Chris Saunders
Christopher Saunders: Incumbent for Bodden Town West.
Biography:
Saunders is a certified Public Accountant and has held senior positions within the banking, telecommunications and financial services industries. His professional career was nurtured in the Civil Service where he sharpened his accounting skills and knowledge of government operations in the departments of Lands & Survey, Internal Audit, Treasury and the Auditor General’s Office.
He has lived in the US (New York) and travelled extensively around the Caribbean, Europe and Canada, which has enabled him to observe and see policies and practices that work and equally as well, learn what did not.
Saunders is serving his first term representing the people of Bodden Town West which is not just a constituency – it is his Home. In 1983, his parents, Roy & Rose Saunders (nee McLean) chose this area to raise their five children Other family also followed with his maternal grandmother (the late Mrs. Mac of Champion House), aunts and uncles moving to the Northward area.
Saunders is the product of the bountiful opportunities once available to Caymanians. Educationally, he received a strong foundation from the Truth for Youth School, which allowed him to compete with his peers in the top Jamaican school of Calabar High. A thirst for a university education was instilled in him by his parents who believed this should be supported by requisite experience and afforded by sacrifices.
To this end, he worked two full time jobs to save for school. He would work at a hotel as a Night Auditor from 11pm to 7am and then got dressed at the hotel for his day job with Government from 8:30am to 5pm.
In 1990’s, the people of Cayman invested in Saunders providing him with a scholarship to major in accounting at Pace University in New York City. At Pace, he made history being elected as the first non-American President of the Student Government Association (SGA) representing the interest of over 10,000 students and responsible for 76 student organizations on Campus. As President of the SGA, he also served in the Senate of Pace University and was an active member of the Model United Nations team.
Saunders remains active within the Cayman community, having previously volunteered to teach accounting at the Prison as well as previously serving on the Board of Directors of the Cayman Islands Health Services Authority, as well as a being a previous member of the Business Staffing Board of the Immigration Department. In his spare time, he assists with the Meals on Wheels programme and spends his downtime reading, playing chess, scrabble, dominoes, and spends most of his free time with his wife, Shawnette, (since 1999) and their three children, Brandon, Jordanne and Daniel.
Born in George Town on the 6th of February 1973, Saunders remains an optimist. He strongly believes that Cayman best days are still ahead and the things that are wrong with Cayman can be fixed by the things that are right with Cayman.
Source: The Legislative Assembly website.
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