At its June 3 meeting, the Health & Fitness Association Board of Directors elected Chris Smith as chair, Luke Carlson as vice chair and Al Noshirvani as treasurer.

Smith has served on the Board of the Health & Fitness Association (formerly IHRSA) for four years, the last year as vice chair. He is president and CEO of Fitness World Canada, a position he has held since 2020.

Smith’s career began in the fitness industry as a personal trainer 25 years ago. Since then, he has worked in various roles at 24 Hour Fitness, Bally Total Fitness and Steve Nash Fitness World, which he joined in 2011 as vice president of sales and fitness before becoming COO and then CEO in 2014. He later became an owner and rebranded the business as Fitness World Canada.

Smith is also the principal of All Things Fitness and Wellness, a media brand covering the fitness industry, and is the founder and CEO of the British Columbia Personal Training Institute.

“Chris is an inspiring and empowering leader, and his background as an international executive will help the Health & Fitness Association build on our recent transformation,” said HFA president & CEO Liz Clark. “His attention to detail and strategic vision will help us continue to deliver on our core strategic pillars of advocacy, education, and research and to continue working to elevate our member services, engagement, and operational performance,” she added.

Carlson is the founder and CEO of Discover Strength, based in Minneapolis, MN. Carlson speaks worldwide on leadership, management, and evidence-based exercise and is a Vistage speaker in North America. He has co-authored two books and several articles on resistance training, which have been published in scientific journals.

Noshirvani joined the board two years ago. He owns Fitness Club Management, Inc. in Rockville, MD, and co-founded Alta Technology Group, a management consulting firm. He is also managing director of Integrity Square, a financial advisory and early-stage growth equity firm focused on the health, active lifestyle and outdoors sector. Before his current work, Noshirvani co-founded Motionsoft, a software and financial service company serving the fitness industry. He is a member of Big Brothers Big Sisters, the National Iranian American Council and chair of the Georgetown Day School Hopper Fund.

“Luke and Al bring important strengths to the board,” Clark said. “Luke offers deep knowledge in personal training and the science behind resistance training, and experience in business operations and franchising. Al has M&A, venture capital, and consulting expertise along with experience on the supplier and club operator side.”

In addition to the election of these officers, five new board members who were elected att he Health & Fitness Association’s March meeting have joined its board of directors:

  • Ahmar Azam, founder and CEO of TriFit
  • Deborah Fiorella, chief technology and digital officer at 24 Hour Fitness
  • Richard Idgar, COO of EoS Fitness
  • Mel Kleist, CEO of East Bank Club
  • Matthew Stevens, president and CEO of The Bay Club Company