Chris Brooks is a born connector. The family life minister at the ethnically-diverse River City Community Church in Humboldt Park, Illinois, and the coordinator of the Urban Youth Leaders Network at Urbnet.org, he’s one of those people who seems to have a hand reaching out in every direction.

“I’m wired this way,” Chris explains. He describes himself as a natural networker, the kind of person who seems to know everyone and — even better — knows how to bring people together for a greater good. At River City, he ministers to a multicultural Chicago neighborhood that’s 40 percent Latino, 40 percent African-American, and economically diverse. Chris wears several hats, from overseeing children’s and youth ministries to monitoring English-as-a-Second-Language classes and community groups. He’s passionate about putting his networking skills to work building a diverse body of believers who are united by a love for Christ and a commitment to their neighborhood.

His work at River City, Chris says, is a smaller picture of what he’s doing nationally with Urbnet. Selected by his peers to lead the organization, Chris has been instrumental in building a web of support and resources for urban youth ministry — a highly transitional area dealing with highly transitional kids. “We’re mapping the one hundred largest cities in the nation, trying to identify connectors in each city,” he says. “If we can’t find somebody on the ground to start a network, we get one there.” His goal is to connect these leaders to they can share best practices, support each other, and keep kids from falling through the cracks.

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