Chris moved to Charleston SC in 1998 to attend CofC and graduated in 2002 with a degree in business. He started buying real estate in Charleston in 2001. He opened Recovery Room Tavern on April 15th 2008. Chris used the income to buy residential real estate and open more bars and night clubs. Chris has been married for 10 years to his wife Kelli who is a nurse practitioner. She owns Better Beauty and Wellness Medspa. Chris and Kelli have a 5 year old daughter and an 8 year old son. They live in Mount Pleasant.
Rev. Rich Robinson is the Executive Director of the Coastal Crisis Chaplaincy, where he serves with a team of crisis and community chaplains to approximately 50 first responder agencies and the tri-county region.
Rich’s experience includes serving as a Charleston City police officer and a United Methodist Church pastor.
Chris Ward is the Vice President of the Friends of Fisher House Charleston, a non-profit organization that supports the Ralph. H. Johnson Veterans Medical Center by providing lodging for families and caregivers receiving treatment in the Charleston area.
Commander Chris Ward concluded her Naval career in 2005 as Chief of Staff for Command, Control, Computers, Communications and Information Technology for Commander Naval Forces Japan. She
was responsible for communications ashore for US forces throughout Japan, Korea, Singapore, Diego Garcia and Guam. Throughout her tour, she worked with U.S. Allies to upgrade and improve their multinational secure networks, paving the way for joint coalition operations.
Previously, she served four years at Naval Communications and Telecommunications Area Master Station (NCTAMS PAC) as Chief of Staff for the Navy’s largest tactical communications hub providing IP services to ships at sea. In this position, she was responsible for the Department of Defense’s largest communications ground site, maintaining 100% operational efficiency while providing robust multiband connectivity to ships, submarines and airplanes of the U.S. Forces in the Pacific. She holds a Masters of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the Naval Post Graduate School where she helped design communications satellites.
Since retiring from the Navy, Chris Ward has worked as the Executive Vice President at Caribou Technologies, a consultancy owned by Admiral (Retired) Archie Clemins. In this role, she has assisted hundreds of Companies seeking to provide solutions for technology needs in the Department of Defense. Additionally, she performs Cyber Security Assessments and training for Companies seeking a strong cyber defense posture.
She served on the board of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association from 2007-2017. In this capacity she held dozens of events, conferences, lunches, etc. to bring Industry and Government together to solve complex technology problems. Additionally, she raised over $50K per year from events to give Scholarships to STEM Students from the Lowcountry.
Chris Ward led the Speakers Committee for the Charleston Defense Contractors Association from 2005-2017, bringing in senior Government Leadership from across Department of Defense to speak at the Annual Conference (over 1000 attendees).
Dr. Gilbert is currently an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Charleston Southern University, and an Adjunct Professor of Intelligence and Security Studies at The Citadel. Dr. Gilbert is a 30-year veteran of law enforcement in which he started his career with the Warren County (NY) Sheriff’s Office, serving 3 years as a Seasonal Special-Patrol Officer. He then served 22 years with the New York State Police and was a First Responder during the 9/11 attacks in lower Manhattan in 2001, while he was employed as New York State Police Trooper from 1997 – 2003.
From 2003 – 2018, Dr. Gilbert was assigned to the New York State Police’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Counter-Terrorism Office, working in a variety of investigative and intelligence functions as an Investigator and from 2012 – 2018, he was assigned to the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, as a Task Force Officer, actively investigating national and international domestic and international terrorism cases. One of his cases was briefed to the U.S. Attorney General and the FBI’s Assistant Director. Dr. Gilbert has also served 2 years as a New York State Correctional Officer at Sing Sing Correctional Facility and at Taconic Correctional Facility.
Currently, Dr. Gilbert is a Commander in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves, serving as the Senior Reserve Officer at the U.S. Coast Guard’s Maritime Intelligence Fusion Center, located in Dam Neck, VA. He has been deployed to numerous areas around the country over his 19 years of military service, often assisting those in great need impacted by hurricanes, and other environmental disasters, most recently, a 60-day deployment from October 19th – December 17th, 2024, serving the great state of North Carolina after the Hurricane HELENE devastation. He has also served in law enforcement, intelligence, Joint Military/Combatant Command, and emergency management billets during his U.S. Coast Guard reserves career.
His academic accomplishes include being a 2018 graduate of Nova Southeastern University, with a PhD in Criminal Justice/Organizational Leadership; a master’s in Strategic Intelligence from National Intelligence University and a master’s in Leadership and Administration from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. Dr. Gilbert and his wife have three children and two dogs. He is an avid sports fan of the New York Yankees and New York Giants. Dr. Gilbert is an active member of Seacoast Church in Mount Pleasant, SC.
