Chuck Gardner, PgMP

BOARD MEMBER

  • President of the Hallmark Group

  • Founder of UC Davis Mind Institute

  • Founder of Advance Education (now Kadiant)

  • Founder of Hello Housing

  • Board of Directors Community Living Options

Mr. Gardner has over 30 years of experience in program management, organizational leadership, strategic planning, and innovative program development.

Since 1998, he has worked with public and private entities on large-scale projects significant to the state of California. Mr. Gardner applies his background in economics, construction, and program management to complex, politically sensitive initiatives. A project-turnaround specialist, he is often called upon to direct capital projects struggling with funding, scheduling, or leadership.

His most notable projects include the permitting, design, and construction of the UC Merced campus, and more recently, the $17B California WaterFix. Currently, he is pioneering water storage and treatment projects throughout the State to help mitigate the impacts of drought and climate change.

Mr. Gardner’s involvement with developmental disabilities began with the autism diagnosis of his then two-year old son. Facing a lack of treatment alternatives for families like his, he embarked on a journey to seek out the causes, treatments and ultimately cures for autism.

After years of advocacy and engaging the scientific community to share his mission, his efforts resulted in the founding of the UC Davis MIND Institute which is now considered to be the leading autism research institute in the world.

In further response to the need for more appropriate education for children with autism, he founded Advance Education which provided families with in-home services, center-based instruction, after school programs, and behavioral intervention clinics.

Mr. Gardner then partnered with the California Department of Developmental Services to reinvent how adults with significant developmental disabilities were housed and created a new model that focused on home ownership. The results were the transition of three hundred residents from a State-run institution into homes that were integrated into the community. This model led Mr. Gardner to found Hello Housing, a non-profit dedicated to developing homes to transition individuals from other State-run developmental centers to community-based housing.

Currently, Chuck is a founder and board member of the biotech firm Mara-Bio, which has developed a novel a test capable of identifying and preventing autism in infants. Additionally, he serves as a board member for Creative Living Options, a non-profit which provides in-home supportive services enabling adults with developmental disabilities to live independently.