Chris Gardner has led the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA” since 2017, managing the platform through an exciting period of change and growth. ICBA is one of the largest business and industry associations in Canada and the largest sponsor of trades apprentices in B.C. ICBA is also one the leading independent providers of group health and retirement benefits business, administering benefits for more than 150,000 people. In 2021, Chris was one of four business leaders selected by Ragan Communications as most effective executive mental health advocate and the only Canadian. In the same year, BC Business Magazine, selected ICBA’s new mental health program as one of the most innovative in the province. The program is offered for free to ICBA members and in the first year after its launch, more than 7,000 people were participating.

Under his leadership in 2019 and in 2021, ICBA won the Washington, DC-based Reed Award as North America’s best trade association. In four of the past nine years, Chris has appeared on Vancouver Magazine’s Power 50 list; and, in 2021 and 2022, Chris was included in Business in Vancouver’s list of 500 most influential British Columbians.

Before joining ICBA, Chris lived in Seoul where he worked at South Korea’s second largest law firm and at Samsung Electronics. He was also a senior executive at two of the largest modular construction and workforce accommodation companies in North America, and served as principal secretary to the 35th Premier of British Columbia. Chris has a Juris Doctor in law from the Peter A. Allard School of Law at UBC and a Bachelor of Arts from SFU.