He describes Catholic Charities as a huge, diverse operation — one of the oldest and largest Catholic Charities in the country — and applauds its dedicated staff. “They are passionate about the mission, and they make sure that Christ is at the center of all that we do,” Chris said. “Our aspiration is to make sure that everyone we serve experiences the love of Jesus.”

Chris may be new to Catholic Charities, but he has a long record of service in the nonprofit realm, first as COO of El Barrio, a nonprofit social service network serving the Hispanic community that now is part of The Centers. Then he spent 25 years with City Year in various leadership roles. City Year is an AmeriCorps partner, which recruits young adults ages 18-24 to serve full-time as student success coaches in high-need public schools.

His faith always has helped guide his career, Chris said.  

“A gap year experience at age 18 changed my life,” he said, recalling spending a year in Belfast, Northern Ireland, working with Catholic youth that ignited a lifelong passion for youth development.

After graduating from Michigan State University, he earned a master’s degree from the University of Michigan.  

He met his wife Laura, a Lakewood native, in college. Both were involved in campus ministry. The Larsons have been active parishioners at Communion of Saints Parish, St. Ann Church, in Cleveland Heights for 30 years. They have three children: Noah, 25, Grace, 22, and Sophia, 20. Noah is a full-time campus minister at the University of Kentucky.

Chris said when he learned about the Catholic Charities position, he saw it as “an opportunity to bring all the threads of my experience together. This allows me to help the Church and serve those in need. What a beautiful opportunity.”

His goal is to “keep the Christ-centered mission alive and locally relevant,” he said, noting that navigating a large, complex ecosystem like Catholic Charities requires listening and learning, especially from those on the front lines.

“I don’t want to get in the way of the important work they do,” he said, pointing out the complexity of the myriad of services for people of all ages — everything from family center programs like after-school care, senior citizen programs, food assistance, emergency services, job and career training, migration and refugee services, disability services and ministries, Camp Christopher, CYO, hospice and mental health and substance use treatment.

Chris said his immediate goals are “stability, reinforcing our Catholic identity and supporting our workforce to most effectively serve those in need. We want to align our mission to tell our story so our funders and those in the pews can hear it. We also want to create an organization that allows development and creativity.”