Biography - Edward Tanaka

Edward (Ted) Tanaka - Ted has been a Red Cross volunteer for over 16 years. Although his 'birth Zone' is the Quebec Zone, he started his Red Cross career with the Council in his now home region of Lower Mainland in BC. Ted served for seven years on the Regional Council. Overlapping with some of these years, he served on the Western Zone Council for seven years. Ted was elected to the National Board of Governors in 2001 and served as a Western Zone representative for his first five years on the Board.

In 2006, Ted was elected Vice-President of the National Board, and is completing his second term as VP. He has served on many committees at all three levels of governance. He has chaired several National Board committees such as the Trust Funds Advisory Committee, the Bylaw Revisions Committee and the Compensation and Leadership Development Committee.  Ted has been awarded both the Order of Red Cross and the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal for his volunteer work with the Red Cross.

In his professional career, Ted is a lawyer.  He ran his own litigation practice in Vancouver, specializing in several areas of law. Ted then made a career change and, for over eight years, worked to further access to justice by leading and managing several primary parts of the BC provincial legal aid system. Ted is currently in-house with the Certified General Accountants Association of BC, where his primary focus is on regulatory work.

Ted and his wife are parents to two elementary school aged children, and one senior cat. He met his wife, a fellow Vancouverite, while they were both living overseas in Asia. In any spare time, Ted can be found doing something related to just about any sport - coaching, playing, reading about or watching. Born a Montrealer, he is extremely fond of his Montréal Canadiens.

Posted January 14, 2011