Bio, via Chronicle Vitae:

Chris Young, a native of Fitzgerald, Georgia, serves as the Executive Director of CIFAL Atlanta, an arm of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and is a Fellow with UNITAR. The center, located on the campus of Kennesaw State University, focuses on capacity building for local governments and civil society leaders, with programmatic emphases on economic development and fair trade, water, disaster preparation and recovery, and good governance. Its work largely targets emerging democracies and economies within the Americas. Mr. Young is also a sought-after keynote speaker and trainer, featured presenter, and subject-matter expert in leadership and organizational dynamics, diplomatic negotiations, foreign affairs, international protocol, cross-cultural literacy, and global business etiquette. His clients include Fortune 500 companies; major universities; national, state, and municipal governments; chambers of commerce and economic development agencies; professional associations; and global sporting events. For seven years, he led Protocol & Diplomacy International – Protocol Officers Association (PDI-POA), the worldwide professional organization for those in those related fields, as its elected president. Today he serves as the past president and chair of the committee on governance and ethics. In August 2014, he was honored by his peers from around the world with the PDI-POA Ann Beard Achievement Award, the highest in his profession. Mr. Young’s career also includes service as the Executive Director of The Protocol School of Washington and Chief of Protocol and Director of International Affairs for the State of Georgia, the latter of which he held for two successive administrations. In 2010, Georgia Trend magazine tapped him as one of the State’s “40 Under 40,” Georgia’s forty rising stars and influential leaders under the age of forty. Mr. Young graduated with highest honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology, entering as a President’s Scholar and earning a BS degree in History. He received his law degree (Juris Doctor), with honor, from the University of Georgia. In 1999 he was appointed as a nationally prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholar. In March 2006, Mr. Young was named as the recipient of Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen Alumni Legacy Award. An inveterate traveler and avid pianist, he attends Mt. Paran Church in Atlanta and is a member of their choir.