Chris Donnelly

Chris specializes in earned media, media relations, and message development. He works across numerous industries and sectors, focusing on health care, cannabis, energy and environmental issues, organized labor, transportation, and utilities.

As general manager of Avoq’s New Jersey office, Chris oversees the team’s operations and business development efforts. He brings extensive legislative experience to Avoq, having spent several years at the highest levels of state government. He played an integral role in several Avoq campaigns, such as the 2020 New Jersey cannabis legalization effort and the 2016 effort to replenish and constitutionally dedicate funding for the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund. Chris was named to the ROI-NJ 2023 Influencers Power List and has appeared multiple times on InsiderNJ’s Cannabis Power List.

Prior to joining Avoq, Chris was the press secretary and spokesperson for New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney. He took a brief leave of absence to be the communications director for the New Jersey United for Marriage campaign, an effort to establish marriage equality in New Jersey. Before that, he served as a deputy press secretary for then-Governor Jon Corzine and was the communications director for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, and before that he worked in the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs for Governors Jim McGreevey and Richard Codey.

Chris lives in Mercer County, New Jersey with his wife and two children.