Chester G. Atkins

Chet Atkins "founded ADS Ventures, Inc. in 1993 and is the company's Founder and Director. With a history in public office and experience on the boards of numerous corporate and non-profit organizations, Atkins offers extraordinary expertise in the legislative process. Atkins currently oversees ADS corporate strategy and business development. He is an advisor to the ADS team on subjects ranging from the appropriations process to corporate and non-profit governance.

"In 1970, Atkins was the youngest State Representative ever elected in Massachusetts . Two years later, he was elected to state Senate and served as Chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, in which capacity he reformed and modernized the state budgeting process. From 1984 to 1992, Atkins represented the 5th District of Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress, and sat on the Appropriations, Budget, Foreign Affairs, and Ethics Committees.

"Since leaving the U.S. Congress, through his work with ADS Ventures, Atkins has headed a number of initiatives to utilize private capital to achieve public purposes and has organized successful public funding initiatives for organizations in the education, healthcare, high tech and real estate development industries. He has become involved as an election observer and legislative trainer for newly elected governments in such nations as Cambodia, Yemen , Albania , Russia , Republic of Georgia and Peru, and uses the same skills of arbitration in his business development efforts on behalf of ADS clients.

"Atkins remains a political force on the state and federal level, serving as a key advisor and fundraiser to multiple campaigns. He is also an advocate for numerous humanitarian causes, serving on the boards of such groups as Amnesty International, Oxfam, The Center for Justice and Accountability, and Refugees International."

• Director Emeriti, Earthwatch Institute
• Director, Consensus Building Institute