Clay is a Certified Engineering Technologist with work experience in Germany, USA and Canada, and currently manages Engineering and Quality Control for an industrial manufacturer in Kitchener, Ontario. His volunteer experience includes various positions with the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists and program advisory board at Confederation College in Thunder Bay.

He is also an endurance athlete, published author and motorcycle enthusiast, and has been organizing fundraisers for various charitable organizations since 2005.

Having lived through the suicide deaths of two close family members and mental health diagnoses of other family members, Clay found his voice as a mental health advocate and in 2015 created the first Canal Pursuit for Mental Health, a 785 km run ending on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, as a mental health fundraiser and awareness event. Since then he has built on the momentum of that event by developing it into an annual relay run, and creating Canal Pursuit Productions which hosts other running events and podcasts connecting fitness and mental health.

Clay currently lives in Elmira, Ontario with his wife of 42 years.