Dr. Ken Chan, ICD.D is a Partner at Optimus SBR, where he leads the firm’s health, government, and public sector management consulting practice. With a career spanning the private, public and nonprofit sectors, he brings a unique and deeply informed perspective to strategy, leadership, and governance.

Ken’s extensive public service experience includes serving as an Assistant Deputy Minister with the Government of Ontario, Chief Administrative Officer at Victoria University in the University of Toronto, and Vice President at Brock University. He has also held senior roles as Director of Public Affairs at Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Vice President at Cystic Fibrosis Canada. Internationally, he has served as an Assistant Director in the UK Government’s Better Regulation Executive and as a Senior Advisor in the Mayor’s Office in London, England. His public service journey began in frontline roles as a police officer and border services officer.

An experienced director, Ken currently serves on the boards of Alterna Savings, Alterna Bank, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), the Pathstone Foundation, and Open For Business—a global coalition of companies committed to advancing the economic case for LGBTQ+ inclusion. He was a founding advisory board member of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors Canada and previously served on the board of the Directors’ Forum.

Ken holds an Executive PhD in Management from ESCP Business School – Sorbonne Alliance, a Master of Forensic Accounting from the University of Toronto, an MBA from City University of Seattle, and a BA from Simon Fraser University. He is an ICD.D-certified director through the Institute of Corporate Directors and has completed executive education at CPA Canada, Rotman, Kellogg, Oxford, and Harvard. He is also an alumnus of the Council of Canadian Innovators’ Innovation Governance Program.

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