Meet The Team

Christina “Chris” Benton is a cultural resource management professional and archaeologist whose work bridges research, heritage preservation, and environmental compliance. As the founder and CEO of CHRIS, she brings a multidisciplinary approach to projects across the Southeast and beyond-delivering strategic insight, cultural sensitivity, and operational clarity to complex undertakings.

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In addition to leading CHRIS, Chris serves as an archaeologist with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), where her work strengthens her commitment to research, collections, and public scholarship. This dual role allows her to integrate rigorous academic practice with applied cultural resource management, ensuring projects are both technically sound and community-informed.

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Chris specializes in African diasporic archaeology, bioarchaeology, cemetery preservation, and mortuary studies. Her expertise extends beyond traditional fieldwork to include archival research, descendant and community engagement, and regulatory advising. With a background that includes death investigations, disaster response, and environmental permitting, she is well-equipped to support both compliance-driven and sensitive heritage projects.

She holds degrees from Howard University and the University of Tennessee and pursued doctoral work at the University of South Carolina. Her career reflects a deep commitment to cultural equity, ethical stewardship, and preserving the stories embedded in historic landscapes.

Juan Brown serves as Director of Strategic Operations at CHRIS, supporting the company’s growth through high-level operational planning, logistics coordination, and strategic decision-making. While he doesn’t manage day-to-day activities, Juan plays a critical behind-the-scenes role in shaping how CHRIS runs—especially when it comes to financial direction, business infrastructure, and field logistics.

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As an entrepreneur and business owner himself, Juan brings a pragmatic, solutions-driven mindset to CHRIS’s leadership team. He collaborates regularly with the CEO to evaluate business moves, streamline systems, and ensure the company’s operations remain efficient, scalable, and aligned with its long-term goals.

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Juan’s role is foundational to CHRIS’s success, helping to balance vision with execution and ensuring the operational engine is always primed—whether for a new contract, a field deployment, or a strategic pivot.

Averie Brooks is a Senior at North Carolina A&T University , pursuing a major in Psychology with a minor in Criminology. At CHRIS, she supports a wide range of research, documentation, and project coordination tasks that intersect with her academic training in human behavior, critical thinking, and systems of justice.

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Her background in psychology gives her a unique lens through which to approach descendant engagement, oral history analysis, and the interpretation of cultural landscapes. With criminology coursework grounding her understanding of legal systems and social inequality, Averie contributes meaningfully to CHRIS’s mission to document, preserve, and honor marginalized histories.

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She assists with archival research, stakeholder coordination, and the preparation of cultural and environmental reports, helping ensure each project reflects ethical responsibility, historical sensitivity, and community relevance