Connor Mautner is the Founder of the Chicago Refugee Coalition (CRC). A Floridian, Mautner graduated cum laude from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida with a B.A. in International Affairs.

​During his time at Rollins, Mautner completed a fellowship with the Arab American Community Centers of Central Florida where he orchestrated mutual aid initiatives with a primary emphasis on food security, domestic violence prevention, and financial literacy.​

Mautner served as a staffer with the United States Senate for three years while congruently earning his Master's Degree in Public Policy and Public Administration from Northwestern University.  As a graduate student, Mautner's primary research emphasis focused on the political economies of failed/fragile states with an emphasis on the Islamic World. 

Mautner founded CRC in June 2018. He is currently working towards his Ph.D. in Political Science at Loyola University Chicago where his research is focused on political rhetoric, political violence, civil wars, decolonization, and insurgencies.