Leadership • Senior Staff • Senior Advisors • Board of Advisors

Senior Staff: Cristi Schwarcz

Cristi Schwarcz
Director of Health Affairs

Cristi Schwarcz is Director of Health Affairs for American Defense International, Inc.  She was raised in New Orleans, LA and attended The University of Texas, graduating with a degree in History and Government.  In 1999, Cristi received a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Rutgers University and in 2009 was granted ABD status for her PhD in History at American University. 

Cristi moved to Washington, DC in 1993 to work in Government Relations for the National Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW).  For the next several years, she conducted policy research at several firms until returning to New Orleans for the 1996 Senatorial campaign of Mary Landrieu (D-LA).  During the campaign, Cristi did fundraising for the soon to be Senator.  In 1997, Cristi moved back to Washington where she continued as a political fundraiser until returning to school to pursue her Master’s degree in Public Policy.  In 1999, Cristi joined the Washington Office of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a Presidential Management Fellow.  At CDC, Cristi was responsible for working with members of Congress to educate them on CDC’s programs, policies and initiatives including authorizations and appropriations.  In 2001, Cristi joined the office of Senator Bob Graham (D-FL) to work on health issues and was active in drafting health related legislation to add preventive services to Medicare, to provide health insurance to the uninsured population, and to promote research dollars for chronic disease prevention and health promotion.  After leaving Capitol Hill, Cristi returned to the CDC where she continued to serve as a Congressional liaison for the agency providing strategic counsel to agency operating divisions to secure needed resources, legislative authorizations, and support for key policy and programmatic initiatives.  While at CDC, Cristi focused on a number of issues including emergency preparedness and response, emerging infectious diseases, injury and violence prevention, chronic disease prevention, developing the public health infrastructure, and Health information technology.

Cristi’s experience in both the executive and legislative branches of government has given her an in-depth knowledge of both the political process and government operations including the development and execution of policies at the federal, state and local levels.  In addition, she is a proficient researcher able to synthesize policy information for use in advocating to and educating policymakers.