family Foundation.  He is also a committee member of the College Affairs Committee of the Albany Medical College.  

Mr. Bender is the chairman of the boards of trustees the Achievement Academy Charter School and the founding chairman of Green Tech High Charter School, an all male high school opened in Albany in 2008. Additionally, he serves as Vice Chairman of the four Brighter Choice Charter Schools. Mr. Bender previously was employed by Austin & Co., an insurance brokerage, where he established insurance programs for charter schools and independent schools across New York State.  Mr. Bender holds a Master’s degree in Educational Administration from Columbia University Teachers College, a Bachelors Degree in History from Rollins College, and is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America.