Chris has been working in international development for over twenty years. His primary focus is building strong partnerships between Canadian post-secondary institutions and global partner institutions for joint delivery of community development projects to improve the health and well-being of local communities, and promoting the concepts of joint learning and mutually-beneficial global partnerships.
Chris currently serves as the Senior Manager - Global Health at the University of Calgary in the Indigenous, Local, and Global Health (ILGH) office of the Cumming School of Medicine. He is overseeing global health partnerships with medical universities in Uganda, Tanzania, Laos, Nepal, and other countries around the world. Key projects implemented by UCalgary in collaboration with their global university partners include maternal and newborn child health projects in Tanzania, sexual and reproductive health and rights of youth in southwest Uganda, and global exchanges of medical students and faculty between partner universities.
Previously, Chris managed international training projects at Bow Valley College in Calgary for four years. There, he developed and managed projects in East Africa and the Middle East. Specifically, Chris coordinated and monitored initiatives designed to build the training capacity of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges in Tanzania, Kenya, and Jordan in the areas of competency-based education, entrepreneurship, distance learning, TVET teacher training, and early childhood education.
Chris lived and worked in Mwanza, Tanzania for six years with the NGO, World Renew to build the capacity of partner organizations and advise on the implementation of community development projects funded by Global Affairs Canada. He managed projects that built the self-reliance of local communities in the areas of sustainable livelihoods, climate-smart agriculture, adult education, savings and credit groups, gender equality, environmental conservation, and community leadership.
Chris has conducted evaluations with PlanNET in Ethiopia and Kenya and assisted in the data gathering and analysis of PlanNET evaluations around the world in the areas of youth skills development, ICT, justice, and security. He has trained organizations in results based management and project design. Chris is a certified trainer in facilitating organizational development. He was recently on the board of the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation.
Chris has a Master’s degree in Rural Planning and International Development studies from the University of Guelph. He has traveled extensively and has lived in Tanzania and in Bangladesh. He is proficient in Swahili and speaks Bengali at a basic level.