Founder | CEO | Keynote Speaker

Musician | Dog Dad | Traveler

Kristopher Marks is the founder and CEO of VĪV Mental Health, a social and business enterprise developed in 2020 to further innovate how mental health training, advocacy, and engagement can be delivered to businesses, schools, and communities.

Kris is an inspiring speaker and facilitator whose captivating blend of lived experience, professional expertise, and passion for connection has resonated with virtual and live audiences around the world. He is a frequent keynote speaker on the topics of men’s mental health, workplace mental health, suicide loss, and suicide prevention. Kris is a childhood SA survivor, a suicide survivor, and he experienced houselessness while living in Edmonton in his early twenties. Despite these challenges, Kris graduated from NAIT in 2010 near the top of his class, becoming a Red Seal journeyman machinist and was employed in the trades for over a decade. In 2021, his passion for mental health advocacy and a thirst for a new challenge inspired him to enroll in university to begin his psychology degree. He simultaneously obtained his certification as a Psychological Health and Safety Advisor through the Canadian Mental Health Association and founded VĪV Mental Health. Kris was diagnosed with PTSD in 2014 and has since become a vocal advocate for men’s mental health, suicide survivors, community resource development, and social change.

Kris has been heavily involved with music and visual arts since the age of 12 when he first began playing guitar. After a few years of classical training, he founded and became the lead vocalist and guitarist for an original rock/funk/punk band called No Witness from 2008 to 2015. After they disbanded, Kris became a touring professional guitarist with various Canadian country music artists. He continues to write and perform his own original acoustic material and also co-founded the Instrumental Health Therapeutic Music Program, which is delivered in classrooms, seniors’ residences, and addiction recovery facilities across Alberta. He often incorporates his love for the arts into his work in mental health, offering accessible and entertaining ways to deliver important education while fostering strong connections with his audiences. He is the host and producer of the VĪV Mental Health Podcast and the producer of three additional podcasts for the Alberta Cancer Foundation and Alberta Health Services. Kris also performs stand-up comedy that sheds a compassionate light on mental illness and mental health, performing at both public and private events.

In addition to his university studies and certification as a Psychological Health & Safety Advisor, Kris has also obtained training certificates in both Mental Health First Aid and Psychological First Aid. In his spare time, Kris loves to travel the world and enjoys an active lifestyle of hiking, biking, swimming, and hockey. Music remains a large part of his personal life as well, performing acoustically at venues around Edmonton and surrounding areas. He is also an active harm-reduction and outreach volunteer and the proud human to a beautiful rescue dog named Carson.