Christian Dorsey was first elected to the Arlington County Board in 2015 and is now serving his second term. He is currently Chair and previously served as Vice-Chair in 2022 and Chair in 2019. During his prior tenure as Chair, Mr. Dorsey guided the Board’s adoption of: the Vision Zero transportation safety plan, the update to the Public Spaces Master Plan, the update to the Community Energy Plan, the renaming of Route 1 to Richmond Highway, the economic performance agreement and land use entitlements for Amazon’s headquarters in Arlington, principles of collaboration with the City of Alexandria on joint efforts to ensure inclusive growth with expected economic development, and an Equity Resolution that detailed the scope of work in Arlington’s mission to realize racial and social equity.

Christian has served on the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) since 2016, and served as Chair in 2022. Previously, Mr. Dorsey served as Arlington’s Member on the Transportation Planning Board (TPB) in 2019 and 2021. Additionally, Christian served as a Principal Member of the Board of Directors for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, aka Metro, and as a Commissioner on the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission from 2016-2020.

In 2023, Christian is serving as the County Board liaison to the Planning Commission, Public Facilities Review Committee, Industrial Development Authority, Community Oversight Board, the Human Rights Commission, and the Arlington County Fair Board. Christian is also Co-Chair of the County Board’s Audit Committee.

Outside of public service, Mr. Dorsey engages as a policy and communications consultant supporting progressive organizations in realizing their missions. Prior to joining the Board, Christian was a senior leader at the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank that promotes economic policies that foster broadly shared prosperity.

Throughout his career, Mr. Dorsey has been committed to improving the Arlington community. He had the privilege of serving as executive director of The Reading Connection, promoting literacy development for children facing housing insecurity. He also led the Bonder and Amanda Johnson Community Development Corporation, which provided essential community services and jump-started a moderate-income housing development in the Green Valley neighborhood.

Equally rewarding has been the many opportunities that Christian has had to serve our Arlington community as a volunteer, which have included serving on the boards of directors of the Arlington Free Clinic, A-SPAN, Leadership Center for Excellence, and Arlington Independent Media, and serving on County Board advisory commissions (Tenant-Landlord, chairman; Planning, member).

Christian has been a proud Arlingtonian since 1993. He and his wife, Rachael, live in the Columbia Forest neighborhood and have two children in Arlington Public Schools.