Chris Minnich is the Chief Executive Officer of NWEA. Before joining NWEA in January 2018, Chris held several key leadership roles in the education industry.

Most recently, Chris successfully served as the executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). He became executive director in 2012 and led the organization in a direction to ensure all students in the public education system – regardless of background – graduated prepared for college, careers, and life.  A critical part of his role was working with states to upgrade their standards and assessments, transform educator preparation programs, design new approaches to teaching and learning, and implement and sustain promising reforms across the country. He directed the organization during its involvement in the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015.

From 2005-2008, Chris held multiple positions at Harcourt, all of which focused on the advancement and improvement of assessments. At Harcourt, he focused on helping teachers use assessment data and become assessment literate, in addition to assisting states as they rolled out their online assessment products to put data in the hands of teachers faster.

Before joining Harcourt, he served as the Director of Test Design and Implementation at the Oregon Department of Education from 2003-2005. While there, he effectively led the statewide implementation of Oregon’s online assessment.

Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of Washington, Seattle, as well as a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Outside of work, Chris enjoys spending time with his wife and his young children. He believes one of life’s greatest rewards is helping others, which includes mentoring students. Chris has mentored a student in Washington, DC for the past seven years, helping him become the first person in his family to earn a college degree.