Christopher Scott is the acting Team Manager for Cities Initiative for Open Society which is focused on democratizing education, policing, and reparative justice. Chris promotes policy initiatives for Open Society on criminal justice, police reform and youth reentry, and convenes the Federal School Discipline and Climate Coalition (FedSDC), a coalition working to advance police free schools while implementing effective, non-punitive, and culturally-sustaining practices in schools and alternatives to school discipline. In addition to his leadership and role within FedSDC, Christopher also Co-chairs the Reentry Working Group, a coalition working on transformational change in the U.S. without a focus on punitive or carceral remedies or reentry solutions reliant on law enforcement.

Christopher previously served as a Senior Policy Advisor at the Open Society Foundations Washington D.C. Office (The Open Society Policy Center) where he focused on criminal, civil, and racial justice. Specifically, Christopher advocated for educational equity, reducing disparities, strengthening family structures, and increasing economic opportunity for vulnerable populations, co-convened the Justice Roundtable, a coalition working to reform the U.S. justice system, and promoted policy initiatives for OSF’s School to Prison Pipeline, Education, Equality, Criminal Justice portfolios, and Campaign for Black Male Achievement (CBMA). During his tenure at Open Society, Christopher was seconded to serve as one of the first Senior Policy Advisors for the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans and helped to lead the Federal Reentry Interagency Council.

Christopher is an education, racial equity, and youth justice expert, with extensive political and policy expertise and leadership. Christopher focuses his expertise on school discipline, climate, and student well-being, with an intentional emphasis on race and educational equity. An avid public scholar and leader, Christopher is passionate about supporting students, youth and children, advocates, community organizers, and directly impacted families and individuals in using research to support equity-oriented change for racial and social justice in schools and districts. He has worked with several Administrations (2008-Present), lawmakers, federal agencies, federal and state policy coalitions to inform evidenced-based policy language and policy recommendations on school discipline and climate, with a focus on creating inclusive, affirming, and sustaining school environments for Black students. Christopher has worked with youth and community organizers to promote the use of research evidence as part of larger education justice campaigns. Much of this work has focused on efforts to end the school-to-prison pipeline.

Prior to joining the Foundations, Christopher served as youth policy analyst for the Center for Law and Social Policy, where he worked on policies affecting disconnected youth and the Black Men and Boys 2025 campaign and managed the Communities Collaborating to Reconnect Youth Network. Christopher also served as a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation legislative fellow for Congressman Bobby Scott, where he was the chief staffer responsible for the congressman’s legislative agenda on K–12 education.

Christopher attended Oregon State University on a football scholarship where he earned a BA in political science, a MA in public policy, and a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies.