Kris Banvard joined the InquireFirst Board of Directors after embarking on two different careers – twenty-five years in newspaper journalism and then twenty-three years in the practice of law.

Born in Los Angeles, Kris spent the first part of his childhood in Southern California in a variety of locale ranging from a multi-ethnic neighborhood in central L.A. to suburban Long Beach.  When he was 10, his family moved to Shasta County in the far northern part of the state, where they lived on a lake and Kris rode a bus five miles each way to attend a school that had a total of 50 students in grades 1-8.  One constant throughout his early years and to this day has been his interest in history, political economy, geography, world events – and journalism.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oregon in 1978, Kris worked as a reporter and city desk editor for newspapers in Oregon, California, Virginia, and, lastly, in Ohio, where he has resided for the past three decades.  During the 1980s when he was with The Sacramento Union in California, he came to know S. Lynne Walker, who was also a reporter at the paper and who went on years later to co-found and lead Inquire First.

Kris’ final stop in the newspaper world was at The Columbus Dispatch, where his last stint was as an editorial writer.  While with The Dispatch, he attended law school at night, graduated third in his class, and was admitted to the Ohio Bar.  Kris then switched careers and joined a litigation firm in Columbus that, among other things, represented The Dispatch and related media properties in business and media-law matters and public records litigation.

Having recently retired from law practice, Kris resides in a Columbus suburb with his wife.  Their two grown daughters and three grandchildren live nearby.