Ken Chan

Ken Chan is a Global Executive PhD candidate at ESCP Business School and the Chief Administrative Officer and Bursar at Victoria University in the University of Toronto. As a practitioner-scholar, Ken's research interests are in corporate political activity and the role businesses play in the policy sphere including on social issues such as LGBTQ+ rights.

Chan was an Assistant Deputy Minister with the Province of Ontario in Canada. He was the Assistant Deputy Minister of the COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force Secretariat at the Ministry of the Solicitor General and previous to that the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Transformation and Delivery Office at the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. He has also served as Vice President of Administration at Brock University.

In the private sector, Chan was head of Canadian public affairs at Vertex Pharmaceuticals overseeing government relations, corporate communications and community engagement.

Chan was a Vice President at Cystic Fibrosis Canada, where he led research and clinical funding programs that supported the work of universities and hospitals across Canada. He also oversaw the advocacy and communications functions.

His international experience included stints at London City Hall where he was a policing advisor in the Mayor’s Office and as an Assistant Director with the Better Regulation Executive at the UK Department for Business.

A seasoned corporate director, he is on the boards of Alterna Savings, Alterna Bank, Open For Business (UK), and ALS Canada. His previous board experience spanned the health and education sectors in Canada and the UK including at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Sherbourne Health Centre, the University of Toronto and North York General Hospital. He holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Chan has completed executive education programs at various business schools, including the Oxford Fintech Programme at Saïd Business School (University of Oxford), the Director Education Program and Advanced Health Leadership Program at the Rotman School of Management (University of Toronto), and the Executive Scholar Program at the Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University). He has an Executive Master of Management Research from ESCP Business School, a Master of Forensic Accounting from the University of Toronto, MBA from City University of Seattle and BA from Simon Fraser University.