Speaker Biography:

Christopher T. Sununu served four terms as the 82nd Governor of the State of New Hampshire and after choosing not to seek a fifth term, he returned to the private sector in January 2025.

As one of the most popular governors in the country and host of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary, he is recognized as a national leader in his common sense approach to government and balanced political navigation of otherwise polarized political waters.

Governor Sununu has appeared in over 1000 nationally televised interviews including multiple appearances on shows like ‘The View’ and ‘Real Time with Bill Maher’. He has spoken to hundreds of organizations across the country including corporations, think tanks, universities, conferences and political organizations. Governor Sununu worked closely with both the Trump and Biden administrations.

Under his leadership his state was ranked as one of the best states for business and growth in the United States, #1 state in the country for both personal and economic freedoms, and most notably, #1 for best return on taxpayer investment – The most efficient government in America.

These successes all come as the result of building a great team, empowering senior leadership and creating metrics of accountability. Too often in large organizations, public and private sector, the checks and balances with those systems get muddled with bureaucracy and communication breaks down.

As Governor during the COVID pandemic, he took a balanced approach: maintaining the health and safety of Granite Staters as top priority while keeping the state's economy strong. As a result, New Hampshire ranked among the safest states for Covid yet maintained one of the strongest economies in the country and the only state in America that saw more business startups than company closures in 2020.

At the conclusion of his tenure in office, the Granite State is the fastest growing state in the Northeast, has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, and has the lowest child poverty rate of any state in America.

Personal & Professional Background

As an environmental engineer, Chris worked for ten years cleaning up hazardous waste sites across the country before moving into business and real estate consulting with his family’s business, Sununu Enterprises. There he dedicated four years to business plan development, financial modeling, startup financing and commercial real estate development primarily in the hotel and leisure sector.

In 2010, Chris bought Waterville Valley Ski Resort in Waterville Valley, NH. For the next six years Chris successfully serves as the CEO, General Manager and Chairman of the Board of the 4-season resort. Operations consisted nearly 800 employees working in areas of hotels, commercial real estate, ski operations, conference center, multiple restaurants and summer amenities.

Chris grew up in Salem, NH. He graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) with a BS in Civil/Environmental Engineering in 1998. Chris completed a five-month through-hike of the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia. He lives in Newfields, NH with his wife, Valerie, and their three children.

100 Days Speaker Series: The Honorable Christopher T. Sununu