Chris Gardner

Chris Gardner, Director, Performance Improvement

Chris Gardner is director, performance improvement, at APQC. He is responsible for APQC’s performance measurement and process management practice. In this role, he coordinates business development, resources, and delivery. In addition, Gardner supports all APQC product areas in serving their clients in the improvement of business processes.

Gardner joined APQC in 1998. During his tenure, he led the establishment of the Open Standards Benchmarking database. Gardner also provided leadership for the development of a comprehensive Smart Grid assessment program for electric utilities around the world. He also directed a multi-year benchmarking effort for the American Water & Wastewater Association to understand utility performance gaps. Other highlights include leading extensive measurement and business improvement projects for the State Department and the Defense Finance and Accounting Services.

Gardner has over 20 years of experience. For eight years, he held a wide range of positions with GTE Corp. While with the company, Gardner gained extensive experience in the areas of strategic planning, budgeting, and operations analysis. In his last position before leaving GTE, he managed the business analysis group at GTE Wireless in Atlanta.

Prior to working for GTE, Gardner mediated civil and criminal cases as a certified public mediator at the Dispute Resolution Center of Houston. Following Gardner’s tenure as a mediator, he held a position as an adult probation officer with the Harris County Adult Probation Department. 

Gardner earned a B.S. degree in political science and a BBA in finance, both from the University of Houston. He received an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Gardner has completed the first year of the doctoral program in strategy at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill).