Chris Melody Fields Figueredo

Chris has been BISC’s Executive Director since June 2018, bringing two decades of experience in advocacy, creating collaborative spaces, and movement building. She has devoted her career to social justice and ensuring our democracy works for “We the People.” Chris leads the organization’s vision, strategic planning, and fundraising efforts. As a queer woman of color who came to the United States at an early age with her working-class parents, she leads from her lived experience and desire to build an equitable and just world.

She came to BISC because she has witnessed the power of ballot measures to create radical transformational change and shift the narrative on issues like LGBTQ rights and the freedom to vote. She believes ballot measures can be a tool for liberation if we use them to build power, dismantle systems of oppression, and center the communities most impacted by the change we seek.

A seasoned strategist, she has worked in numerous roles for progressive political and issue-based campaigns across the country. Over her career, she has developed messaging and communications strategies at ReThink Media, led large-scale national programs to expand and protect the right to vote at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, worked on campaigns to end money in politics at Common Cause, and fought for DC’s children and families to have access to a quality education at DC ParentSmart.

Chris is Venezuelan-American, raised in Texas where she received her Bachelor’s degree at Austin College in Texas. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her amazing daughter and rambunctious border collie. She is known to burst into song and loves cooking up delicious treats in the kitchen.