Chris Johnstone
Director
Chris has worked in the field of community development and social performance management since 1993. He is a globally recognized resettlement and social management expert, specializing in managing the community impacts, risks, and opportunities associated with resource and infrastructure development projects.
He has led complex land acquisition, land use planning, impact assessment, infrastructure planning, and economic development projects in more than 25 countries around the world. His work integrates physical, social, and economic planning, with an emphasis on consultation, negotiation, and participatory planning, to balance risk and opportunities within projects. Chris understands the alignment between social performance and other functions and processes, and how linkages should be addressed through management systems and the development of appropriate organizational models.
Chris is intimately familiar with international policies and standards related to environmental and social management and performance.
Chris completed an extended assignment with the United Nations Development Program in Mongolia during the country’s nascent transition from a centrally planned economy in the early 1990s, and later served as Canada’s honorary consul and development program manager there. He has an MA and BA from the University of Waterloo and University of Toronto, respectively, in Canada.