Christine Gregoire is the CEO of Challenge Seattle, which is an alliance of CEOs from 23 of
the region’s largest organizations who work together to tackle some of our most pressing
civic challenges, such as housing, homelessness, and transportation.

Previously, Chris served for two terms as Governor of the State of Washington with a $32B
biennial budget and over 60,000 employees. In her first term as Governor, she created the
Department of Early Learning and led on reforms to the K-12 system and investment in higher
education. Chris led the state in a historical investment in infrastructure including the
building of the largest floating bridge in the world and the largest transportation tunnel to
open up Seattle’s waterfront. She addressed the water wars in the state and established the
Puget Sound initiative to restore one of the nation’s major estuaries. She led an historic
number of trade missions, reformed the foster care system to protect children, and was
among the first to lead in health care reform. During her second term, Chris led the state in
major reforms, management, and budgeting to position the state as one of the most
financially secure to come out of the “Great Recession”.

Prior to becoming Governor, Chris served for three terms as Attorney General for the
State, and prior to becoming Attorney General, Chris served four years as the Director of the
State Department of Ecology.

In addition to being CEO of Challenge Seattle, Chris serves as the Washington co-chair for
the Cascadia Innovation Corridor and is a former chair of the Fred Hutch Cancer Research
Center and former Member of the National Bipartisan Governor’s Council.

Gregoire holds a JD from Gonzaga University and a BA from the University of Washington.
She is a graduate of the Harvard Executive Management Program. Gregoire has been married
to her husband, Mike, for over 45 years. They have two children, Courtney and Michelle, and
five grandchildren.