Chris Gardner is an entrepreneur, international best-selling author and an award-winning film producer. Gardner\u2019s autobiography, The Pursuit of HappYness became a New York Times #1 best seller and has been translated into over forty languages, including six (6) dialects of Chinese and recently into Arabic. Gardner\u2019s book, The Pursuit of HappYness was the inspiration for the critically acclaimed film in which Will Smith received the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award nominations for his performance. His second book, \u201cStart Where You Are\u201d also a best seller was published in 2009. Gardner\u2019s new book \u201cPermission to Dream\u201d was selected as \u201cBook Of The Month\u201d by the Wall Street Journal upon its publication.<\/p>\n
After \u2018retiring\u2019 from thirty-seven years in the financial services industry, Gardner has described himself as a 67 year old \u2018start up\u2019 with significant interest in fintech. Gardner currently serves on the boards of Verify Me (VRME, NASDAQ), The Change Company (CDFI established by the U.S. Treasury Department) and Smart Easy Pay. Two years ago, Gardner became the oldest \u201crecruit\u201d in the history of the United States Navy and has spoken on behalf of the United States Navy on the issues of recruiting and retention of talent at Career Development Symposiums (CDS) at naval bases and air stations globally.<\/p>\n
Gardner\u2019s major priority is the work of his foundation, The Christopher P. Gardner Foundation which is working to change the trajectory of young people\u2019s lives. Gardner has described this effort as \u201cmaking an alternative investment in human capital.\u201d Gardner is currently doing a \u201ctour\u201d that will have him speak at 1,000 public schools all across America.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"