Chris Perez

A headshot of Chris Perez against a wooded background.

Christopher Perez is the Senior Program Officer at Rasmuson Foundation. He also manages the Foundation’s program-related investment (PRI) portfolio.

Chris has over two decades of grantmaking and philanthropic impact investing experience.  Immediately prior to joining Rasmuson Foundation in 2008, he served as senior program officer for the F.B. Heron Foundation, located in New York City, managing a range of grants and mission-related investments with an emphasis on community and economic development in rural communities and Indian Country.  While at the Heron Foundation, Chris oversaw a portfolio of more than two dozen of the nation’s highest performing community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and funded the creation and growth of several Native CDFIs. He has been a reviewer for the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund awards, and previously served on the board of a community development loan fund. Chris holds an M.P.A. in nonprofit management from New York University and a B.A. in history from Wesleyan University. 

Chris has been active in the leadership of several national philanthropic and impact investing organizations. He currently represents Alaska on the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines advisory council, providing guidance on housing development and community lending needs throughout the bank’s 13-state district.