Christopher T. Gates

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Christopher T. Gates is the Executive Director of Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE). [1] Prior to this, Gates served as President of the National Civic League (NCL) until June 15, 2006. He was named President in 1995, previously serving as vice-president of the NCL. [2]

Gates earned a master’s degree in public administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. At Harvard, he studied the interaction between the public and private sectors. Gates also earned an honors degree in economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He also was a visiting scholar at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, where he studied political economics. [3]

Gates has been very active in politics. In 1999, he unsuccessfully ran for the position of Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party. In 2003, he was finally elected as the Chair of the Colorado Democratic Party. During his term as Party Chair, the Democrats saw success in Colorado, winning a U.S. Senate seat, an additional seat in the U.S. Congress and winning control of both of the houses of the state legislature. In 2005, Gates was defeated in an attempt to win a second term as Party Chair by Pat Waak. [4]

Gates founded the Colorado Institute for Leadership Training, a statewide progressive leadership training program, in 1991 and continues to serve as its board chair.

On May 20, 2006, Gates received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania. [5]