Christopher J. Dunn
Senior Communications Advisor
Christopher J. Dunn is Executive Vice President and Partner at Conlon & Dunn Public Strategies, one of Illinois’ leading public affairs and government relations consulting firms. Since its founding in 1998, the firm has represented more than 200 clients, including numerous Fortune 500 businesses and large nonprofit entities.
Chris’s work on behalf of Conlon & Dunn clients is informed by his extensive corporate, public sector, legal, and political experience. After beginning his career as an attorney representing European companies with American investments, Chris joined U.S. Senator Paul Simon’s Washington, DC staff as one of his Counsel on the Judiciary Committee and later as the Senator’s General Counsel.. After six years on Capitol Hill, he returned to Chicago to serve as Director of State Regulatory Affairs in Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for two years. In January of 1993, Chris moved back to Washington as a political appointee for the first three years of the Clinton Administration. He served as White House Liaison at the General Services Administration, on White House staff and as White House Liaison at NASA. After returning to Chicago in 1995, Chris spent 10 years as a government relations and public affairs executive for both AT&T Corporation and AT&T Wireless, where he led its Central States Wireless government relations team.
Chris’s extensive political campaign experience includes serving on the staffs of numerous federal, state and local political campaigns, including three campaigns for Senator Simon, six presidential campaigns, as a regional coordinator for Mayor Richard M. Daley’s re-election campaigns, and as Campaign Manager for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s first re-election campaign in 2006. In 2016, Chris served as an Illinois member of the Standing Committee on Credentials of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
In addition to his work at Conlon & Dunn, Chris currently chairs the Village of Wilmette’s Environment and Energy Commission and is a member of Maryville Academy’s President’s Advisory Council. Chris holds a BA in political science and history from the University of Illinois at Chicago, an MA in history from the University of Chicago, and a JD from DePaul University College of Law.