Christopher Washington

Christopher Washington, Ph.D., serves as President of The Innovative Leadership Think-Tank, the Institute’s research and insight engine. In this role, he provides institution-level leadership for the Think Tank’s intellectual agenda and holds formal responsibility for research fellows, research ethics, peer review, and publication standards. His stewardship ensures that ILI’s research remains academically rigorous, methodologically sound, and relevant to senior leaders, boards, and enterprise sponsors navigating complexity and disruption. He leads The Think-Tank’s editorial oversight and scholarly governance, represents ILI in academic and research consortia, and actively cultivates research partnerships with universities and practitioners to advance evidence-based leadership knowledge.

Dr. Washington is Provost Emeritus of Franklin University, where he served for more than two decades as the institution’s chief academic officer. His responsibilities spanned faculty, academic programs, accreditation, and enterprise-wide academic strategy. During his tenure, he led the launch of more than 40 new academic programs, expanded online and workforce-aligned education, and coordinated international academic partnerships across Europe, Central America, the Middle East, and Asia. He also served as CEO of Urbana University, a Franklin University affiliate.

He served as a Consultant Evaluator for the Higher Learning Commission and as a Leadership Facilitator for the Spectrum Leadership Program and the CAO Leadership Program for the American Council on Education—two of the most respected professional development programs for chief academic officers in U.S. higher education. In 2015, Dr. Washington was selected for the Fulbright Specialist Roster by the U.S. Department of State. He is a member of the United States Speakers Bureau.

Dr. Washington advises boards, presidents, and C-suite leaders across nonprofit, education, and mission-driven organizations. He is engaged by universities on accreditation, institutional effectiveness, and governance—bridging rigorous standards with practical leadership insight. He is a longstanding member of the Forbes Nonprofit Council, where he is a regular contributor on leadership systems, organizational resilience, intrapreneurship, and institutional change.

His board service includes National Board Chair of Global Ties U.S., a non-partisan organization promoting citizen diplomacy through the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program; the International Visitors Council of Columbus; the Columbus Council on World Affairs; and the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s Ohio Advisory Council. Earlier board roles include the Central Ohio Workforce Investment Corporation, Lifeline of Ohio, and the Columbus Urban League.

His contributions to leadership, learning, and organizational innovation have been recognized through numerous honors including the 2023 Global Intrapreneur Institute Intrapreneurial Leadership Award, the Pi Lambda Theta Leadership in Education Award, the Western Illinois University Alumni Achievement Award, The Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology Career Achievement Award, the 2016 Learning! Champion Award from Elearning! Magazine, the Franklin University Robert L. Bailey Outstanding Teaching Award, Ohio Magazine’s Outstanding Educator Award, and Business First’s Forty Under 40.

Dr. Washington holds a Ph.D. in Human Resource Development from The Ohio State University, a Master of Science in College Student Personnel from Western Illinois University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Western Illinois University. He also holds the NIH Office of Extramural Research Protecting Human Research Participants Certification and CITI credentials in Social and Behavior Research (Credential ID 64774850), Researchers (Credential ID 74234272), and as an IRB Chair (Credential ID 74234270), directly informing his governance of research and ethics standards at the ILI Think-Tank.