For Immediate Release
Contact: Carrie Wofford | President (202) 838-5050
August 16, 2021
Veterans Education Success Announces Christopher Madaio as Vice President for Legal Affairs
Washington, D.C. – Carrie Wofford, President of Veterans Education Success, announced that Christopher J. Madaio will join the organization as Vice President for Legal Affairs. Madaio’s hire is the latest as the organization expands its capacity to fight for the rights of student veterans, service members, and their families. Other recent hires include Barmak Nassirian, Vice President for Higher Education Policy, and Will Hubbard, Vice President for Veterans & Military Policy.
“Chris is a first-round draft pick for any team that fights for veterans and their families,” said Carrie Wofford, President of Veterans Education Success. “His work in Maryland as an Assistant Attorney General and his reputation for protecting the rights of veterans make him an exceptionally valuable asset to those we serve.”
“We’re incredibly excited to launch our all-star line up of stellar, top-notch experts, who are poised to build upon our victories and achieve even greater progress in protecting the GI Bill,” said Wofford. “The level of talent and commitment we now possess in-house should put predatory schools and their enablers on notice. This new team will fight every day for veterans, servicemembers, and their families.”
As Vice President for Legal Affairs, Madaio will lead the team that assists veterans and servicemembers, supports college whistleblowers and law enforcement agencies investigating institutions of higher education, and advocates for stronger consumer protection policies.
Previously, Madaio served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection Division of the Maryland Attorney General’s Office, where he led efforts to enforce Maryland’s unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts and practices laws against predatory institutions of higher education. His work resulted in millions of dollars of student loan debt cancellation for Marylanders and substantial injunctive conduct imposed upon multiple institutions.
In that role, Madaio also drafted and provided testimony before Congress, Maryland legislative committees, the U.S. Education Department’s National Advisory Council on Institutional Quality and Integrity, and served as a negotiator on a Department of Education rulemaking committee. He worked with Maryland legislators to pass first-in-the-nation state laws to close the 90/10 loophole to protect veterans, protect students facing school closures, and prohibit private inurement by directors, trustees, or other insiders of non-profit institutions of higher education.
Madaio comes from a proud military family and holds bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and criminal justice from the University of Maryland, where he also received his law degree.
Madaio’s legal expertise complements that of Nassirian and Hubbard and strengthens the leadership team at Veterans Education Success. Nassirian brings more than three decades of experience in higher education and is a nationally-known expert on multiple facets of the higher education sector. Hubbard brings more than a decade of experience in policy strategy and advocacy on behalf of the military and veteran community in higher education.
In addition to Madaio, Nassirian, and Hubbard, the organization is proud to welcome two new Georgetown University Law Center graduates who will serve under Madaio on the legal team: Lynn Zhang and Anna Boadwee.
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About Veterans Education Success
Veterans Education Success is a veteran advocacy organization that works on a bipartisan basis to advance higher education success for veterans, service members, and military families and to protect the integrity and promise of the GI Bill and other federal education programs. The organization offers free help, advice, and college and career counseling to servicemembers, veterans, and their survivors and families using federal education benefits and helps them participate in their democracy by engaging with policymakers. Veterans Education Success also provides policy expertise to federal and state policymakers and conducts non-partisan research on issues of concern to student veterans. Additional information is available at www.vetsedsuccess.org.