Christopher D. Bell Joins Airports Authority Board of Directors
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority welcomed Christopher D. Bell on July 16, 2025, to its board of directors for a six-year term. Bell is an appointee of District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Bell is the deputy general counsel for the Conservation Fund, a nationwide nonprofit organization that promotes economic development and conservation efforts across the United States.
Prior to this position, he was a partner in the Housing Finance Group practice area of the law firm of Ballard Spahr LLP where he focused on multifamily housing finance. He advised and represented real estate lenders, borrowers and developers on transactional and regulatory issues with a concentration on financing transactions involving government-sponsored enterprises.
Prior to joining Ballard Spahr, Bell practiced for more than 10 years at Fannie Mae, a government-sponsored enterprise chartered by Congress to support the secondary mortgage market. As the agency’s associate general counsel of Housing and Community Development, he served as Fannie Mae’s lead attorney for affordable housing transactions and secondary market construction loan participations and syndications. Additionally, Bell served as lead counsel for Fannie Mae’s corporate charitable arm, the Office of Community Investment and Engagement, where he provided legal counsel regarding grant documentation, intellectual property rights, procurement, audit and compliance matters.
Bell holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin. He received a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University’s JFK School of Government and his Juris Doctor from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.
Bell serves as a trustee on the board of trustees for the University of the District of Columbia. He is also on the board of directors for the D.C. Soccer Club, the FDR Memorial Legacy Committee and Van Ness Mainstreet. He also is a member of the American Bar Association.