• Renowned entrepreneur and best-selling author of The Pursuit of HappYness, the book that inspired the acclaimed film
  • Delivered over 500 talks across three continents, inspiring people to pursue their dreams
  • After decades on Wall Street, he now focuses on private equity, fintech, and brand protection.
     

Chris Gardner is an entrepreneur, international best-selling author and an award-winning film producer.

Gardner’s 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’s 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, “Start Where You Are” also a best seller was published in 2009. Gardner’s new book
“Permission to Dream” was selected as “Book Of The Month” by the Wall Street
Journal upon its publication.

After close to forty years on Wall Street, Mr. Gardner had to answer a very important ques-tion which was, "What are you going to do with the rest of your life? Do you retire or REWIRE?" Mr. Gardner chose to "REWIRE." The difference is, "when you retire you stop doing what you used to do. When you REWIRE you do what you want to do!"

Mr. Gardner is currently, in his words, "making a huge alternative investment" in human capi-tal. This investment has had him speak at over 500 schools on three (3) different continents. He is conducting his Permission 2 Dream Tour. He believes that "what CAN be, needs to be as much a part of the conversation as what can NOT be." Mr. Gardner believes that "DREAMS don't have BORDERS." He continues to be active in private equity investments with a focus on brand protection and fintech.

Christopher tailors each presentation to the needs of his audience and is not limited to the topics listed below. Please ask us about any subject that interests you:

  • Motivation
  • Leadership
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Philanthropy
     

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

Christopher Gardner's inspiring keynote speech focuses on messages of perseverance and personal responsibility in times of crisis. Gardner communicates these themes through the story of his own triumph over adversity while homeless on the streets of San Francisco with is son, to his subsequent success as stock broker, CEO, single father and author of the bestselling autobiography "The Pursuit of Happyness" and Associate Producer of the film starring Will Smith in the role of Christopher Gardner.

Start Where You Are

In these uncertain and challenging times, Americans are learning what they're made of by tapping into their unknown potential. Christopher Gardner demonstrates that in the face of adversity, true transformation is possible. No matter what kind of challenges your audience has encountered, Gardner is sure to inspire. Sharing powerful stories of human resilience, he instills audience members with hope for a brighter future. They will leave this presentation empowered and uplifted, ready to make positive changes in their own lives.