Chris Jarvis was born in Fresno, CA and has lived in New York, New Jersey, Nevada and Alaska. He's been an LGBTQ activist in Fresno since 2005. He was a founding partner in the nonprofit Gay Central Valley and was President of the organization from 2012-2017. The nonprofit opened the first LGBTQ Community Center in Fresno in over 20 years in 2009, followed by the first ever LGBTQ Community Center in Merced. The Fresno Center served the community until it closed in 2017. He continues his LGBTQ nonprofit work currently with Qistory, a project of Community Link, dedicated to documenting the history of the LGBTQ community in the Central Valley.