Del Christensen is chief of Global Business Development for the Bay Area Council. He oversees the Council’s trade and investment efforts with China through its offices in Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou. In 2013, Del played a leadership role in the Bay Area Council’s effort to reestablish the shuttered California-China Office of Trade and Investment in Shanghai. Del’s team operates the state’s trade office today.
Since inception of the China Initiatives Program, the Bay Area Council has worked to build strong relationships with multiple layers of government, executive leaders of business and institutions of higher learning to facilitate communication and initiate cross-border opportunities. The China Initiatives Program has influenced policy and designed commercial strategy for California-based companies, more than 125 of which have utilized the Council’s network. Del’s successes through the China Initiative include creation of the US-China Collaboration Symposium and the 7 Provinces agreement for trade and environmental policy with the State of California.
In 2010, Del initiated the Bay Area Council’s Cybersecurity committee, launching the first cyber challenge in Silicon Valley, which has served as a model for cyber challenges throughout numerous California companies and government agencies in Washington D.C.
He currently served on the board of the Chinese Business Studies Initiative at USF and the 1990 Institute, a non-profit that provides educational programs to under privileged children in China and the United States.